Pat Scroeder Pats Herself on the Back

Pat Schroeder has reacted to the news that a survey has indicated that a slightly greater percentage of self-identified conservatives have not read a book in the past year than self-identified liberals with an expected amount of self congratulation:

"The Karl Roves of the world have built a generation that just wants a couple slogans: 'No, don't raise my taxes, no new taxes,'" Pat Schroeder, president of the American Association of Publishers, said in a recent interview. "It's pretty hard to write a book saying, 'No new taxes, no new taxes, no new taxes' on every page."

My take on this, for whatever it's worth, is that the “conservatives” include people who belong on the left but aren't bright enough to figure that out. For example, creationists clearly belong in a political movement that takes central planning seriously. Similarly, anti-immigration activists who base their opposition on economic grounds belong with other people who believe in either Malthusianism or the “lump of labor” fallacy.

On the other hand, this may be a consequence of the fact that conservatives have more children than liberals. They just don't have time to read.