Help me out here

[jorno67]

I have an old friend who sends me right wing propaganda emails. the latest is below. I would appreciate some help with my response. It would be nice if we could post all of these bs posts on here and pick thru them.

Tale of two houses.



House #1

A 20 room mansion ( not including 8 bathrooms ) heated by
Natural gas. Add on a pool ( and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. Per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern 'snow belt' area. It's in the South.


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House #2
Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every 'green' feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet ( 4 bedrooms ) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground.

The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.


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HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee; it is the abode of the 'environmentalist ' Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas; it is the residence the of the President of the United States,
George W. Bush.

How's that for 'An Inconvenient Truth.'

You can verify it at: http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp



Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional minority and the mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

[AlabamaBrightBlueDot]

1. Well

Al Gore's house also is his office, so the 'abode' scenerio doesn't quite work.

[Beausoleil]

2. Here's my standard reply:

What this doesn't tell you is that house #1 is a full-time residence that also houses an ongoing business that has expenses and provides employees with jobs for which they pay income taxes. So it's not just a "house".

"House" #2 is hardly ever occupied, it's just a showplace. Nobody lives there. There is no business there. Regular people don't do anything there, no private sector jobs are provided there. Whatever living expenses are generated by this "house", you are paying for it, even when empty.

Apples and oranges.

[Nite Owl]

3. So * knew that heating a

large home was going to be expensive once he and his Halliburtin vp got into office? Looks like he didn't want to foot that bill.

[unpossibles]

4. jeez. this "friend" of yours doesn't pay attention, do they?

first of all, giving Bush credit for his house when his policies have cause far more extensive damage to the environment is like giving credit to Charles Manson for not actually killing people personally.

It's also a way to avoid the actual issues, and is an ad hominem argument against Gore instead of his actual message.

[Bigmack]

5. Snopes needs to combine...

a couple of entries on this one.

Go to http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/gorehome.asp
and it explains how Gore's place is an office and a lot of other mitigations.

Incidentally, last night I posted a crackpot email, looking for help in rebuttal, and the mods locked it as flamebait. I think we need some sort of "instant debunking" forum.

[jorno67]

6. "instant debunking" forum

I would love an "instant debunking" forum. I have seen so much crap out there and there are so many people who will believe non supported half truths just because it was on the "internets" and no one could post a link to prove otherwise.

[Indenturedebtor]

7. Oooo instant debunking forum good idea.

Start a thread please. That could be a really useful tool.

[jorno67]

8. ???

how do we get the brass at DU to create this forum topic?

[Indenturedebtor]

9. Well start with a PR campaign - wth a thread asking for opinions

Then email the mods I think.

[jorno67]

10. Poll Questions

I can not post a poll as I am not a donor yet. Is there anyone who is that would like to take this on?

[question everything]

11. Al Gore's house is being habitated every day

Bush's is for show when he is not in Washington.

He already said that they will not move back to Crawford. Wait and see what his Mansion will look next year.

Al Gore, like any other American, has a right to spend his money as he sees fit.