The mean-spirited ignorant incoherence of the anti-climate Right
by David Atkins
Not content with yet another climate-change-related drowning of an American city after joking about rising seas, Romney surrogate Artur Davis wants America to know that he has contempt not only for those concerned about climate change, but also for logic itself: Check the video:
WEST CHESTER, Ohio — Most of the top surrogates for Mitt Romney who appeared at a massive rally Friday night expressed compassion for the victims of Hurricane Sandy and urged the crowd to keep them in thoughts and prayers.
There was one exception: former Alabama congressman Artur Davis, a former Democrat and former Obama supporter, who joked about rising sea levels.
“Now four years ago, ladies and gentlemen, the president sounded so good. Remember the rise of the oceans, which began to slow, the planet would began to heal,” Davis said. “Now I don’t know about the oceans; ask Mayor Bloomberg and Al Gore about that.”
This is more than just callousness of the highest order. It’s an affront to decency and logic even for climate deniers.
Davis’ tortured “logic” appears to be that Barack Obama promised to heal the climate and prevent the rise of the oceans, but failed to do that, resulting in an oceanic surge over New York City. This, even as the right attacks the President for being insufficiently in favor of burning more coal and oil.
Davis would like the country to ask Mayor Bloomberg how he feels about Obama’s promise to heal the planet, even though Mayor Bloomberg just endorsed the President based partly on his stance on climate change, insufficient as it may be. The nation did ask Mayor Bloomberg, and the Mayor responded by making climate a key rationale for opposing Mr. Davis’ favored candidate.
Finally, in the same sentence he brings up favorite target Al Gore, apparently in an attempt to mock the very existence of man-made climate change.
So in short, Obama is stupid and unserious because he promised to stop the rise in the oceans that isn’t happening because Al Gore is fat. But Obama is also weak and incapable because he didn’t stop the rise in the oceans that isn’t happening–but actually is happening because New York is drowning. Mayor Bloomberg can point to Obama’s lack of success in this area, of course, since he endorsed him.
But if none of that makes sense, that’s because it doesn’t need to. It doesn’t need to any more than Mitt Romney’s tax “plan”, or calling the President a Muslim Atheist. As long as a variety of visceral grievances and prejudices are strung together as an ad-lib, it works for the conservative mind.
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