Sunday, February 1, 2009

The Groundhog Named Gore


By Alan Caruba

Like the proverbial groundhog that shows up on February 2 to announce that there will be six more weeks of winter, Albert Gore shows up in Congress to announce that the world is coming to an end and that we’re all doomed because of global warming.

He did this most recently on January 28 in front of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee chaired by John Kerry. As usual, he did so in the midst of a winter storm that dumped inches of snow on Washington, D.C. and coated the streets with ice. This has actually become known as “the Gore effect.”

Gore reminds me of a character created by the Li’l Abner cartoonist, Al Capp. “Joe Btfsplk” was a walking jinx. He walked around with a perpetual dark rain cloud over his head and every time he showed up anywhere, bad luck would happen to anyone in the vicinity.

The ability to hold two totally opposite thoughts in one’s head, a winter storm and imminent destruction by sizzling hot weather, is a kind of schizophrenia or just plain stupidity. In Gore’s case, it has a lot more with lining his pockets with millions of dollars in the sale of “carbon credits” purchased to continue emitting carbon dioxide, the gas that Gore insists will destroy the world.

Carbon dioxide is the gas on which all plant life on Earth depends for growth. Without CO2 every single piece of vegetation dies and we die with it because a lot of critters we eat are herbivores. Happily, humans exhale about two pounds of CO2 every day. Burning anything, including calories, produces CO2. Even if there is more CO2, it has little to do with climate change.

Which begs the question why President Obama and the U.S. Congress wants to pass laws requiring cars to emit less CO2 and other laws to impose a cap-and-trade or carbon tax on anything that produces CO2. This is nothing less than pure thievery.

The other question, of course, is what global warming or climate change has to do with foreign relations? Since we cannot do a thing about the climate which, by the way, has been cooling since 1998, why is a Senate committee not only listening to Al Gore bloviating about it, but falling all over themselves to lavish praise upon this bulbous charlatan?

This is particularly true in light of the way Americans now rank the environment dead last on a list of priorities to which the government should attend. That’s not going to happen because President Obama is a Green zealot and, as more Americans gain awareness of this, there is likely to be a backlash.

This is the first Groundhog day President Obama is in office. He has at least three more to go and, who knows, after that he may be unemployed again like a lot of Americans recovering from Obamamania.

Gore, like the Energizer Bunny, however, will just keep going and going and going.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you literally kidding me right now? For some one to believe that global warming does not exist and then say Mr. Al Gore is a schizophrenic is ludicrous. Alan Caruba you should be the one labeled as a schizophrenic not Gore. You share many similar traits to a paranoid schizophrenic. By believing that credible sources and proven facts are false you live in your own little false world. Let me know if you start finding patterns in newspaper articles like the famous mathematician John Nash. Now to get back on track with global warming. Global warming is now a accepted fact throughout the science community. As a student of Plant Biology/Plant Breeding and Genetics I work daily with the problem of increasing CO2. To use plants as a excuse to continue polluting our atmosphere with CO2 is absolutely foolish. Since CO2 is warming agent (look at the atmosphere of Venus for proof of why it traps ultra-violent light) it will actually cause many plant species to die. Majority of plants are quite specific to with temperatures and climates in which they can survive. If this warming continues then you will actually see a loss of plant life thus causing less CO2 to be sequestered. Thus leading to the temperatures to only increase more and more. By the why warming temps actually do lead to more dramatic weather events so have a massive blizzards in warm climates is at a much greater possibility. Go to your local blockbuster rent the movies A Beautiful Mind and The Day After Tomorrow. The first of which will help you understand that you are quite possibly a schizophrenic and you should get help. The latter is a Hollywood demonstration of what could happen in the future. This theatrically version, yes does take the weather events a little out of proportion, but still its demonstrates what is possible and will most likely happen sooner or later if we don't change now. May I also suggest you get a account on a little online database called Jstor so you can have all the access to published scientific papers. If you do then before you being to blog more false facts you can gain some proven knowledge and become more credible.
p.s. I am also a colleague of Logicfail. So Fuck You you old Republican!

From the great mind of Libertarian Anti-Christ

Alan Caruba said...

