Or who thinks that reducing pollution, slowing deforestation and seeking new, cleaner forms of energy are part of communist plot to end capitalism and spread-the-wealth across a One World government?
I understand that most Americans are very busy. Who has time to keep up with science? And with only 27% of Americans having a Bachelor’s Degree, how many have the interest or the ability to grapple with climatology issues?
Can YOU define the word ‘anthropogenic’? What’s your take on the ‘hockey stick graph’? Do you know the difference between volcanic emissions and burnt fossil fuel emissions?
If not, it means that you’ve never spent more than 7 seconds in a row investigating climate change for yourself.
Sean Hannity is a nice guy. Irish, good-looking, a family man, and he sells a lot of advertising for Fox News. That’s why they keep him on.
Sean’s shtick is to put-down Ivy-League intellectuals in favor of good-ole’ Joe 6-Pack common sense. I doubt Sean would have turned down Harvard if they had accepted him in 1979. Instead, he dropped out of Adelphi University “to pursue broadcasting”.
I’m picking on Sean Hannity because many Americans deny anthropogenic climate change based on what he says. But Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and yes, a small number of climate scientists deny it as well. Sean says, “Climate change is a crock”.
Now Sean doesn’t argue the science. Instead, he deflects the discussion away from what he doesn’t understand to something everyone can understand! ”Why is climate change a crock Sean? That’s easy! Blaming humans for climate change is clearly a secret plot to end capitalism and form a One World government!”
It’s one thing to call Social-Security, Medicare and healthcare reform a “communist plot”. I might take that idea seriously, or I might have a chuckle over it.
But the subject is different this time. The subject is the health and well being of the only planet that can support our existence for a million light-years in every direction. So no, it’s not really that funny Sean.
And calling our world’s scientists, who devote their lives to dry esoteric study, for below average pay – conspirators in a plot to end Capitalism?
Are you talking down to us Sean? How stupid do you think your audience really is? I realize advertisers demand ‘lowest common denominator’ entertainment to attract the largest audience. Great! Giv’em ‘Balloon Boy and the ‘White House Party Crashers’!
But this time we’re talking about our one-and-only, carefully balanced ecological system.
Perhaps the system is so large and powerful that man could never affect it. Or perhaps, after we’ve laid waste to countless rivers, lakes and ‘brown fields’ across the world, we are indeed capable of harming our planet on a global scale.
My dear reader, we’re not talking about you keeping your oversized SUV or paying $1500 more a year in taxes. In fact, we’re not talking about you at all.
This is about the coming generations – your children and their children. The Boy Scouts had a concept. You not only clean-up your campsite, you leave it better than the way you found it.
Our generation is spewing 27 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. We’ve clear-cut 50% of our tropical forests since 1947. We’ve driven countless species to permanent extinction.
We’ve NOT been very good Scouts.
Sean Hannity, I can also reduce large, complex and important topics down to one word – you’re a fool.
The problem, it seems to me, is that these right wing talk show hosts (who appear on cable news stations) are considered by the public to be newscasters or journalists.
They aren’t journalists, they are “show biz” entertainers, similar to revival-show con artists.
The basic “trick” they play with just about every issue is to whip up the audience into believing they are victims of some wrong doing (usually on the part of the left). This is an incredibly effective tool when used with their prime audience consisting of the elderly (who never want anything to change), the poorly educated (who feel beaten down by life and are looking to blame someone), and the religious right.
Every position they take on every issue is geared towards supporting this goal and maintaining their wide audience and advertisers. Until people become better educated on the issues, this tactic will continue to work and gain them appeal.
In the mean time, I would say, sadly, it’s not easy to de-bunk the entertainment from the facts. After all, most of their audience believes that the earth is 6000 years old!
hey steve, my real name is steve too! partysteve is also my nickname!
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much respect – partysteve