In an op-ed on the theme that Al Gore is and always has been a calculating phony (which we leave to The Daily Howler for comment), George Will continues to suggest that there is real controversy where there isn’t any: >Minutes after Gore said that “the debate in the science community is over,” he said … Continue reading More global warming nonsense
Most op-ed writers seem to have a fingerprint argument or rhetorical device. Whether it is David Brook’s penchant for dichotomous sociological classifications or George Will’s beloved Bartlett’s Quotations after a while the style gives away the author. A couple of weeks ago I analyzed one of John Tierney’s columns (Source) and uncovered his fingerprint argument. … Continue reading Polar Bears for Global Warming
From Eric Alterman at the Nation: A week before his 2009 inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama chose as his first high-profile social engagement a dinner party at George Will’s house, where he was joined by William Kristol, Charles Krauthammer and David Brooks. Obama no doubt intended to demonstrate his desire to reach across the ideological divide and … Continue reading Play their game
It's final exam day here in my world–Critical Thinking is the course. A friend on Face Book posted this article about being a Republican who believed climate change to be a real thing. Actually, the article is about understanding what the claim about climate change entails, in particular the difference between climate and weather. This difference … Continue reading Final Exam
It's 83 degrees on April 2nd in Chicago, (and 82 on April 1st), do you know where your global warming denier is?* *It being warm, really warm, nay recordly warm today does not demonstrate by itself the view that the globe is warming. Nor does, however, an entirely predictable winter snow storm in one part of … Continue reading 83 Degrees
I asked my house guest, a real philosopher and therefore likely some kind of liberal, which major or even minor scientific view, endorsed by a majority of competent scientists working in their specific field of expertise, he doubted. He said that he couldn't think of one. Nor really can I. For in the first place, … Continue reading Blinded by expertise
The Washington Post has given tenured spots on its page to a serial climate change denier (George Will), a conspiracy theorist (Charles Krauthammer), and they have offered up guest spots to the likes of Sarah Palin and other alleged global warming skeptics. Today, finally, a little bit of balance. Eugene Robinson goes after Palin's latest op-ed, and Anne … Continue reading They’re just nihilists
The Washington Post has become the go-to newspaper for climate change skeptics. They have twice published pieces by (!) Sarah Palin, and they continue to justify running the factually and logically challenged work of George Will on the same subject. On the latter, rarely does one see an objection in print–either in the form of letters to … Continue reading One hundred and twenty percent
It really did not take long for George Will to engage in unwarranted triumphalism over the very selective violation of some scientists' right to engage in private and informal communication about their work. He writes: Disclosure of e-mails and documents from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) in Britain — a collaborator with the U.N.'s Intergovernmental … Continue reading Qui tacet consentire videtur
We have written something like 155 posts on George Will, most of them criticisms of his arguments. “Why him?” people ask (they really do). If you follow the links to blogs discussing his articles and read the rarely published letters to the editor regarding them, you’ll find three basic types: (1) people who copy the … Continue reading Speaking of hacks