I believe the final words of your diatribe pretty much reveal your bias.

The fact that you cannot understand simple English is another indicator. Suggesting that holding two opposite thoughts at the same time as "schizophrenic" is a metaphor for the howling winter storm outside the Capitol while Gore bloviates about global "warming" inside.

What you don't know about the science about and behind global warming could fill a book. In fact, one has just been published. I recommend you pick up a copy of "Climate of Extremes" published by the Cato Institute and written by two of the most respected climatologists around these days.

Please feel free to return and put your vast ignorance on display at any time. Try not to wear out your welcome (it does happen).

Jeremy Jacobs said...

Why bother replying Alan

Jeremy Jacobs said...

Suggest you moderate all posts. Go into Settings on your dashboard.

Hope all well. London has ground to a halt due to one inch of snow.

Alan Caruba said...

That was my original thought, Jeremy, but you know how I love to mess with their minds!

Alan Caruba said...

I DO moderate all comments that come in and quite a few are simply rejected for being uncivil, etc.

Still, some are so stupid that it's fun to share them with those who visit on a regular basis.

Guy said...

Well, I have to agree ... that was one of the stupidest comments I've ever read, and the last line, well that doesn't even deserve a response. The hatred in some of these people (and I use the term "people" loosely) amazes me ...

I wonder what jokers like this will say when the magnitude of this Global Warming scam is unveiled? My guess is that, just like the Obamaniacs (when they discover their messiah is a fake) they will be nowhere to be found ...

Doug said...

Dearest Libertarian Anti-Christ:

Since you have all of the answers, maybe you can answer a few for me. You see, I'm one of those stupid, ignorant idiots that you despise, so I could benefit from your peerless intellect.

1) Please tell me what earth's average temperature was in, say, 2008. Your source(s) for this info, please.
2) Your computer models are infallible. What will be earth's average temperature in 2009? Again, your sources?
3) What CO2-generating volcanoes will blow this year, or won't blow? Your models are infallible, so you must know.
4) Ditto for those pesky El Niño and La Niña events. When's the next one going to hit?
5) When you get your way and gain control of CO2 emissions, what temperature are you going to set earth's thermostat to?
6) Who's in charge of setting the thermostat?
7) Of the 385 ppm CO2 today, how much of that is attributable to man? Source, please.
8) When your CO2 standards are instituted, how soon can we expect to see it ratchet back down to 280 ppm again?
9) How much is it going to cost us, the USA, to achieve this 280 ppm rollback? Source?
10) Let's assume CO2 doubles in the future. What will be earth's temperature increase compared to today? Source? (My old science classes said about 1 degree C. We could run experiments to prove it. But "experimental confirmation" is SO yesterday!)

I eagerly await your responses. By your own admission, you're a student, so I presume you'll have to ask your professors to provide your answers. I'm an old guy. The last professor I listened to told me that there would be massive starvation in the world starting in 1990, AND we were headed for another Ice Age, so I know I can't go to that well for reliable info anymore. Your teachers must be smarter than mine were; today's teachers are so much smarter.

Plus, we didn't have cool Hollywood special effects when I was your age to show us REAL science like you get to see. The Wizard of Oz was about as good as we got. (We learned to fear tornados from it.) But we knew that was just entertainment, not the kind of hard-hitting, fact-filled science that Hollywood delivers today. Like "Speed."

(Which begs the question: how many units of "watching movies" does it take these days to get a college degree?)

I envy you — you get to pay $10, buy a bag of popcorn, AND watch a science lesson! Woo-hoo!

Gramfan said...

Hard to understand why anyone would believe any politician, let alone one like Al Gore.

This piece is worth a read:
http://www.kusi.com/weather/colemanscorner/38574742.html

The "warmenists" get shriller and shriller as more evidence surfaces.

Anonymous said...

