Those are the conclusions of one Dr. Dave Mason, owner of a tech site, Dave Mason.com, and host of his own syndicated tech-oriented radio program. It would appear the good “doctor’s” environmental stethoscope has been misplaced into some dark region, and his environmental view small enough to fit through the eye of a needle.
Now don’t mistake this as a personal attack on Dr. Dave, far from it. He is an honorable man with an impeccable past, a fierce defender of family values and all around good guy. I have nothing but the utmost respect for him. He is entitled to his opinion, and I respect that.
The attitude I’m referring to is best seen in two recent articles by Dr. Dave in his Truth Blog. One post is entitled “NBC’s Sunday Night Football becomes overt left propogandist”, and the other is, “Gore, outright liar, calls dissenting Scientists outlyers”. Besides his vituperative attack on NBC and the individuals involved in the broadcast, he apparently believes that global warming is a myth, at least as proclaimed by Al Gore, scientists and other notables, and that environmentalists are nut cases, or at least badly misinformed.
You’ll have to read his stuff rather than my trying to paraphrase in order to get the full impact of his attacks. Here’s my question to all those people who seem to think the planet is doing just fine, thank you, and that all this posturing about global warming is egocentric, politically inspired, a commercial ploy or any other conspiracy oriented claptrap you can dream up. Is all this acrimony purposely diverting our attention away from real issues, or merely our normal human need to choose up sides and pick a fight, or better yet, stand back, feed the controversy, and let you and him fight?
So, what are the alternatives to this mess we live in, or does the right wing crowd even see one? I’ve heard them say that private industry should be trusted to clean up their own environmental messes, not the government. Golly, haven’t they done well over the past century? God help us if we turn them loose today.
I saw a special on one of the cable programs about the sun and it’s contribution to climate change on earth. One theory is that changes on the sun helped bring about the little ice age of several centuries ago. It’s also been proven that the earth has more than once suddenly turned over and relocated the poles to the equatorial region. The Sahara was once a lush and green paradise, and the list goes on about mother nature’s handling of her domain.
The earth is a living thing, and may be in the throes of some natural change, while reeling from the indignities we’ve imposed upon it for decades. We must remember that we’re guests on this rock, and I wonder if mother nature isn’t telling us that we’ve been naughty little boys and girls.
So why not just use some common sense and support cleaning the air we breathe? I know my failing lungs would appreciate it, and what about the polluted streams and rivers, water aquifers and damage to the earth itself as the result of decades of indiscriminate dumping of toxic wastes and depletion of it’s finite resources? After all, we have children, grandchildren and future generations to consider, not to mention ourselves as long as we take a breath and drink a glass of water.
I’m reminded of a cartoon I saw recently where a man was standing outside a ramshackle building, obviously beyond repair, the yard filled with trash and overgrown with weeds. With a huge smile on his face and a regal sweep of his arm he proclaimed to his son; “someday, all of this will be yours.” Is that who we are? I hope not.
Now before you say it, I’m not suggesting that we all hug, hold hands and dance through the woods singing kumbiya. I may be a liberal but I’m certainly not unrealistic. In spite of all the negativity, things are being done about our environment. People are creating new, sustainable ways of powering their homes, businesses and vehicles. There’s a mountain of research underway to find alternatives to depleting the planet’s finite resources and to eventually find clean, non-polluting ways of dealing with our waste products. Cleaner air is coming too, your lungs will love us for that.
so, live with it anti-environmentalists, huff and puff, uncork all the snide remarks you have, slay us with your sarcasm, whine away, pick your fights and give it your best shots, the change is underway. Whether you’ll ever appreciate, acknowledge or even be aware of it, the world will be a cleaner, safer place for you, your children and their children.
So true, Dr. Dave…
Not having to say you’re sorry means that there is nothing for us to be sorry about! Better Left-y than wrong!
I don’t always respond to those who respond to my writings. Many are not worth the time, and others just make my points for me.
“Mad” Max – PlanetOptions.com icon and noted environmentalist commentator, recently wrote about a couple of blogs I wrote regarding the offensive (I’m acting liberal now) NBC/Gore “Greenie” lovefest that occurred over the weekend and into this week.
Max’s response highlights several effective but faulty cliche’s that are used to discredit and marginalize those who don’t jump on board the “Green” movement or any other movement de jour that the left conjures up to bolster their agenda.
1. The right disagrees so they are stupid, mean and don’t care.
2. The economy’s a mess, the environment is a mess, human rights are a mess, politics is a mess, everything sucks (usually when a conservative is in office) ad nauseum.
3. Even if we’re wrong it’s the “right” (pardon the pun) thing to do.
Point 1:
I fell for this years ago, when I was still in larval stage (a bleeding heart liberal Democrat) and voted for “Jimma” Carter. Ron Reagan was the devil because someone at the Agricultural Department categorized Ketchup as a vegetable in order to malnourish and eventually destroy our only hope for the future, our children. As a lefty, I loved it. Reagan was the enemy and I didn’t care much for whether the argument really made sense or not. The networks joyously pounded the drum along with his opposition. It sounded good, attacked my enemy, so I happily strode along giggling.
