Deception 101 and Smokescreen 201 April 30, 2008
Posted by reformedville in : culture, Government , 2commentsThe whole Jeremiah Wright , Barack Obama, and Trinity United Church of Christ story seems to have been a mixture of Deception 101 and Smokescreen 201. I was one of the first non-Obamaites to cry foul on this story and faulted the MSM for their lack of follow-up on a story they had a year ago.
On March 21st, I stated ” Dr. Jeremiah Wright told us a year ago who shaped his worldview and his theology. If any of the “news people” had bothered to simply check out who Dr. Wright named there would be no real shock at the rhetoric of Dr. Wright. Mind you, “no shock” does not equal agreement with a statement, rather it means you understand a state of an existence of a theology being taught in our seminaries and in some churches. ”.
Dr. Jeremiah Wright was upfront and honest in his interview with Fox News a year ago about who influenced his theological perspective. I do not agree with either liberation theology or black liberation theology, but that is neither here nor there. In this country we have a freedom to worship God any way we please and if he wants to imbibe a liberation or a social gospel, or New Age , or believe in Kobol, or whatever, that is his right as a citizen.
The only explanation that is really necessary is to other Christians to clarify the theology may be different than you believe, which is what I did on March 20.
Most of us heard the soundbites of Wright’s “America’s chickens are coming home to roost” sermon, but when you listen to it in context it does not portray him in the same way. Here is the Chickens Coming Home to roost soundbite, followed by the sermons context. video
Now here is the clip of Wright asking should we sing God Bless America, no no, no ..that was played over and over. It is followed by another outtake of the sermon . Most will still probably be offended by this , but you must understand the larger point here.
This is a social perspective of the plight of many people who were oppressed at a point in our history and that black liberation theology addresses. I certainly would not claim that all black churches are like Trinity, but I do not see where folks should be so “culture shocked” Here is the sound bite of God Bless America? no, no no and the sermons context it was given in. video
I have been troubled by the media willingness to dissect and play soundbites of sermons because to me it borders on the church being intruded upon and inspected by the state. I am not willing for political gain or any purpose to “go there”.
This is why you need a church that is free to be critical of the state, it’s government and society—but what we have seen lately is branding of pastors of all types , and citizens who disagree with the government as out of the main stream, dangerous, radical or conspiracy theorists. Do I agree with Wright’s take? I agree with his right to preach free of government interference and the general publics opinion. I agree that Pat Robertson, Dr. Dobson , and the entire televangelist crowd have the same rights, though I do not agree with many of them either. And I agree he has a right to criticize the government and be held responsible for that criticism to be factual by his congregation-not the government or the news media.
These clips were taken out of context, but worse were taken out of a sermon and then are holding a pastor to account in the public square for his views. Sorry, not only he, but every American has a right to be genuinely irate. Everyone yells seperation of state but the silence is deafening here. The state has no business censoring or monitoring sermons-none-nada-zilch!
I have also watched in dismay over the past months how people feel it is unpatriotic to say that our actions overseas have no consequences. The actions of the CIA from 1950 on in Iran, to the support of the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan in fighting Russia, propping up Sadaam Hussein with biological and chemical weapons to fight Iran in the 80’s all came to putting trust and empowering people who were…..terrorists working on our behalf for our conuntries benefit. These all had consequences.
Ron Paul was all but tarred and feathered for suggesting our actions had consequences and people inferred he was not a patriot. You have to see a disturbing pattern in the packaging of the news amd what we now accept as legitimate. It is as if questioning the government is bad and a conspiracy theory rather than normal and legitimate. The government must provide answers to us.
Wright throws Obama under the bus
The Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright at the National Press Club event Monday, which was organized by Reynolds.
Errol Lewis feels that the recent Jeremiah Wright Media event was done to hurt Mr. Obama ((video)
“The Rev. Jeremiah Wright couldn’t have done more damage to Barack Obama’s campaign if he had tried. And you have to wonder if that’s just what one friend of Wright wanted.
Shortly before he rose to deliver his rambling, angry, sarcastic remarks at the National Press Club Monday, Wright sat next to, and chatted with, Barbara Reynolds.
