Hot Air and Spoof
May 24th, 2006A teacher directed me today to an article I missed in the Journal yesterday, and I’m glad he pointed it out to me. The Journal’s latest piece is a criticism of Al Gore’s new film mixed with a dissection of environmentalists, and it’s worth a look, if nothing else. Essentially, it argues that there’s little reason to be worried over the environment, and certainly not about global warming. It seems to me that the only time the Wall Street Journal Opinion Page has worry in its pages is when the subject is Vince Foster or immigration, but that’s another story for another time. Just know that Vince Foster was a more probable threat to Americans (before the Journal chased him into suicide) than “Global warming” ever will be!
As mentioned, the article deals with “climate change” and is entitled, “Don’t Be Very Worried.” “The truth about “global warming” is much less dire than Al Gore wants you to think.” Notice, as you look through the article, that it begins with a dissection of other environmental standards, and not global warming before it finally reaches its stated subject. When it gets to climate change, the article rings the bell of “ALARMISTS!” and then makes note of a few little things that global warming ISN’T doing to the world (harming it, in their view). Yes, the article makes the point several times that global warming, if happening, is helping the world. There’s a list here to the contrary. But the thing that really stood out to me was this paragraph, which the author believed to bolster his point but that, I think, really knocks the wind out of it:
If it all sounds familiar, think back to the 1970s. After the first Earth Day the New York Times predicted “intolerable deterioration and possible extinction” for the human race as the result of pollution. Harvard biologist George Wald predicted that unless we took immediate action “civilization will end within 15 to 30 years,” and environmental doomsayer Paul Ehrlich predicted that four billion people–including 65 million American–would perish from famine in the 1980s.
I think that Ward’s “15-30″ prediction is extremely excessive, but nitpicks aside, I think this shows us that scientists calls need to be heard. Now, I’m no historian, and I’ve never written for a board that drove a man to suicide before, but I seem to recall that in the 1970s, the environmental movement kicked into gear with the birth of the EPA under Nixon. Who knows where we would’ve been had the EPA never been brought into existence and various laws not have been passed by the Congress of the 70s.
Who knows where we would be right now if this Congress stepped it up with regard to climate change. And, hell, who really knows where we would be right now if the Opinion Journal didn’t write articles that attack themselves! I know this: my blog would be a bit less interesting!
Now that we’re off the subject of Global Warming, we can get to the subject that really puts hot air back into the atmosphere: gay marriage. Specifically, this time, Karl Rove and Laura Bush are dueling over whether or not to politicize the issue. Perhaps I’m being a tad cynical, but I think that Laura Bush should be telling the President to read his memos instead of fighting over gay marriage.
But you know the Republicans. Their priorities are better set than ours. Like that Clarence Thomas fellow. He’s got excellent priorities, including prayers for the President because he’s “in real trouble.” I wonder if, in his prayers, he made mention of a high tech lynching at Pennsylvania Avenue — oh! I’ll bet that’s how Thomas would describe my blog!
Maybe Thomas should drive down to Pat Robertson’s place — that is, if he’s as worried as he seems to be — and pick up some of Robertson’s protein shake for the President. It’s so strong it makes Robertson able to leg lift two thousand pounds! Surely it can save a bungled Presidency!
Romania has given Dracula’s castle back to its owners after it was seized by the Communist, says this newspiece.
All these stories just spoof themselves, don’t they?