Ron Reagan was also going to destroy the Earth with his talk of the “Evil Empire”. Nuclear holocaust was just around the corner, not because the Soviets were bad guys (even though they would be the ones that launch the holocaust) but because Reagan had the gall to say they were bad guys. Little girls were interviewed on the national TV network news (back when they mattered) hysterically crying about the shame of their brief innocent lives being snuffed out in the coming nuclear attacks instigated by Reagan. The Soviet Union really wasn’t really all that bad, and if we keep giving them a hard time, they might get mad and do something scary. How dare that stupid, unsophisticated dunce goad them!
I’ve since learned that Ron Reagan was a brilliant man. He had an understanding of politics, economics and human nature few in our leadership have ever possessed. He did more to protect the children by ramping up the economy and encouraging those who had become inordinately dependant on State care to work, than any President since JFK. He along with Lech Walesa, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II helped destroy what really was the Evil Empire. More people died at the hands of Stalin and Communism in the 20th century, than in the history of mankind combined. Most of those murdered at the hands of their own evil leaders. Only that noted Iranian humanitarian Ahmadenijad and the most ardent Marxist or Leninist try to get away with denying that today.
On the particulars of climate change; I recall specifically the cover of Time magazine in 1975 that warned we were in a catastrophic sprint to an unavoidable ice age. Scientist after expert scientist told the most compelling story of deep freeze terror you could imagine. And they had the “facts” to prove it. Obviously something has changed dramatically since then, but no one ever seems to have to say “I was wrong and I am sorry”. Ironically some of the steps that might have been taken to avoid that scientific certainty, had it gained traction as the “Greenies” have so expertly done with their issue today, would have WORSENED our alleged present day problem. So how do we pick our legitimate catastrophes? I do not know. But at least I am able to admit I do not know. I don’t jump on the PC bandwagon, try to coerce everyone and insist that all who disagree are stupid and careless.
I am not the most brilliant analyst. I am not a climatologist, but I do know that the left is not beyond fudging a little to make their position go. I lived it over and over. I believe that is probably happening again now. Otherwise they wouldn’t so aggressively attack, marginalize and silence those noted climatologists who do disagree with the Cataclysmic Climate Change (Triple C) crowd. Why must the debate be closed? Why are you afraid to hear dissent? Why do you stop funding and label those who heretofore were considered mainstream experts, “outlyers” when they disagree. Sorry but I am not falling for it again. It’s one of the VERY strong reasons I am no longer liberal. I think the lefts’ leadership, not necessarily their constituents, are often purposely dishonest.
Point 2:
As ugly as life can be, not everything is a mess. The reality is we live in the best times on Earth ever. The environment is cleaner than it has been in a hundred years or more. There is more forestation in the continental US than at the time the country was founded. The economy is unbelievably robust, in spite of an incredibly unstable world situation. Life is good!
But you can’t meddle in everyone’s lives and feel good about being in a society changing movement when everything is good. So a controversial problem is targeted, a PR campaign designed, and the re-education begins! Taxes can be raised so the oceans levels don’t. High taxes beats drowning everytime. This stuff really works!
This incessant manipulative negativity is another reason I can no longer tolerate being a member of the left. Sure life is messy, often unfair, but it is a great gift and better than ever!
Point 3:
“So why not just be for clean air?”, they exclaim. Often after running out of facts to support their Triple C argument. “Maybe it’s not happening, but you can’t tell me it’s bad to take care of the environment! Don’t you care?”
No, it’s not bad to take care of the environment. And, yes I do want my children and grand children (whom I love greatly in spite of being a conservative) to have a good life and healthy Earth to live on. But that is not the point. If you want to argue environmentalism, you’ll have to find someone else. We agree! The Triple C crowd advocates radical coercive change in our lives, laws, businesses and Governments. Such changes would never be embraced without the threat of such a near term catastrophic inevitability. All the more reason to question the “facts”. Why don’t we do something about changing the path of massive meteors and comets? It is a much more sound scientific threat, and could destroy the Earth instantly before I even finish this sentence!
Intelligent environmentalism? Absolutely! Frantic, radical involuntary reorganization of everything motivated primarily by environmental fear mongering? I think not!
MASH’s old weasel Col.Frank Burns’ exclamation of, “Do something! Do anything” when the bombing of the MASH 4077th’s compound started, just doesn’t fly. You think we have Cataclysmic Climate Change going on? Let’s hear the facts. Both pro and con. Let’s weigh them judiciously. Then let’s formulate a plan that honors the independence, freedom of choice and prosperity for everyone that this country is based on. Otherwise, we may find we don’t benefit from the apathy of the ’70’s and we inadvertently make the coming catastrophic ice age of the 21st Century much worse that it’s already going to be.
Being a lefty means never having to say you’re sorry!
Dr Dave