A former editorial board member at USA Today, she runs something called Reynolds News Services and teaches ministry at the Howard University School of Divinity. (She is an ordained minister).
It also turns out that Reynolds - introduced Monday as a member of the National Press Club “who organized” the event - is an enthusiastic Hillary Clinton supporter.
On a blog linked to her Web site- www.reynoldsnews.com- Reynolds said in a February post: “My vote for Hillary in the Maryland primary was my way of saying thank you” to Clinton and her husband for the successes of Bill Clinton’s presidency.
The same post criticized Obama’s “Audacity of Hope” theme: “Hope by definition is not based on facts,” wrote Reynolds. It is an emotional expectation. Things hoped for may or may not come. But help based on experience trumps hope every time.”
In another blog entry, Reynolds gives an ever-sharper critique of Obama: “It is a sad testimony that to protect his credentials as a unifier above the fray, the senator is fueling the media characterization that Rev. Dr. Wright is some retiring old uncle in the church basement.”
I don’t know if Reynolds’ eagerness to help Wright stage a disastrous news conference with the national media was a way of trying to help Clinton - my queries to Reynolds by phone and e-mail weren’t returned yesterday - but it’s safe to say she didn’t see any conflict between promoting Wright and supporting Clinton.
It’s hard to exaggerate how bad the actual news conference was. Wright, steeped in an honorable, fiery tradition of Bible-based social criticism, cheapened his arguments and his movement by mugging for the cameras, rolling his eyes, heaping scorn on his critics and acting as if nobody in the room was learned enough to ask him a question.
Wright has, unquestionably, been caricatured and vilified unfairly. The feeding programs, prison outreach and other social services he has built over more than 30 years are commendable, and his reading of the Judeo-Christian tradition as an epic story of people trying to escape slavery is far more right than wrong - and not something to be caricatured or compressed into a 10-second sound bite.
But Wright should have known - and his friend and ally Reynolds, a media professional, surely knew - that bickering with the press can only harm Wright and, by extension, Obama. “
Things we should be judging Obama about:
Truthfulness. Or lack thereof:
Before you go feeling too sorry for Barack though you must realize he has had a few of his own “chickens coming home to roost”
For instance : video
And this is a new type of candidate? I don’t think so, he repeats over and over the 100 year remark, willing to play on peoples fear-something he feels is a disqualifier. And has no problem that the DNC is doing the same: video
Obama knew by February 25 these were out of context yet he and the DNC continue .
“I don’t just want to end the war. I want to end the mindset that got us into war,” Barack Obama says. “End the politics of fear. And using 9/11 to scare up votes.” It is nice to see that Obama is, after all, just another old-style politician. For a second, I was worried he was something new.
By the “politics of fear,” Barack Obama simply means “national security.” It is unnecessary to worry about such issues because, you know, it’s not like 3,000 of our friends were slaughtered a few years ago or anything. What is most ironic, however, is that the same Obama who complains about those who “scare up votes” is himself a leading contender for the politics of fear prize.
Now we see how the media has attempted to distort or pull a March surprise on us with old news and we know it is nothing but business as ususal by them-Deception 101.
But I also mentioned Smokescreen 201
There was a smokescreen put out this year that Democratic candidates would stress their faith, and go after the “evangelical vote” . The smokescreen began when at the beginning of his campaign he went out to Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church and the evangelical community was outraged
Most evangelicals and Catholics view abortion simply as state sanctioned murder. It is a matter of faith and a violation of their faith. But if you listened to Baracks campaign up until March he was being touted as a Christian and many evangelicals were takling notice; most unaware of his stand.
What are Barack’s stand on abortion?
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-NARAL voting record, www.ProChoiceAmerica.org Jan 1, 2008
-The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.147-148 Oct 30, 2007
-Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (S.403); vote number 2006-216 on July 25, 2006
-SB 1661: April 4, 2002 |
100% NARAL RatingWith the pass he had been receiving by the MSM everyone was focused on hope and change and new and not looking at what was his achilles heel among evangelicals.
Barack Obama Forms Catholic Advisory Council to Make Pro-Life Inroads
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Pro-abortion Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is expected to announce the formation of a Catholic Advisory Council today that he will likely use to try to make inroads among pro-life Catholic voters..
