CSM has "conservative comedian" write on global warming
As minor an issue as this is, it's also genuinely shocking. I recognized the photo of the author from some footage I've seen of the reactionary "Right Stuff Comedy Tour" a few years ago, which featured profoundly unfunny right-wingers dusting off Clinton and hippie jokes for tiny but enthusiastic audiences.
Gorin is clearly dying for a place at the trough next to Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin, and she has the routine down pat. Dismiss the facts, belittle your opponent, change the subject. The concensus of the world's scientists becomes "junk science," and the environmental movement is actually a conspiracy to help terrorists (but what isn't these days?). There's even a classic example of Bush's beloved straw man argument, a "some people say" statement that isn't backed up by a shred of evidence.
But forget Gorin. She's just another right-winger attempting to turn reactionary agitprop into a lucrative career. What's disturbing is the Christian Science Monitor's decision to run the piece. It's funny only to ideologues, and shuns facts like the plague. Which, in turn, highlights the only aspect of global warming that's actually being debated-- how to overcome right-wing smarm in time to do something about what the global scientific community agrees is a huge crisis. Unfortunately, the press-- with their strange definition of objectivity-- feels compelled to grant 50-50 coverage of 95-5 issues. Which amounts to misleading the public, not informing it. Whether you excuse yourself by calling it humor or not, a lie is still a lie.
UPDATE: Since I'm more in line with the science end of things than the ideologue end, I'll point out that this is anecdotal evidence. Nevertheless, you have to appreciate the fact that this headline emerged on the same day as the hacky piece in the CSM: Scorching U.S.: First Half of 2006 Sets Heat Record
Gorin is clearly dying for a place at the trough next to Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin, and she has the routine down pat. Dismiss the facts, belittle your opponent, change the subject. The concensus of the world's scientists becomes "junk science," and the environmental movement is actually a conspiracy to help terrorists (but what isn't these days?). There's even a classic example of Bush's beloved straw man argument, a "some people say" statement that isn't backed up by a shred of evidence.
But forget Gorin. She's just another right-winger attempting to turn reactionary agitprop into a lucrative career. What's disturbing is the Christian Science Monitor's decision to run the piece. It's funny only to ideologues, and shuns facts like the plague. Which, in turn, highlights the only aspect of global warming that's actually being debated-- how to overcome right-wing smarm in time to do something about what the global scientific community agrees is a huge crisis. Unfortunately, the press-- with their strange definition of objectivity-- feels compelled to grant 50-50 coverage of 95-5 issues. Which amounts to misleading the public, not informing it. Whether you excuse yourself by calling it humor or not, a lie is still a lie.
UPDATE: Since I'm more in line with the science end of things than the ideologue end, I'll point out that this is anecdotal evidence. Nevertheless, you have to appreciate the fact that this headline emerged on the same day as the hacky piece in the CSM: Scorching U.S.: First Half of 2006 Sets Heat Record
posted by Matt Sandwich | 1:15 PM
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