Global Warming is real if you can't get that through your thick skull then you are ignorant to your surroundings. You all are caught up in this stupid paranoia that the government continues to lie if they aren't within your party lines. If you thought logically and looked at the data you are all false. If you all continue polluting your environment you will all suffer. So I guess I don't know anything about science either since it is my career. May i suggest you read this Mr. Alan since I am quite aware of the truth behind my statements earlier -"Rising Atmosphere CO2 and carbon sequestration in forests"- Beedlow et al. and "Global Temperature Change"- Hansen et al. Feel free to check those out. So now I'm bias because I am neither republican or democrat. To be honest I did not vote for a republican or democrat president but I did vote for both parties in other elections. I would say you are the biased one my friend. You just don't like what Gore has tried to do just because you are to stubborn to accept the truth from an opposing political view point. I bet if Rush Limbaugh had said it you would believe it. Go ahead and follow your shepherd Alan.


Thankfully Blogs are so unreliable because this is some of the most ridiculous bs I have every read. I am also a very open minded person but stupidity like your case gets no appreciation from me.

Alan Caruba said...

Yawn...You are beginning to bore me and my friends here. Save your strength to hug a few trees. You are no longer welcome in my pea patch.

Guy said...

Thanks for sparing us that bonehead's ranting and raving Alan. It was good for a laugh, but I hear enough of it from the college brats in my neighborhood pub to suit me...

Our youths today are so sure they know everything, but they haven't been around long enough to discover how easily they can be deceived or programmed by the people who educate them. They rarely take the time to check facts or look at history, they just regurgitate what they are fed every day. They look up to their teachers, and the hatred that many of their liberal professors spew out every day is infectious. It's easy to get caught up in it. Just like us, they're troubled by the many problems our society faces, and they think that becoming involved in a crusade might allow them to have an impact. I know ... I've been there myself. But once I grew up, I realized that things are not always as they seem, and becoming obsessed with a cause only clouds your judgement. Sometimes I think we need to raise the voting age a little bit, just to give our youth a little time to live before they start throwing their weight around.

I always love the "hundreds of scientists" argument. The ENTIRE WORLD of "scientists" used to think the earth was flat, and it took one brave man to prove them all wrong. Whoever "The Libertarian Anti-Christ" is, he/she will grow up some day, learn to spell and write coherently, and then maybe someone will want to pay attention to what he/she has to say ...

Anonymous said...

Well, his name says it all - I think we regular, older people would not last long in his Anti-Church. For a so-called 'scientist' his English is a little 'primitive'.
Reading both his comments I am reminded of the 'Baloney Detection Kit" in "The Demon Haunted World" by the late, great Carl Sagan.
Certainly a massive ad hominem attack on you, Alan, by attacking the messenger.
London's Hyde Park Corner would be a good Sunday home for his diatrabe.
The picture of spikey hair and hobnailed boots comes to mind. Talk about way-off 'track.
Clive, Laoag City, RP

Brian Clarkston said...

Well, at least I'm not a PR hack bought and paid for by "chemical and pharmaceutical companies" peddling bullshit global warming conspiracy theories as half-assed journalism.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Al_Caruba

I tried as much as possible to respect you. You can see how well that worked out. Alan Caruba, you make me sick. You honestly get off on telling what you know to be lies to people who don't know any better in order to make a quick buck. Despite the progress that our country made on Tuesday the 20th, it saddens me that in our populace there still are those that are susceptible to your rhetoric. The reason why you despise my generation is that we are unconvinced of your rhetoric.

But I have a solution for you, to make this go away, to make me concede. I will respect you if you disclose your tax records for the last ten years. I'm just curious how much they are paying you to be a talking head.

I regret that my friend Chris, while posting on your blog, was aggravated by falling under the influence of your innate ability to corrupt reality. But I will never apologize to you.

I have an option for you. I want you to admit that you are bought and paid for by company interests, or I will become the biggest headache of your life. I truly urge you not to make the mistake of thinking that at the age of 19 I lack the influence to see to it that you are ruined.

Doug said...

Dearest Libertarian Anti-Christ:

Still waiting for a single response to any of my 10 questions. Let's make it easier on you: choose just one topic and answer, won't you?

Please don't banish him, Alan. He's the best spokesman for the ignorance and fear politics of the AGW crowd that we could possibly ask for.

Doug said...