Senator Bob Casey and former Congressman Tim Roemer will participate in the Friday afternoon conference call to announce the formation of the advisory group. (link)
That is just pure deception and a smoke screen. New type of politics? It is playing people.
Now many people can make the claim (and walk a tightrope) that they are for other peoples rights to have a abortion but against it when it comes to their own personal circumstances, or in a limited circumstance situation. But Obama is for it for reasons of birth control and irresponsible choices as well, and to try to play he is a friend of those who view abortion as murder is a lie. (video)
Caveat emptor
Soundbite campaigns April 29, 2008
Posted by reformedville in : Government , add a commentThe soundbite campaign season is in full play and appear to be mostly a season of deception.
In a age of seperation of church and state, lets keep the state and the media out of our churches.
For more, see Deception 101 and Smokescreen 201.
Dean may want to scream! April 29, 2008
Posted by reformedville in : Government, Media , add a comment |
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DNC Chairman Dean Says Clinton or Obama Must Drop Out By June | |
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Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Monday that either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama must drop out of the Democratic presidential race after the June primaries in order to unify the party by the convention and win the election in November. But Dean didn’t say which candidate should drop out, only that it should happen after primary voters have been to the polls. “We want the voters to have their say. That’s over on June 3,” Dean said in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Dean also said that while the party rules say Democratic superdelegates can wait until the party’s August 25 convention to make up their minds, that would be too late to unify the party and defeat the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain. “We really can’t have a divided convention. If we do it’s going to be very hard to heal the party afterwards,” Dean said. “So we’ll know who the nominee is and that’ll give us an extra 2 1/2 months to get our party together, heal the wounds of having a very closely divided race and take on Senator McCain.” |
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Is his attempt to have a peaceful convention going to create even more problems?
Of course this is also Howards brainchild-misinformation that Barack Obama calls the politics of the past (but uses himself):
We released our second national television ad this morning on John McCain and Iraq. Watch it here; http://video.xanga.com/uprisingyouth/a6155729488/video.html
Thoughts?
Driving High April 29, 2008
Posted by reformedville in : culture , add a comment|
When we lived in Estes Park , CO (Rocky Mountain National Park ) I was working in Denver ( and Cheyenne WY ) , traveling down the canyons at 4am with the elk and fog and coming home in the early evening would be very relaxing enjoying the view the entire way home (once I passed Boulder and got on Rt. 36) . We would go into Rocky Mountain National Park a few times a week (From our flat it was 7 miles to the main entrance and 9 miles from the North entrance ) and we would frequently travel on Trail Ridge Road. Trail Ridge Road is the highest through highway in United States. It crosses the park from east to west and then drops into the Kawuneeche Valley, where the North Fork of the Colorado River flows. As you travel along Trail Ridge Road, above tree line, you are on the”roof of the Rockies” with superlative vistas of glacier-carved peaks on every side. The road travels for 4 miles above 12,000 feet and for 11 miles above 11,000 feet.. My brother sent me pictures of The Millau Viaduct this past week and it reminded me of driving in almost unnatural conditions.
The Millau Viaduct is part of the new E11 expressway connecting
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Ben Stein interview with R C Sproul April 26, 2008
Posted by reformedville in : Church/State, culture, Theology , add a comment
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4609561480192587449&hl=en |
Hillary’s faith April 26, 2008
Posted by reformedville in : Church/State, Government , add a commentTwo interesting articles of Hillary and faith:
Andrea Billups at the Washington Times tries to tell us that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is more devout than public perception has allowed, her Methodism carried close to her heart alongside her political interests, even if she is almost reluctant to talk about it.“Just in terms of her Christian commitment, I think she is one of the most authentically and deeply committed Christians I know,” said her former youth pastor, the Rev. Donald Jones, a 77-year-old retired professor of social ethics at Drew University in New Jersey who is her longtime friend.
“You can’t really understand Hillary apart from the centrality of the Judeo-Christian tradition that has affected her life. I think more than any other influence, it’s her Christian faith that has shaped the core of her character.”
