Reference :- Neoconservative commentators are losing debates and making fools of themselves everywhere in the media .

Reference :-  Neoconservatives are saying a great deal about so called " expert opinion " of late . 

 Watching the champions of the right as they attempt to reclaim their once cosy positions as bastions of intellectual honesty is very uncomfortable . It is like watching birds bash themselves to death against a glass window , simultaneously shocking and gruesomely fascinating .  

Of late , these erstwhile champions have resorted to suggesting that the right to free speech be taken away from anybody who is not an " expert" on a given subject .  I mentioned this to Ken junior , hoping that a conversation might ensue which would keep him in the kitchen long enough for him to help washing the dishes after we had finished our morning bowls of hot porridge . ( Winter is upon us here in Kooralya ) 

"  The erstwhile champions of neconservatism  are suggesting that the right to free speech be taken away from anybody who is not an 'expert' on a given subject ",  I said . 

" Who determines which commentator is an " expert " ? , Ken junior said . 

" The champions of neoconservatism would do that , like Douglas Murray for example  ", I said . 

"  You mean the Douglas Murray who claims to be an expert on recent geopolitics and world history ?  " , Ken junior said . 

"  I am pleased to see that you have heard of him . " , I said . 

" He has an undergraduate degree in English , how does that qualify him as an expert in world politics ? " , Ken junior said . 

" He obviously reads widely , and his neoconservative comrades have granted him that qualification " , I said . 

" Lots of people from all walks of life read widely ." , Ken junior said . 

" I hope you are not saying that you don't believe in the importance of expert opinion . " , I said . 

" Of course I think expert opinion is important . Especially when experts differ in their opinion . If one neurosurgeon says my brain tumor should be accessed through my skull's occipital bone , and another prefers to access it through the parietal bone instead , I would listen to the advice  of both and make a decision . Experts do not always agree . ",  Ken junior said 

" Pass me the scourer. " , I said . 

" Furthermore , experts are not infallible .  Engineering experts designed the "unsinkable " Titanic . Medical experts promoted Thalidomide .  Religious experts said Galileo was wrong about the sun being the centre of the Solar System . Silencing opinions that differ from those espoused by a preferred cohort of often biased experts would be a big mistake " , Ken junior said . 

I don't know why , but Ken junior always seems to end up changing the topic to astronomy whenever we get into a political discussion .  

" OK .  Let's change the subject . You don't have the slightest  idea what you are talking about .  " , I said . 

"  How is that ?  " , Ken junior said 

" Because you don't . " , I explained . 

I might start doing the dishes by myself from now on . 

Your comrade , Ken .