Pat Robertson can stop being a shit head any time now:
"I ran into Pat Robertson at a pro-life conference this month, and he vibrates with passion about this issue -- recognizing that we should confront mortal threats even when they don't emanate from Al Qaeda.
"We are now treating the Earth, specifically this country, as a killing ground," he said, and (perhaps because my teenage son was beside me) he encouraged young people to engage in peaceful protests to block new abortion clinics.
"I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers," Mr. Robertson said, "and preventing them from constructing these clinics."
I mean seriously, what the hell is up with this. The people who want to build the clinics own the land, why do they have any right to stop the clinics from being built?
Oh wait, fuck me I'm sorry, this story wasn't about Pat Robertson and abortion clinics. In fact:
"I ran into Al Gore at a climate/energy conference this month, and he vibrates with passion about this issue -- recognizing that we should confront mortal threats even when they don't emanate from Al Qaeda.
"We are now treating the Earth's atmosphere as an open sewer," he said, and (perhaps because my teenage son was beside me) he encouraged young people to engage in peaceful protests to block major new carbon sources.
"I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers," Mr. Gore said, "and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power plants."
All you have to do is change some words and the stupidity of what Gore is actually saying becomes so much more clear. Why anyone takes him seriously I don't know, even if you do care about global warming (I don't).
Focus: Setting aside actual discussion of global warming as much as possible, why do people care what Al Gore has to say?
Just as an example (this hopefully won't be an abortion thread): I personally have no preference as to whether or not the law is pro-choice or pro-life. Reasonable arguments can be made for both sides. What I do think though is (a) the federal government has no place to decide whether abortion is right or wrong. For those wondering ,yes, I think Roe vs. Wade should be overturned. (b) If abortion is legal, it should be discouraged as much as possible. Whether it's a minor having to seek permission from a parent, or a woman having to get the consent of the father if possible. Abortion shouldn't be treated like it's something that can be just done on a whim.
Yet, you won't see me latching on to what Pat Robertson or Ann Coulter or any of their ilk think about abortion. Even if in many ways I agree with them, they're obviously insane. Why would I want any of those types of people to be the public face of something I agree with when all they'll do is just make my argument look stupid?
Which is exactly what's happening with Al Gore and global warming. The dude's obviously nuts and doesn't care about exaggerating the facts to win converts. So, bringing this back to the focus of the thread, why do people who want to see humanity take action on Global Warming allow someone like Al Gore to be in many ways the public face of their movement?
why do people who want to see humanity take action on Global Warming allow someone like Al Gore to be in many ways the public face of their movement?
Because he made his little movie, and essentially did more than anyone else to bring the idea that we're wrecking the world to a certain level of public acceptance. It's not like the fictional party of Global Warming Is Real went and elected him leader - rather he became the 'public face' when he did his part to bring the movement to the mainstream. It wasn't that long ago that a person would be shot dead in the street for suggesting global warming is real. Nowadays you'd get shot for suggesting the contrary. Like it or not, a large part of that shift in public perception can be attributed to Gore's film and the bandwagoning associated with it.
Partisan, extremist people are usually the faces of any kind of issue or movement. I think it's because you almost have to be partisan to be passionate about an idea and you have to be passionate about an idea to get heavily involved in it. It's not like someone with the attitude 'well, the climate seems to be changing but I dunno who is causing it' would become the face of the anti-global warming movement. He doesn't care enough.
But as annoying as it is sometimes to here the mindless rhetoric and hyperbole of partisan people, they do serve their purpose. The real 'truth' to any issue never lies at the outlying extremes as represent by the people arguing it, but rather somewhere between them. Where between them and how close to either side is for the individual to decide for himself. Without these people bringing attention to an issue via their relentless (and often ignorant) interest, we wouldn't have the two sides to consider that become necessary in making up our own minds.
Wait so Pat didnt actually say that .. or..? This confuses me.
Anyway, if Pat said that he's a jackass. Abortion should be decided by the people who are getting an abortion. Not to turn this into an abortion thread, but who the fuck are you to tell me that I can't do something? If my religion doesn't say that it's wrong, then why can someone else pressure me to believe something that their religion states is wrong?
Back to gore... I think he's doing it more for publicity now than actually believing in all the shit spewing from his face.
On August 18 2007 00:42 DTDominion wrote: All you have to do is change some words and the stupidity of what Gore is actually saying becomes so much more clear.
Explain to me why this isn't the most retarded thing ever written.
"All I have to do is replace some words with things he didn't say, and the desire of DTDominion to rape young, supple babies becomes so much more clear."
On August 18 2007 02:11 Cpt Obvious wrote: But I like how Flaccid said basically nothing in 3 paragraphs that look insanely elaborate. You should consider going into politics.
