Alex Berezow has a column in Wednesday’s USA Today in which he argues that, yes the Republicans are “anti-science,” but the Democrats are equally so. And he really has to tie himself in knots getting there.

One would think that “anti-science” would be limited to denying the factual conclusions produced by the scientific process. Many, though not all, Republicans deny evolution and global warming. Many people believe that, until all the evidence is in, we can’t be sure of the safety of genetically-modified crops. (The same was true of vaccines not that long ago.) Is that “anti-science”?

Berezow, however, extends it to any time people disagree with “scientists” on a matter of policy. He points out that most scientists support nuclear power, while many political liberals do not. Fair enough, but do those liberals make outrageous and inaccurate claims about the basic science of nuclear power — disputing the half-lives of fissionable materials, for example?

He is also a bit unclear on what it means for a party to support the “anti-science” position. Republican office-seekers routinely express skepticism about evolution or climate change. Do Democrats do the same about the safety of vaccines? (Of course, there are Republicans beginning to do that with regard to the HPV vaccine.) Berezow ties that one to the Democrats by finding that vaccine opponents tend to live in places that have Whole Foods stores and vote Democratic. (Yes, and Ku Klux Klan members presumably vote Republican — does that make the GOP responsible for their politics?)

He seems determined to find both parties equally guilty. What is going on here?

There is an unofficial rule of the mainstream media that both parties must always be morally equal. Neither can ever just be wrong. Get ready to hear a lot of that nonsense in the year to come.