Someone Take Away Al Gore's Belt and Shoelaces

Let the HBlog be your source for all things climate related. And let Al Gore continue to be your guide down the path of failure. You'd think you'd have to feel bad for the guy. He was the heir apparent to 8 years of peace and prosperity and still America rejected him. He started a television channel for the young and hip and found out it wasn't cool enough for anyone to watch. Then he staked what remained of his credibility on the trendy crisis of the hour and now his iceberg is melting out from under him. Poor fractured Al Gore. But there really is no need to cry because he still lives in a country where even if you fail at every turn you can still find enough dupes to make you extravagantly wealthy. So the facts may not support any of Al's hysterical poses, but being wrong isn't enough to discredit a prophet in Green America.

Global Alarming

If you've got a hysterical streak in you then most likely you have already joined the global warming crowd. You've been screaming yourself horse at rallies or lying awake at night weeping for drowning polar bears. What you haven't been doing is asking the question...does this make sense? Well, thankfully there are people in this world who don't always join the in crowd just to be liked. And now, they are speaking up about global warming.

As the article shows, there is anything but a consensus regarding the cause of global warming/climate change (sorry Al Gore). What is clear is that we are currently in a warming trend because the planet is forever heating and cooling. That's right...change is NORMAL. What should scare us is if the climate for some reason STOPPED changing. That would be unprecedented. But deserts are forever expanding and contracting, as are the ice caps and the populations of millions of species. People weren't somehow dropped onto an orb in perfect balance and then managed to knock every thing off kilter...no matter what the hysterics say.

So why are there so many shrill voices demanding we fix a problem that may not even be a problem? Or something that can be fixed? Its because we are so narcissistic. We seem to need to believe that we are in control. This can be good when it makes us responsible for things we really can control. But it makes us utterly foolish and hysterical when we run up against things beyond our control. And climate change is just that. In effect, the Chicken Littles in Bali are asking us all to stand in front of a speeding freight train and hum as loud as we can to make it stop. Their solutions are small and sad and will do nothing about the freight train. They will do much harm as they reduce standards of living all over the world (assuming anyone actually implements whatever silly plan happens to get ratified) and millions of people suffer as a result.

It takes courage to stand against the crowd. There was a time when it was even respectable. Now if you aren't part of the group think the group will try to shut you down. Well, thankfully these scientists won't let that happen no matter how hard the press tries. And thankfully the US won't support this silliness, no matter how hard Al Gore tries to shame us into being cool. Even though everyone else is doing it.

At Least He's Tough

Rudy says no to flat tax because he wants to protect the oh so important home mortgage deduction. This sums up so much of what is wrong with modern Republicans (as my friend UBlo used to point out so well). Why should we implement a system that would save every tax paying American money if it may increase the taxes on one particular group? Because we aren't...and Rudy should know that. Ok, homeowners won't be able to deduct one type of expenditure, so what? They will more than make up for it with tax savings in other areas. If I told you that I'm going to reduce your heating bill by $100 a month but increase your electric bill by $30 would you have a problem with that? Well, Rudy, would. He'd say, "I just don't think its right to be increasing people's electric bills at this time." That's pandering, folks...or ignorance, and I'm not sure which is worse.

Before I Voted Against It...

I've always been fascinated by people that support Bill Clinton. Now, don't get me wrong, the world is full of misguided people who are not capable of seeing things as they really are. That they would rally around Bill is anything but surprising. However, at some point even the most obtuse reach a breaking point. A point when their cognitive dissonance gets so strong that their hands start to tremble.

Bill Clinton this week (Or last week. Hey, cut me some slack, I'm just a blogger) tried to convince a room full of conscious adults that he has been against the Iraq war from the beginning. I hope Sandy Berger has some really big pants because there is a lot of documentary evidence that he is going to have to steal and destroy to cover up this one. Finding contradictions to this fantasy is a trivial affair...here's a good one. And for those as lazy as me the juicy bits:

"That's why I supported the Iraq thing. There was a lot of stuff unaccounted for. So I thought the President had an absolute responsibility to go to the U.N. and say, "Look, guys, after 9/11, you have got to demand that Saddam Hussein lets us finish the inspection process." You couldn't responsibly ignore [the possibility that] a tyrant had these stocks. I never really thought he'd [use them]. What I was far more worried about was that he'd sell this stuff or give it away."

Oh, I know what the qualifier to all this is. Bill said at one point in the past that he would have timed an invasion somewhat differently. He would have waited for Hans Blix to come back with his report even though Hans was being stone walled and no report was coming. Well let me tell you, even Ray Charles can see through that...and he's dead.

Someone please tell me when is enough enough? Do we really want more of this Clintonian clap-trappery? Does anyone think Hillary is really different? Or even her own person? I understand that some people would literally vote for Satan if he supported their policy agenda but I believe at some point even supporters get fatigued when their boy (or gal) insists on embarrassing them over and over. Seriously, how much more embarrassing can Bill Clinton get? I guess we'll find out if he becomes the first male first lady.