By Roger F. Gay
Al Gore made an appearance on a Norwegian television program last night. (approx. 40 min. in, 42 to skip chit-chat) A more impressive move would have been to have accepted the invitation to appear before the US Senate, which could conceivably lead to criminal charges.
He has thus far failed to convince the world that the Earth is headed for certain catastrophe without his leadership and he said so. In his fantasy world however, he is still on a vital mission, there is still a “massive movement worldwide” supporting him, the awesome might of Bush's evil oil (and coal) empire – that wants nothing more than to destroy civilization as we know it – continues to focus solely on defeating him (long after his election defeat in 2000, which is still very much on his mind), and his own personally profitable and growing, federally supported dabblings in the energy business are primarily philanthropic – not worth the attention they have received.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. The great and powerful wizard Gore says he isn't finished yet; despite appearances apparently – which one might think would be important to a man who has nothing else in his arsenal. His appearance in a protected studio in Oslo, confronted by a small mild-mannered green-conscious Scandinavian audience, is a far cry from facing the angry mods back home. It seems to be the story of his life. Recalling that his own home state of Tennessee voted against him in the presidential race, it seems that the more people get to know him, the less they like him.
Gore's quip that he's not finished yet characterizes the entire global warming saga. Anyone who's engaged in Internet debate on the subject or even tried to follow the issue via newspaper or channel switching has encountered this same psychotic repetition. If at first they don't succeed then they will deny and lie again! And that goes for the second time, the third, the fourth …. You get it – as never-ending as Florida recounts; it goes on and on until responsible people step in and put a stop to it.
From the ardent Internet believer in global warming “theory” who can't provide any real scientific evidence, to the East Anglia researchers who insist that Climategate is merely a misunderstanding, to IPCC defenders who claim their reports are only in error by a few insignificant typos, to Al Gore still battling the imminent destruction of planet Earth by the evil “global warming pollutants,” there can never be too many chances to ignore defeat and start all over again – from the beginning.
To the glee of warmers, it's put the rest of us in an uncomfortable position. If we ignore them, they don't go away. With trillions of dollars at stake, they move forward if resistance is not sufficient. Without debate, they continue to build support among the unwitting, becoming stronger. On the other hand, we do not want to be trapped in a dysfunctional co-dependent relationship, endlessly repeating the same old arguments.
Al Gore's arguments in “An Inconvenient Truth” were dead on arrival. We've always known that they did not correspond to real science. Despite years of international effort and an estimated trillion dollar cost, the global political and scientific effort to justify political action on global warming has come up empty handed. In its place – the corruption that typically accompanies such large amounts of public spending.
Not finished yet? I really think it's time for responsible people to step in and put a stop to it. No more do-overs!
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