I read Libertarian's postings a second time "Stupidity like your case gets no appreciation from me." "A accepted fact." "You share many similar traits to ..." "To use plants as a excuse..." I can't list all of the syntactical errors --- this forum hasn't enough space. LOL!

Good God! They don't even require a simple Bonehead English class for entering freshmen anymore, do they?

How, my child, do you ever expect to be a respected professional, taken seriously in life, when you can't even properly compose a simple sentence? If you applied for a job in my company, with your grammatical skills, you might qualify to be our janitor. All of your heroes whom you have cited so far are lifelong government employees, where grammatical fluency is seldom important. You will fit right in with them.

Take this old scientist's advice: never use "dude" in your technical presentations, okay? I know that your perfessers think it's acceptable, just so long as you're with The Program. But it makes you look really, really foolish to true professionals. I.e., "ignorant."

Dude.

libertyforusa said...

http://thenma.org/blogs//index.php/libertyforusa/2008/11/20/green-lean-vacuum-machine

The above article describes a machine designed to combat global warming(it's real man!)thereby saving all of mankind!
I hope to get $billions of stimulus dollars to continue it.
What better way of combating a make-believe problem than with a fictitious machine.
As a kid, I loved those Disney movies with professors and flying cars and such !

Alan Caruba said...

For the record, I am not only a "PR hack" (I believe the term is "flack") but I am a highly paid one.

However, I do not have a single client from the energy or pharmaceutical industries and haven't in years.

The "Sourcewatch" bio cited is pure propaganda by a group that exists to smear those of us who vocally oppose the global warming hoax. You will find a more accurate one at www.caruba.com.

Doug said...

Alan, I'm still waiting for any of these children to answer just one of the questions that I posed. Just one! They challenge anyone who disagrees with them to "read the science," which I have, BIG time, yet when you challenge them to discuss their science, they are incapable of it. Come on kids: what was earth's average temperature last year, and what's it going to be in 2009? Anyone? Your heroes tell us what earth's temperature will be in 50 or 100 years, but you can't tell me what it was last year, or will be next year? (Actually, their phrasing is always "could" and "might," such is their "certainty"!)

I would turn it around on them: show me Algore's tax records. Show me Hansen's tax records. Show me Mann's tax records. Who funds THEM? Why is it always MY money, stolen from me by a coercive government, that has to pay for their unchallengeable propaganda?

Yeah, when I was 19 I thought I was smarter than the world's best, too. Once I was exposed to working, experienced adults, I quickly learned that I didn't know squat about anything. It was very humbling. These children are still buried in freshman chemistry classes, and they're trying to tell ME I don't know what I'm talking about? LOL!

Hey Brian Clarkston or Chris, answer me this: list the 3 largest constituents of earth's greenhouse gases. Show us how smart you are, kids!

Ah, the innocence, and arrogance, of youth!

libertyforusa said...

The college buddies bring to mind dozens of cliches.

-Having ones bubble burst

-A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing

-Out of the mouth of babes

I too had the idea when I was younger that A) I was invincible, and B) I knew everything there was to know

What a fool I was!

But Alas I was not alone!

So I can empathize with the misguided exuberance of youth.

The emotional fervor that they display for the "facts" indicates how much trouble this country is in however.

Critical thinking must be obsolete.

I have read reams of articles and data on this subject for years now.

The best arguments have been presented by Viscount Monkton of Brenchly at American Thinker.
http://www.americanthinker.com/the_viscount_monckton_of_brenchley/

He sources everything back to peer reviewed scientific papers.

I am certain that if we had professors teaching children that it was possible to cross the Mojave desert in summer on a half canteen of water that several of them would die every year trying.

It is sad that our students have not learned how to discriminate between facts and hypothetical, can not distinguish between cause and correlation, and adopt a conclusion and set out to prove it!

Joe Texan said...

Let's not forget the Libertarian Anti-Christ's mention of "ultra-violent" light. I just hate it when light goes nuts and starts beating the crap out of plants, maybe after having a few too many beers.

I see he or his minion mentioned Dr. Hansen as a source for his ravings about AGW. He failed to mention that Dr. Hansen's superior disagrees wholeheartedly with Dr. Hansen's bogus global warming crap.