Joke of the day: What do Al Gore and Bin Laden have in common? Both want to bring “the wheels of the American economy” to a halt. From the story:
Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has called for the world to boycott American goods and the U.S. dollar, blaming the United States and other industrialized countries for global warming, according to a new audiotape released Friday. In the tape, broadcast in part on Al-Jazeera television, bin Laden warned of the dangers of climate change and says that the way to stop it is to bring “the wheels of the American economy” to a halt. He blamed Western industrialized nations for hunger, desertification and floods across the globe, and called for “drastic solutions” to global warming, and “not solutions that partially reduce the effect of climate change.”
Of course, I am not comparing bin Laden to Gore. The former is a mass murdering terrorist. Gore is just crackers. But it is interesting that the quotes above by bin Laden could have been uttered by Gore, Hansen, or the UN’s now discredited IPCC committee report.
January 29th, 2010 | 11:26 am
“Of course, I am not comparing bin Laden to Gore. ”
Well, yeah, you are. But if you’re not worrying about what this sort of silliness does to your credibility, then I won’t either.
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 11:37 am
If that hurts my credibility, I don’t have any. It might be a weak joke, but it made me chuckle. Besides, the point is to look at the substance of what Gore et al are saying. It’s just as nuts when they say it as when the terrorist mastermind does.
January 29th, 2010 | 12:03 pm
I find it interesting the willingness of people to (try and) butt heads with the somewhat elusive Al Gore – not a scientist – but they will not take on scientists with data and evidence.
I can only speculate, but I doubt Gore thinks Intelligent Design/creationism is valid science (Stephen Meyer is a creationist as he taught at a Christian institute in FL requiring a statement of faith claiming creationism), nor that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS (Phillip Johnson & Jonathan Wells), nor that we need to “overthrow materialism”.
So, who else is crackers?
PS – I didn’t vote for Gore and I have read nothing by him (that I’m aware of).
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
First, this is as much a political issue as a scientific one. Gore made it big and pushed this stuff into the public sphere with his movie. Hansen is a scientist and says equally crazy things.
January 29th, 2010 | 1:13 pm
David: “I find it interesting the willingness of people to (try and) butt heads with the somewhat elusive Al Gore – not a scientist – but they will not take on scientists with data and evidence.”
SCIENTISTS have taken on scientists with data and evidence.
January 29th, 2010 | 4:06 pm
“If that hurts my credibility, I don’t have any.”
You said it, not me. At least on this issue, where you’ve made a habit of attacking the sources of the information instead of the actual information.
You can politicize and debate this all you want. Mother Nature doesn’t much care what you decide. We can do what we can to prevent and prepare for possible climate change, and by so doing reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and our ecological impact, or we can stall and stick our heads in the sand.
January 29th, 2010 | 5:49 pm
I am not the one who politicized it. “The scientists” did, and they have admitted it. So did Gore.
I think we should promote cleaner energy. I don’t think we should dismantle our economies, nor punish the destitute in the developing world.
January 29th, 2010 | 8:56 pm
It’s perfectly true that the rhetoric is virtually identical among a host of demagogues all of whom propose to save the world from catastrophe brought about by being a denier or kaffir.
It’s the same across the board and spanning the centuries.
Would you be surprised if it had nothing at all to do with climate?
January 29th, 2010 | 9:49 pm
meanwhile…..hiway 40 is shut down from ice and people are without electricity for possibly a week because of the ice storm.
January 30th, 2010 | 11:38 pm
So people with whom you disagree are nuts or crackers? This is a typical MO for those who won’t or can’t support their arguments with evidence.
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
January 31st, 2010 at 12:12 am
No, people with whom I disagree are not nuts or crackers. But Al Gore is.
January 30th, 2010 | 11:41 pm
wils,
Snow in January? When was the last time that happened? Proof positive that global warming is a scam.
January 31st, 2010 | 10:46 am
Republican operative (and nut) James O’Keefe looks exactly like conservative Christian terrorist Timothy McVeigh!
Of course, I’m not comparing the right-wing hero, Republican operative and felony arrestee (and nut) O’Keefe to the most violent child-killing Christian terrorist in US history, conservative Christian terrorist McVeigh, but it’s amusing that they look so much alike. Makes me chuckle.
