Lenar Whitney, Republican congressional candidate from Louisiana, dared to use that line from Orwell while accusing virtually every climate scientist in the world of lying.
Practically every word in that monolog is a lie, or a product of exceptional ignorance. And the terrifying thing is that she knows it.
… when I pressed Whitney repeatedly for the source of her claim that the earth is getting colder, she froze and was unable to cite a single scientist, journal or news source to back up her beliefs.
To change the subject, I asked whether she believed Obama was born in the United States. When she replied that it was a matter of some controversy, her two campaign consultants quickly whisked her out of the room, accusing me of conducting a “Palin-style interview.”
Unbelievable. But these are the people dominating the Tea Party right now.
By the way, here’s the summary of the recent IPCC report (pdf), if you want to see the data that Whitney pretends doesn’t exist.
“…he earth is getting colder, she froze and …”
But there’s her proof right there!!
Checkmate Cleverclogs!
I really, really wish these people would read a word of what lifelong card-carrying socialist George Orwell actually wrote.
To give you an idea of what a freem-lovin’ rightwing anti-statist libertarian he was, here he is advocating the nationalisation of dishwashing. http://www.telelib.com/authors/O/OrwellGeorge/essay/tribune/AsIPlease19450209.html
Whatever you say about her, she slips seamlessly into casual racism.
If I were a betting man, I would bet my own neck that when (not if: WHEN) global warming reach catastrophic levels, the very people who denied its reality the most fervently will be the ones advocating the cold-blooded genocide of minorities and third-world nations in order to diminish the demographic pressure, steal more agrarian lands, and preserve come what may the western upper-class’ lifestyle.
From the video:
“A spectre is haunting America…”
Maybe she is a communist infiltrator, send to destroy the Tea Party from the inside?
robinjohnson @2. I really, really wish these people would read George Orwell, too., but I have to wonder if the act of reading leads to them to understanding.
laurentweppe @5:
…and then take full responsibiltyby accusing the dems of not acting with “leadership” (another word without meaning in politics) and doing some thing about this sooner.
seems that Whitney is okay with lying. Amazing how many TrueChristians are good with that. One might think that they don’t actually believe in what they claim.
A Palin-style interview is apparently asking for any sort of elaboration like ‘That’s really interesting. How do you know the Earth is cooling?’ rather than letting the candidate quote her talking points at you.
(Then I seem to recall the interviewer didn’t expect Palin would do that bad. Go in expecting to do a nice piece on the less-known VP candidate, end up with a segment when you show she’s pretty damn ignorant.)
Okay, global conspiracy, blah blah blah.
What, exactly, do these people think the point of this conspiracy is? The Lulz?
She only sees the “positive” consequences of the oil consumption. Like advocating eating all the sugar that exists, because it tastes sweet, and disregarding the negative consequences of eating only sugar (diabetes, anyone?). And claiming the extra layer of fat on one’s body is just more insulation to keep one warm in the winter, etc. etc.
[Back to Whitney…]:
Yes, burning oil created a marvelous surge in our technology, industry, and wealth; but to disregard the *other* consequences of burning oil, is blindness. She’s very Palinesque: looking at all the good things oil consumption did, *in*the*past*, and expecting it to continue being good *forever*. I even paused her video to read the text of the emails, that the hacker extracted from East Anglia. No mention of deception or lying to the “lamestream media” [as she calls it]. Just a statement that the statistical analysis used a “trick”, and an insult; calling deniers, “idiots”. If she thinks that is some kind of “proof” of the “hoax”…[redacted].
Daz:
From all of the conspiracy minded denialists I’ve ever heard, the point of the conspiracy is to:
1. Provide easy work and big money to climate scientists.
2. Bring money to companies involved in alternative energy.
3. Scare the public and make them vote Democrat or something.
So, yeah, basically just projection.
re “Palin-style”:
Is that where Palin said she reads a lot of magazines, and the interviewer asked her, “Which magazines do you read?” and Palin couldn’t name a single one?
They should have asked her about the shape of the earth, arrangement of the solar system, and age of the universe. And are Elvis and St. Reagan really dead?
Fundie xianity/Tea Party-ism is a package deal. In for a penny, in for a pound.
If you are going to believe lies, might as well collect them all and believe them all. I’m sure Lenar Whitney’s collection of lies is trophy class.
Next up, are vaccinations a commie plot or one from UN Agenda 21. Where is the NIH hiding their cure for all cancers?
Orwell’s 1984 is one of the sacred books of the fundie xians. It’s their instruction manual and they use it often.
I wouldn’t be too hard on Whitney. She is the same as vast majority of GOP/Tea Party politicians.
Paul Ryan, the last GOP VP candidate said something similar about climate change a few days ago.
This isn’t news although it is worth a few laughs. What would be news is a GOP/Tea Party member saying something intelligent and true about global warming.
PS Ironically, Louisiana is one of the places on earth most vulnerable to climate change and the state knows it full well. Their coastline is moving inland, as their land sinks and the oceans rise. They are even making some efforts to mitigate the inevitable.
Twits like Ms. Whitney don’t really understand much but they do understand that money = votes. And they understand money can come from anywhere because of ‘free’ speech: this means money comes from corporations. I would bet this screed is all about getting money from petroleum interests but I would also bet she comes off as so stupid even the oil industry won’t touch her.
That’s hilarious. Even Republicans use the name of own their vice-presidential candidate as synonymous with “too stupid to be interviewed without embarrassing herself”.
Let’s see. Houma, Louisiana…yep, there’s oil production there, which means oil money. Which means…nah, couldn’t be. Could it?
Please note that it is no longer the oil industry, or the coal industry, or the gas industry for that matter…but “America’s energy industry.” Doesn’t that sound much nicer? George Orwell indeed. You betcha.
raven @ #16
They probably come by it naturally. We read Animal Farm in High School “Americanism vs Communism” class in 1965.
What, exactly, is a ‘Palin style interview’?
Roderick Joyce:
Oh, I’m sure it would. Which is their problem. Reading can lead to understanding and education. Understanding and education are signs of being elitist in the eyes of some (like Rick Santorum).
Her quoting Orwell is downright Orwellian. I swear, you just can’t beat Republicans for surreal.
Palin Style Interview: When a politician is so incompetent that they consistently botch softball questions.
anteprepro:
My thanks. I’d wondered what a ‘Palin-style Interview’ was.
“Naturally, the liberals and the lame-stream media…”
She can fuck off. It’s clear she doesn’t have an original thought in her head.