Mrs. Clinton, who has downplayed religion for much of her campaign, called her Christian journey a “serious search” as she opened up at a recent Compassion Forum at Pennsylvania’s Messiah College.
“I worry that you have to walk the walk of faith,” she said at the forum, where she offered a glimpse of the role that faith has played in her political life. “Talking about it is important because it’s important to share that experience. But I also believe that, you know, faith is just — it’s grace. It’s love. It’s mystery. It’s provocation. It is everything that makes life and its purpose meaningful as a human being.
“We have created this democracy where we choose our leaders, and we have to be more mindful of how important and serious a business this is,” she said
Exit polls during the presidential primaries show that the New York senator seems to do well with religious Democrats and church attendees, along with white and Hispanic Catholics and Protestants. But in a Pew Forum survey last summer, Mrs. Clinton received a very low rating when pollsters asked likely voters how religious they perceived the candidates to be.
“There were people in the Clinton campaign who were just flabbergasted,” said John C. Green, a senior fellow in religion and American politics at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. “Somehow, many Americans have developed this image of Mrs. Clinton as largely a very secular politician.”
“I think there is plenty of evidence that she is a woman of strong faith, but a lot of people don’t believe that and see this as opportunism,” said Mr. Green.
Mrs. Clinton has written about her faith in two books and has attended Methodist churches for most of her life. At a Sojourners forum sponsored by CNN in June, Mrs. Clinton acknowledged that the power of her faith sustained her during former President Bill Clinton’s infidelity.
“I am very grateful that I had a grounding in faith that gave me the courage and the strength to do what I thought was right, regardless of what the world thought,” she said at the forum, also attended by her Democratic rivals John Edwards, who has since dropped out of the race, and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. “I am not sure I would have gotten through it without my faith.”
As first lady, Mrs. Clinton joined prayer partners from local churches who visited to pray with her regularly. She and Mr. Clinton regularly attended Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington when they lived at the White House.
As senator, she has attended a bipartisan breakfast prayer group with other members of Congress. In Chappaqua, N.Y., where she and Mr. Clinton moved after his presidency, she is known to occasionally attend the United Methodist Church of Mount Kisco.
Mrs. Clinton also has continued to pair her faith with her politics. In late 2006, when she began to launch her presidential campaign, she hired a faith guru as part of an election strategy geared at attracting evangelical and religious voters. Democrats, said Mr. Green, have recognized that in the 2000 and 2004 elections, they ceded the religious or faith vote to their Republican counterparts. But no more.
“This election cycle is unusual,” Mr. Green said. “The Democratic candidates have been much more vocal about their faith and how it’s connected to their politics. The volume of religious rhetoric is much higher than it was four years ago. Republicans, ironically, are probably talking about it a little less, although we’ve had plenty of discussion of faith and values in the Republican primaries.”
Conservatives have attacked Mrs. Clinton on faith. In July, syndicated columnist Cal Thomas wrote that Mrs. Clinton was “not a person who believes in the central tenets of Christianity.”
Yet, as her detractors have said, she has quietly spoken out when appropriate. In November at a Global AIDS summit at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., — an evangelical megachurch led by “The Purpose Driven Life” author Rick Warren — she received a standing ovation for a speech in which she quoted Scripture about faith and acknowledged the Golden Rule.
“I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of faith of any of the candidates. As a nation, we are becoming more and more thin theologically. But I think that as long as you profess a belief in God, and it appears to be a Judeo-Christian God, I don’t know that people will want to have a discussion beyond that. I don’t know that voters really want to … discern authenticity of faith.”
He added that Mrs. Clinton avoided saying too much about the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., the firebrand pastor of Mr. Obama and the object of much criticism for numerous racist, anti-American and conspiratorial remarks from the pulpit.
“Hillary invited the press to have a theological discussion when she said that the Reverend Jeremiah Wright ‘would not be my pastor,’ but nobody took her up on it,” Mr. Kuehne added. “Nobody bothered to say: Who is your pastor? And what does that mean, and how does that reflect who you are as a person?”
Mr. Jones said he thinks Mrs. Clinton is largely misunderstood on the issue of religion. He thinks that some in the press have a “thin” understanding “of the meaning of Christian faith.”