And how funny is it that conservative Christian terrorist McVeigh’s employer, the nutty Andrew Breitbart… my bad, I meant conservative Republican O’Keefe’s employer, the nutty Andrew Breitbart, looks like conservative Christian terrorist Scott Roeder. Eerie. Of course, I’m not comparing nutty Andrew Breitbart to conservative Christian terrorist Timothy McVeigh er, conservative Christian terrorist Scott Roeder, although they look and think alike.
More yucks. The radical and senile Ronald Reagan believed that government was the problem, as did conservative Christian terrorist Timothy McVeigh. Of course, I’m not comparing the radical and senile Ronald Reagan to conservative Christian terrorist Timothy McVeigh, but it’s humorous that their philosophies were so similar.
Radical nuts and conservative Christians Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Mike Huckabee, Michelle Bachmann, Glenn Beck, John Boehner, John McCain, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney all think that government is the problem, just like conservative Christian terrorist Timothy McVeigh. Of course, I’m not comparing these nutty leading Republicans to the most violent child-killing conservative Christian terrorist of all time, Timothy McVeigh. It’s just funny that they all think that way.
You smeared Al Gore by comparing him to Osama bin laden. This behavior may get you blog hits but it doesn’t advance the discussion.
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
January 31st, 2010 at 11:51 am
Jeffrey: You’re awfully upset about a joke. But good humor always has an element of truth in it. Which is why you are so angry. So, the post did its job.
January 31st, 2010 | 10:55 am
“Taxes…. Regardless of what a political candidate “promises,” they will increase. More taxes are always the answer to government mismanagement. They mess up. We suffer. Taxes are reaching cataclysmic levels, with no slowdown in sight… Is a Civil War Imminent? Do we have to shed blood to reform the current system? I hope it doesn’t come to that. But it might.” — Ronald Reagan
“…federal tax system is, in short, utterly impossible, utterly unjust and completely counterproductive, [it] reeks with injustice and is fundamentally un-American… it has earned a rebellion and it’s time we rebelled.” — Timothy McVeigh
Of course, I’m not comparing Ronald Reagan to Timothy McVeigh.
January 31st, 2010 | 10:57 am
Of course, I am not comparing McVeigh to Reagan. The former is a mass murdering terrorist. Reagan was just crackers. But it is interesting that the quote above by McVeigh could have been uttered by Reagan, Boehner, or the RNC.
January 31st, 2010 | 11:20 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by J. Robert Howell, Wesley J. Smith. Wesley J. Smith said: Global Warming Hysteria:What do bin Laden and Al Gore Have in Common? » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog – http://shar.es/aP2zs [...]
January 31st, 2010 | 12:22 pm
Wesley,
You’ve given the pat answer used by demagogues to justify their illogical nonsense.
“You’ve corrected my BS therefore I must be right!”
If comparing bin Laden to Al Gore is legitimate, than so is comparing Ronald Reagan to Timothy McVeigh.
It never ends. We get it. You don’t like liberals or progressives or Democrats. Why do you feel compelled to justify your dislike with BS?
February 1st, 2010 | 12:20 am
What do Al Gore and Bin Laden have in common? Both want to bring “the wheels of the American economy” to a halt.
Of course, I am not comparing bin Laden to Gore.
—You clearly are, the headline a desperate attempt to pull in traffic. if you truly believe you are not, then you are self-deluded and drinking your own kool aid.
February 1st, 2010 | 6:27 am
Jeffery: It appears you’re a clear-thinking individual who knows BS when he reads it. Shame on you!
February 1st, 2010 | 9:00 pm
jeffery ,
if you lived off of hiway 40 then you would not have been able to send your comments in a timely way. However there are people who are relying on fossil fuels for heat and light and a stove to cook on. And then there are others who apparently will add to this “global warming” by burning wood and using it to cook with. I thought you would have understood all that since it is the heart of winter in the northern hemisphere. It will also take an awful lot of diesel fuel to power the trucks to reinstall all 30 or so of the power poles that went down.
February 1st, 2010 | 10:19 pm
I forgot to mention this is all possible based on our economic infrastucture. The repairs as well as the survival and being able to communicate via internet…
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