I answered his question. What did your post accomplish? =P
And I find the idea that I should be a politician extremely insulting. I'd rather die. =[
On August 18 2007 00:42 DTDominion wrote: All you have to do is change some words and the stupidity of what Gore is actually saying becomes so much more clear.
Explain to me why this isn't the most retarded thing ever written.
"All I have to do is replace some words with things he didn't say, and the desire of DTDominion to rape young, supple babies becomes so much more clear."
On August 18 2007 00:42 DTDominion wrote: All you have to do is change some words and the stupidity of what Gore is actually saying becomes so much more clear.
Explain to me why this isn't the most retarded thing ever written.
"All I have to do is replace some words with things he didn't say, and the desire of DTDominion to rape young, supple babies becomes so much more clear."
Apparently you have no idea what I did.
If you're the kind of person who either likes Gore or is indifferent to him, there's a good chance his statement on stopping the construction of coal mining will seem relatively innocuous. My fake article on Pat Robertson and abortion clinics, as ViRii's post shows, gets people excited. But there's very little difference between the consequences and morals of my fake events and the Gore article. Why does Pat Robertson make people so angry yet people either love or don't care about Gore?
I used almost exactly the same words Gore did, just put into a different context, to comment on what Gore said. How is that talking about things Gore never said.
On August 18 2007 02:20 MoltkeWarding wrote: I don't know what you are fuming about. If Gore wants to mobilize enviornmental protest, why shouldn't he? First amendment and all that.
Did you read either the article or my post?
- Gore wants to stage civil disobedience, not environmental protest.
- This thread is moreso about people's reactions to Gore than Gore himself.
On August 18 2007 00:42 DTDominion wrote: All you have to do is change some words and the stupidity of what Gore is actually saying becomes so much more clear.
Explain to me why this isn't the most retarded thing ever written.
"All I have to do is replace some words with things he didn't say, and the desire of DTDominion to rape young, supple babies becomes so much more clear."
Apparently you have no idea what I did.
If you're the kind of person who either likes Gore or is indifferent to him, there's a good chance his statement on stopping the construction of coal mining will seem relatively innocuous. My fake article on Pat Robertson and abortion clinics, as ViRii's post shows, gets people excited. But there's very little difference between the consequences and morals of my fake events and the Gore article. Why does Pat Robertson make people so angry yet people either love or don't care about Gore?
I used almost exactly the same words Gore did, just put into a different context, to comment on what Gore said. How is that talking about things Gore never said.
- Gore wants to stage civil disobedience, not environmental protest.
No, it's enviornmental protest. Civil disobedience is non-compliance with laws which one disapproves of.
Not allowing construction companies to do what they are legally entitled to do isn't non-compliance with the law?
Non-compliance with the law directly affecting the person. For instance if I were demanded by the law to head to the nearest conscription office for conscription and I refuse, that is civil disobedience.
Picketing is obstruction of legal activity, but is also itself a legal activity and therefore not non-compliance with the law.
So, bringing this back to the focus of the thread, why do people who want to see humanity take action on Global Warming allow someone like Al Gore to be in many ways the public face of their movement?
Flaccid already covered the best answer: people don't "allow" him -- he's just the guy that filled the spot. But seeing as how you view him as so unfit for the position, what examples can you point toward who have been successful, either other people in the environmentalist movement or leaders of other movements? What movements have never exaggerated facts for recruitment and have proven more successful than Al Gore's movement? How is Al Gore nuts and what does that have to do with his promotion of global warming awareness?
And even if there were powerful enough people so concerned about global warming that they could "phase out" Al Gore and "phase in" a more worthy person, how could they discredit Gore at this point without hurting the image of the movement in general? I don't believe any person would be so much better than Gore that replacing him would be warranted. Gore is already the man and change is not easy.
On a sidenote, relating to your introduction, I don't think you fully understand the purpose of protest. The way your writing unfolds, it sounds as if you don't believe in protest at all. What protests do you believe are good and how do they differ from those in your introduction? In every case of protesting, you'll find that the thing being protested is perfectly legal and within the rights of those doing it. This is somewhat obvious since if it was illegal, law enforcers would be stopping it and a protest would have no place there. So returning to your introduction, the protest of people putting themselves in the way of the construction of a coal-fired power plant would mostly raise awareness. If such an event was a common enough occurrence, politicians would have to become more serious about global warming or they simply won't be elected. In a simplified scenario, the result could be that politicians are only elected if they promise to make coal-fired power plants illegal or somehow restricted. But without the protests or other actions that are equally serious and in some way beyond the basic "I recognize that global warming exists", nothing is going to change anytime soon.
