But not as cold as the brain freeze of global warming denialism.
The Incestuous Amplification Feedback Loop of the right-wing media is in full gear to cry “Hoax!” on Global Warming science because it’s very, very cold in the United States right now. Of course, they don’t need a particular reason to cry hoax, but they do become all the more shrill when they are trying to glom onto something they perceive as useful to their misinformation agenda.
The right-wing noise machine is ever ready to exploit a complex issue to advance their agenda, no matter how important it may be that the public have reliable information on that issue.
Limbaugh told his listeners that the term “polar vortex” is a sinister creation of “the media.” He was immediately debunked and called out by senior Accuweather meteorologist Bernie Rayno, who said the term has long been in use and who also said “now, any time anybody tries to have a debate, it turns into being politicized,” he said. “Whenever you politicize something, you contaminate it.”
Many other sources of right-wing media static like Drudge and Malkin have been crying the same denier line of nonsense and, of course, Senator Inhofe reliably amplifies this crazy talk [listen here] while sounding like an addled, partisan weatherman nattering on about every time it snowed on Al Gore in the last decade.
Here’s a fun pop quiz: How much of the Earth’s surface does the United States represent?
No, no, don’t look there! Look out your window, it’s snowing and your pipes froze last night. There must be no such thing as Global Warming! Or other countries either I guess.
Let’s say your bath tub represents 2% of your house and the tub is filled with ice. Meanwhile the rest of the house is on fire and the fire is spreading fast. Should you not call the fire department because the temp in the tub at that moment is freezing?
There’s a reason why it’s called GLOBAL warming and not your hometown warming.
Everything is supposed to change on the day you graduate from high school, but some basic things never do. Social dynamics and cliques and insecurity and confusion and authority figures and power struggles continue. There are still nerds, geeks, and weak and strong… and there are still bullies.
And whether you’re 16 or 60, standing up to bullies ain’t exactly easy.
In a July 2012 column, The Right-Wing Bully Machine, Robinson warns that “not all overheated political rhetoric is alike. Delusional right-wing crazy talk… is a special kind of poison that cannot be safely ignored.”
“Let me be clear,” he writes: “I’m saying that the extreme language we hear from the far right is qualitatively different from the extreme language we hear from the far left — and far more damaging to the ties that bind us as a nation. Tut-tutting that both sides should tone it down is meaningless. For all intents and purposes, one side is the problem.”
“It would be satisfying to withhold the attention they seek, but this is not an option. The only effective way to deal with bullies is to confront them.”
Hi. My name is Charlene. My father, born in 1922, lived through the Great Depression, was a member of the CCC’s and served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He became a Democrat when he realized it was FDR and the Democrats who made sure people had enough to eat. He never forced his political views on anyone. He told me I could be whatever I wanted. He said, “Think about it, make a wise choice and vote.” He said, “If you don’t vote, you cannot express an opinion because it won’t matter anyway.”
Like him, I have not forced my opinions on anyone.
I’ve tried to live my beliefs. I am surrounded by the noise. I can not be quietly who I am. I can’t enjoy a dinner with family and friends without being bullied with right-wing talking points.
They back you into a corner until you’re screaming inside, “No! I don’t agree with you.”
My father passed away a few weeks ago and my brother and his wife, my cousin whom I adore and his wife (one of my best friends) and I were having dinner in a restaurant and it was like Fox News was sitting at our table.
Normally, when I am in this situation, I try to change the subject because I have learned that old lesson that you never discuss politics or religion. We can no longer do this. Our world has changed. It is spiraling out of control in a downward direction.
That night I let a few comments go. They say them so matter-of-factly; like everyone thinks the way they do. They act like robots spewing out sentences whether they make sense or not.
When I tried to speak the truth that night, the two women just sat there like statues and the two men together ganged up on me; they got loud, red in the face, and double-teamed me with even more right-wing talking points.
They have always done this but they are much worse about it now.
They won’t talk about the tragedy in Newtown, CT because they can’t. There is no legitimate argument for what happened. All they can focus on is how our President “wants to take their guns away.” I tried to tell them that is not his goal and I heard the “slippery slope” story. Then, the Second Amendment came up and I said it had nothing to do with the subject or assault weapons and I got told I was wrong.
According to them, it has everything to do with it. They kept saying they had a right to own guns. Oh, by the way, my cousin works in a gun shop in Mercer County (the place where it was said that they “cling to their guns and religion”). He was bragging about how they sold more guns in the month of December, since the killing of those little children than they have all year.
I never said we didn’t have a right to own a gun. I sold my gun. I had a .22 that I used for target practice and for killing groundhogs that would not stay out of our garden.
I grew up with a father who owned guns. He kept them in a gun cabinet in the back bedroom. It was locked and we knew not to go near it. Dad was a lifelong member of the NRA. He was proud to be a member because back then the NRA was all about saving the environment and teaching gun safety.
He was not a gun collector. He was a hunter; a sportsman. His guns were never loaded and they were not there “for protection” as I hear so many say. He never had an assault weapon in his hands. He raised five children, three girls and two boys. He taught us all how to shoot and hunt safely. He actually taught gun safety courses for the NRA.
I don’t understand this “for protection” argument. Don’t we live in a civilized society? Aren’t we a nation of laws? Why do they act like we are living in the Wild West? According to their argument, we have no laws. Every citizen is the judge, jury and executioner.
One day, when Dad was 88 years old, I was visiting when the NRA’s magazine came in the mail. He had become blind so I asked if he wanted me to read it to him. He said “No, that’s junk mail.” He told me that the NRA is no longer what it once was; that he was ashamed to say he was a lifelong member. He said they did a “flip-flop” on their beliefs, and have become nothing more than a mouthpiece for the right-wing agenda. He said he wants nothing more to do with them.
I was thinking, what happened to “love your neighbor, don’t lie, don’t kill, etc., etc.?” Oh, that’s right, those are some of the Ten Commandments; they’re in the Bible the right-wing holds so high. What a perfect world it would be if we just obeyed one of the most basic parts of God’s holy word.
Recently, I have turned off the noise, sat quietly and heard myself think. I invite you to do the same. I’m sure there are others out there having the same experiences. We can no longer remain silent.
Think about the famous Mark Twain quote:
“A lie can travel half-way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
