Fearful Forfeits

Gaffer
What about the alleged gaffe that dominated reporting from Israel? Romney averred that Israeli and Palestinian economic development might be related to culture. A Palestinian Authority spokesman obligingly jumped forth to accuse Romney of racism, among other thought crimes.


The American media bought it whole, despite the fact that Romney’s assertion was a direct echo of the United Nations’ Arab Human Development Report, written by Arab intellectuals and commissioned by the U.N. It unambiguously asserted that “culture and values are the soul of development.” And went on to report how existing cultural norms — “including traditional Arab culture and values” — are among the major impediments to Arab economic progress. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 8/2/2012)


All major media outlets announced that they would be issuing retractions to their earlier contention that Romney committed a gaffe. Just kidding!


Futuristic
When I testified before the Senate in the hot summer of 1988 , I warned of the kind of future that climate change would bring to us and our planet. I painted a grim picture of the consequences of steadily increasing temperatures, driven by mankind’s use of fossil fuels.


But I have a confession to make: I was too optimistic.
...
We can solve the challenge of climate change with a gradually rising fee on carbon collected from fossil-fuel companies, with 100 percent of the money rebated to all legal residents on a per capita basis. This would stimulate innovations and create a robust clean-energy economy with millions of new jobs. It is a simple, honest and effective solution. (James E. Hansen, Washington Post, 8/3/2012)


There is a surprising sentiment emerging even in the traditional (Liberal) media. The perception is that climate warming/cooling/chaos theorists are losing the support of the general public. In other words, the 'climate deniers' have gained the upper hand in the debate. This explains the increasing desperation of Hansen, McKibben, Gore and the like. And so their response, of course, is to double down. ('Things are even worse than I thought!')


Reasonable people are concluding that the 'science' they have been told about is far from 'settled.' And with proposals like those of Hansen (more taxes, more magical green energy jobs), public opinion will continue to move against them.


Birthday Boy
President Obama is turning 51 on Saturday, with just three months until Election Day. So he will celebrate in true political fashion: spending “downtime,” as an e-mail invitation put it, at a party at his Chicago home with a bunch of strangers who made campaign donations to be there. (NYT, 8/3/2012)


The month’s jobless rate brings the average for 2012 to 8.2 percent, compared with an average in 2011 of 9 percent, though most of the “improvement” is because of a shrinking labor force, not more hiring. (NYT editorial, 8/3/2012)


Once again RedStateVT has to acknowledge the New York Times for letting just a bit of truth shine through.