On August 18 2007 02:45 Rev0lution wrote: I think its the fact that Abortion is a matter of choice.
While fucking up our planet just isn't an option we can make.
Being against abortion is based on a fairy tale, while Global Warming is based 80% on facts 20% on sensationalism.
Just my 2 cents.
Why does being against abortion have to be based on religion?
Why is believing in global warming assumed to be based on facts?
are you denying the evidence supporting global warming?
btw I said 20% sensationalism because there seem to be a group of people who claim that the earth is gonna fry in 10 years or so. I don;t believe that. I believe we ARE causing global warming and it's been shown on the temperature records, we have caused the sudden increase in hurricanes and the melting of the ice caps. Even if global warming isn't as bad as Gore says it is we as rational thinking humans should have the obligation to decrease our emission of Co2.
"I ran into Pat Robertson at a pro-life conference this month, and he vibrates with passion about this issue -- recognizing that we should confront mortal threats even when they don't emanate from Al Qaeda.
"We are now treating the Earth, specifically this country, as a killing ground," he said, and (perhaps because my teenage son was beside me) he encouraged young people to engage in peaceful protests to block new abortion clinics.
"I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers," Mr. Robertson said, "and preventing them from constructing these clinics."
I mean seriously, what the hell is up with this. The people who want to build the clinics own the land, why do they have any right to stop the clinics from being built?
Oh wait, fuck me I'm sorry, this story wasn't about Pat Robertson and abortion clinics. In fact:
"I ran into Al Gore at a climate/energy conference this month, and he vibrates with passion about this issue -- recognizing that we should confront mortal threats even when they don't emanate from Al Qaeda.
"We are now treating the Earth's atmosphere as an open sewer," he said, and (perhaps because my teenage son was beside me) he encouraged young people to engage in peaceful protests to block major new carbon sources.
"I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers," Mr. Gore said, "and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power plants."
All you have to do is change some words and the stupidity of what Gore is actually saying becomes so much more clear. Why anyone takes him seriously I don't know, even if you do care about global warming (I don't).
Focus: Setting aside actual discussion of global warming as much as possible, why do people care what Al Gore has to say?
Just as an example (this hopefully won't be an abortion thread): I personally have no preference as to whether or not the law is pro-choice or pro-life. Reasonable arguments can be made for both sides. What I do think though is (a) the federal government has no place to decide whether abortion is right or wrong. For those wondering ,yes, I think Roe vs. Wade should be overturned. (b) If abortion is legal, it should be discouraged as much as possible. Whether it's a minor having to seek permission from a parent, or a woman having to get the consent of the father if possible. Abortion shouldn't be treated like it's something that can be just done on a whim.
Yet, you won't see me latching on to what Pat Robertson or Ann Coulter or any of their ilk think about abortion. Even if in many ways I agree with them, they're obviously insane. Why would I want any of those types of people to be the public face of something I agree with when all they'll do is just make my argument look stupid?
Which is exactly what's happening with Al Gore and global warming. The dude's obviously nuts and doesn't care about exaggerating the facts to win converts. So, bringing this back to the focus of the thread, why do people who want to see humanity take action on Global Warming allow someone like Al Gore to be in many ways the public face of their movement?
I'm sorry, the reason Robertson is considered a nut, a liar, and dangerous, is not because he makes a call for civil disobedience in your fake press release. Its because that release plus pre knowledge of other things he has said lead people to think he's dangerous. Its that hearing about abortion clinics from religous leaders reminds people of fanatics who bomb and kill.
This is a man who has called for the assassination of a foreign president, the bombing of the state department, and revolt against supreme court rulings. This is a man who is racist against almost everyone. This is a disgenuous man who performed faith healings in the 70s, and currently hawks diet products that allow him to leg press 2,000 pounds. How is he the public face of Christianity?
If Gore had a reputation of support for people who blow up buildings, then his call for civil disobedience would take a different light. If Gore had a history of deception and lying, it would be worrying.
On August 18 2007 02:45 Rev0lution wrote: I think its the fact that Abortion is a matter of choice.
While fucking up our planet just isn't an option we can make.
Being against abortion is based on a fairy tale, while Global Warming is based 80% on facts 20% on sensationalism.
Just my 2 cents.
Why does being against abortion have to be based on religion?
Why is believing in global warming assumed to be based on facts?
are you denying the evidence supporting global warming?
btw I said 20% sensationalism because there seem to be a group of people who claim that the earth is gonna fry in 10 years or so. I don;t believe that. I believe we ARE causing global warming and it's been shown on the temperature records, we have caused the sudden increase in hurricanes and the melting of the ice caps. Even if global warming isn't as bad as Gore says it is we as rational thinking humans should have the obligation to decrease our emission of Co2.
EPT