Mrs. Clinton, he added, has been a lifelong scholar and that knowledge would significantly inform her presidency.
“I think her Christian understanding of the human condition is an influence,” he said. “When Hillary has talked about her sense of social responsibility, it’s in part her sense of her understanding of her Christian faith and her commitment to improving the world through social action.”
Hillary wearing a Madonna Bracelet?
Exclusive: On day of PA primary, Hillary Clinton wears Madonna Bracelet!
Check out this photo of a celebratory Hillary Clinton taken on the night of the PA primary:
Now let’s have a closer look at that bracelet she’s sporting:
To many Catholics, it’s instantly familiar as a “Madonna bracelet”, such as this one (maybe exactly this one):
So, here it is: on the day of a crucial primary for her campaign, in a state with a large Catholic vote, Hillary Clinton deliberately wears a piece of religious jewelry identifying her with a popular Catholic devotion.
Am I surprised? Not at all. After all, it paid off. She won the “Catholic vote”.
But I thought it should be pointed out nonetheless…. what do you think of her choice?
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Comments?
Who is really ahead in the democratic primary? April 24, 2008
Posted by reformedville in : Government , add a commentPopular vote
For whatever it is worth, while it is being claimed that Barack Obama is ahead in the delegates and votes, is he? While I am not for re-do’s, roll-overs and rewarding rule breakers, it is kind of tough to claim Obama is ahead on popular votes when he is not. While they may not be seated, you can not talk popular vote and then ignore them. You can legitimately talk about the delegate count and ignore them.
Obama pulled his name off Michigan’s ballot, but again are you going to ignore a state the democrats need to win the election in November in the popular vote?
2008 Democratic Popular Vote -hat tip to real clear politics
Popular Vote Count
Popular Vote Total 14,417,134 49.2% 13,916,781 47.5%
Obama +500,353 +1.7%
Estimate w/IA, NV, ME, WA* 14,751,218 49.3% 14,140,643 47.2%
Obama +610,575 +2.1%
Popular Vote (w/FL) 14,993,348 48.3% 14,787,767 47.6%
Obama +205,581 +0.7%
Estimate w/IA, NV, ME, WA* 15,327,432 48.4% 15,011,629 47.4%
Obama +315,803 +1.0%
Popular Vote (w/FL & MI)** 14,993,348 47.4% 15,116,076 47.8%
Clinton +122,728 +0.4%
Estimate w/IA, NV, ME, WA* 15,327,432 47.5% 15,339,938 47.5%
Clinton +12,506 +0.04%
*(Iowa, Nevada, Washington & Maine Have Not Released Popular Vote Totals. RealClearPolitics has estimated the popular vote totals for Senator Obama and Clinton in these four states. RCP uses the WA Caucus results from February 9 in this estimate because the Caucuses on February 9 were the “official” contest recognized by the DNC to determine delegates to the Democratic convention. The estimate from these four Caucus states where there are not official popular vote numbers increases Senator Obama’s popular vote margin by 110,224. This number would be about 50,000 less if the Washington primary results from February 19th were used instead of the Washington Caucus results.)
**(Senator Obama was not on the Michigan Ballot and thus received zero votes. Uncommitted was on the ballot and received 238,168 votes as compared to 328,309 for Senator Clinton.)
Delegates
Barack is certainly ahead in delegates , but superdelegates may legitimately consider that many of his states are solid republican states . Barack is pulling the more liberal, and the more intellectual democrat. Let me be more blunt, he is pulling the base who will vote democratic. Hillary is winning the states the democrats need to win the general election and she is pulling the white blue collar worker. She is pulling the swing voter too.
DEMOCRATIC ‘SUPER’ DELEGATES
An estimated 795 “unpledged” or “super” delegates will attend the Democratic Party’s national convention. The super delegates are national party leaders (members of Congress, governors etc.) who are automatically appointed under party rules. They are not required to vote for any particular candidate and may commit or change their minds at any time up until the convention.
This is almost the exact case scenario that the super delegate system was put in place for. There are two major states who votes will not count in the primary, yet there are super delegates who can correct that and vote to make the outcome as if they did vote.
