Yes, sometimes I visit the website of the Swift boat smearer to see the latest in denier talking points and to be amused by his latest self-acknowledged version of performance art and to save you all the trouble!
I tend to ignore what Morano writes because:
- He just makes stuff up (see Scientist: “Our conclusions were misinterpreted” by Morano and Inhofe, CO2 “” but not the sun “” “is significantly correlated” with temperature since 1850).
- The latest web analysis suggests right-wing denial websites like his are only talking to themselves.
But this time I found two tidbits that need responding too. First, he published an outright lie about me (with my photo!) that I will address shortly. Second, he attacked Linsday Graham who, as I reported, has reached across the aisle to John Kerry (D-MA) to achieve a bipartisan solution to our climate and energy problems, as I blogged on this morning here.
For Morano, Graham is “another GOP turncoat ala Arlen Specter” — but this is another of his outright lies. Graham is a mainstream conservative — he has a lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 89.79. Graham is an ACU “Senate Standout,” among the 20 most conservative U.S. Senators in 2008!
The turncoats are Morano and Inhofe (R-OIL) — they have turned their backs on their species, on all of our children and grandchildren, in their zealous quest to stop us from acting in time to preserve a livable climate. Remember also that Morano has long-standing personal animosity against Kerry. SourceWatch notes: “CNS and Morano were the first source in May 2004 of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth claims against John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election…. On May 3, 2004, he wrote the CNS article “Kerry ‘Unfit to be Commander-in-Chief,’ Say Former Military Colleagues” “” a pack of lies ahead of its time!
For the record, McCain has an 81.43 lifetime ACU rating and 63 in 2008. Specter is a 44.47 lifetime and 42 in 2008. Kerry is 5.5 lifetime, 4 in 2008.
It isn’t one’s political persuasion that makes one want to take aggressive action to deal with global warming and energy security — it is simply knowledge and openness to the facts, as, for instance, John Warner (ACU lifetime rating 80.13) demonstrates (see “Real vets support strong action on climate and clean energy “” as does GOP Senator John Warner, former Armed Services Committee chair“).
And so Morano is trying to gin up a flood of calls and emails into Graham’s Senate office by posting this:
Since I have a lot more readers than Morano, I thought I would return the favor. Obviously, if you’re from SC, that’s even better.
Remember, conservatives like to eat their own — see “Honey, I shrunk the GOP, Part 1: Conservatives vow to purge all members who support clean energy or science-based policy.” At least with Graham, he’s not up for reelection until 2014.
If, as now seems likely, there is a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill signed by President Obama next year, this move by Graham will be remembered as a seminal moment of bipartisanship. He certainly deserves the praise and support of all Americans of all political persuasions.
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Thanked him – thanks for the link!
Commendable given the spirit of an ecocidal legislature, yet making too much of it would seem to make it exceptional, rather than what any clear thinking person would do, especially when supposedly acting in the interests of the constituency.
[JR: Not how the other side views the world or politics.]
First time I have ever thanked a Republican Senator for thoughtfulness. Hope to be able do it again.
I agree with jcwinnie that in an ideal world this wouldn’t be seen as an exceptional act of political courage or leadership. But we don’t live in that ideal world- we live in a reality where this is a significant step for Senator Graham to take, and we should let him know that it’s appreciated. You can bet that he’ll be hearing from the deniers, so it’s important that he hears from those who support climate action as well. Thanks for the link.
Thanks for the link, I sent an email. The R’s lately have been acting so much like the worst imaginable parody of fringe wingnuttery that ANY act of sanity on the part of one of their leaders deserves commendation.
JOE, WE NEED MORE “ACTION” POSTS LIKE THIS….TELL YOUR HIGHLY ARTICULATE READERS TO REACH OUT TO PEOPLE IN POWER!
I’d forgotten that Morano had Swift Boat involvement – this meshes with the Swift Boat ties around the Plants Need CO2/CO2 Is Green folks.
* Their spokesman H. Leighton Steward is on board of EOG (enron oil/gas) Resources. Another EOG board member, George A. Alcorn, is also on the board of Regnery’s parent, Eagle Publishing.
* Ads were produced, placed or both by Weeks & Co (who did some work for the Swift Boat 527).
* Ads were placed in New Mexico at least by The Patriot Group, whose top-listed client is Bob Perry (“best-known for his financing of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth”).
But I don’t know of any SwiftBoat ties involving Plants Need CO2/CO2 Is Green board member Corbin Robertson Jr., nor EOG board member Frank Wisner.
One small problem, people. You can’t prove CO2 drives temperature or climate. Nor have you even tried. (quick answer, CO2 can’t drive temperature. Why? A gas cannot heat anything. It can only absorb and re-emit. But I leave that as an exercise for the student.) Oh, by the way, CO2, like any other gas, does not get to choose which direction it re-emits toward. Why would anyone assume that it only re-emits towards the Earth’s surface? It like any other gas, re-emits in any direction, including back out to space. And, also, the atmosphere is not a capped container. Gas escapes into space, now and then. Compliments of real science I learned in 8th grade.
ron from TX: “A gas cannot heat anything.” Don’t be silly. Gas can certainly heat things. Any surface that is colder than the gas next to it will absorb heat energy from the gas. Due to density it may not be able to hold as much energy as liquids and solids but it certainly holds some.
Gas can certainly emit it’s energy in any direction but the higher density of GHG’s in the atmosphere increases the chances of it being reabsorbed again before escaping, essentially slowing the heat energy transfer rate. Slowing the energy transfer rate increases the temperature until there’s enough more energy in the atmosphere to balance out the equations.
ron from texas that’s so wrong that it’s funny – but at the same time rather pathetic that you think your 8th grade science trumps the lifetime of study of the actual scientists in this field.
I’t suggest reading up on the answers to your questions about the science – there are some good guides on sites such as realclimate, greenfyre’s, and others. There IS real science involved – but because of the politics there is also a whole slew of misinformation being spread around. Just like there was for smoking, asbestos, and a host of other ‘inconvenient’ scientific findings.