The question is will they? Or are they afraid to?
| 2008 presidential primary and caucus results |
In 1992 and 1996 when Democrats won the elections they carried
the following states
Where the Republicans won in 2000 and 2004
2004
2000
PA Fifth District Primary Results April 23, 2008
Posted by reformedville in : Government , add a comment
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DEMOCRATIC RACE |
V% | Votes | |
| Cahir | 33.0% | 20,151 | |
| McCracken | 41.6% | 25,436 | * |
| Vilello | 25.4% | 15,534 |
*Projected Winner, 95% Reporting
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REPUBLICAN RACE |
V% | Votes | |
| Exarchos | 5.1% | 3,063 | |
| Krupa | 3.0% | 1,795 | |
| Radkowski | 7.6% | 4,575 | |
Richardson |
8.7% | 5,263 | |
| Shaner | 18.2% | 10,999 | |
| Stroehmann | 14.6% | 8,798 | |
| Stroup | 5.2% | 3,132 | |
| Thompson | 19.5% | 11,772 | * |
Walker |
18.1% | 10,897 |
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DEMOCRATIC RACE |
V% | Votes | |
Clinton |
55% | 1,183,740 | * |
| Obama | 45% | 975,619 |
*Projected Winner, 95.00% Reporting
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REPUBLICAN RACE |
V% | Votes | |
| Huckabee | 11.0% | 85,722 | |
| McCain | 73.0% | 540,729 | * |
| Paul | 16.0% | 119,292 |
Ben Stein w/ R.C. Sproul April 22, 2008
Posted by reformedville in : Church/State, culture, Government , add a commentyou can’t make this stuff up! April 21, 2008
Posted by reformedville in : culture, Government, Media , 1 comment so farJust got back from a nice long weekend getaway. check out what was in my Newbusters folder:
Gore Won’t Ask Wealthy Hollywoodans to Alter Lifestyle to Save Planet
“If you needed a better example of the hypocrisy involved in Nobel Laureate Al Gore’s global warming hysteria, read this delicious segment from an article just published by the British Sun (emphasis added throughout):
The man who is now as much part of the Hollywood Establishment as he was a political player with the Democratic Party is very careful not to upset any of his celebrity friends.
He wouldn’t dream of suggesting that their lavish jet-setting and gas-guzzling lifestyles could be reined in for the good of the environment.
Imagine that. But that was only the beginning of the hypocrisy:
When we point out that David Beckham has recently been given the dubious title of having the worst carbon footprint in history – clocking up enough air miles to fly to the moon and owning 15 gas-guzzling cars, Mr Gore shifts uncomfortably in his seat. […]
When asked what he would say to the football icon – a hero to millions – about his impact on the environment, Mr Gore refuses to be drawn.
He gives a huge belly-laugh at the notion that Posh and Becks could invest in an environmentally-friendly hybrid car such as a Toyota Prius.
He careful considers his answer before saying: “I don’t think that’s my place. I don’t want to get into personally criticising anyone.”
It’s not his place? He doesn’t want to personally criticise anyone?
How about your regular references to everyone that disagrees with you as being “deniers” and “flat-earthers?”
And why is it okay for you to travel the world telling governments how they need to alter their energy policies and tax codes, which will end up costing regular people billions nay trillions of dollars, but you don’t think it’s your place to tell the wealthiest members of society to change their lifestyles?
At the same time, Gore’s VERY interested in telling regular people what THEY should do:
“Long-life lightbulbs, recycling, window treatments, extra insulation – these things can all help.
“I appreciate they cost money to begin with but they will save money in the long run.
“But the main benefit of people going green is that they will join a movement to pressure their governments.”
So, let’s add this all up: He doesn’t want to tell the wealthiest people in the world that they need to make sacrifices in order to save the planet, but he’s more than happy telling the common man to spend more money in order to pressure governments to raise taxes and energy prices.
Meet the new Robin Hood, ladies and gentlemen: he steals from the pool so the rich can continue their lavish lifestyles without feeling guilty about imminent planetary doom.
Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up. “
Hat tip- Noel Sheppard