another letter to a neo-con family member...

[raging_moderate]

first his email to me, then my response, his retort, and my final smackdown.

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email I received

This is Lord Moncton from Britain. He keeps challenging Al Gore to debate global warming. Al just avoids him. This will scare you a lot more than anyone can dream up for halloween. I'm forwarding this to Republicans and Democrats alike ... This is a "Must Know" for all Americans

Watch this NOW all 4 minutes!! SEND IT AROUND FAST! This speech was made in October at Bethel College. In Minnesota! This has got to be disseminated quickly so that perhaps something can be done to stop this absolute madness. This is the most scary thing I have seen to date and it is going to happen very, very fast – in a matter of days. This is a relatively short video– PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO WATCH IT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMe5dOgbu40

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my response

I suggest you do a little research into the background of Lord Moncton and decide how credible he actually is (he's the same guy who is advocating for the equivalent of Leper colonies throughout the world for HIV positive people).

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his retort

He's also the one who's been giving Al Gore a black eye in the Global Warming debate and who the Democrats and liberal media seem to be avoiding in that debate. I don't know who's got the upper hand on compassion—which you seem to be alluding to; that would be a debate about morality and truth. But I think, depending on how one voted would probably be an indicator of the credibility of either of them to the voter. I'm more concerned about the direction this country seems to be heading under the current administration and the long term results of that direction and it has nothing to do with the Economy; that will take care of itself, since neither Republicans or Democrats want to be poor!

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my final smackdown

Wow, J####

I don't know where to start.

First, there is no global warming "debate." There is more universal scientific consensus regarding the existence and risk of global warming (I prefer to call it accelerated man-made global climate change) than perhaps any other actively developing theories out there. The only debate is how bad will it be, and at what point is it too late to do anything about it. It turns out the original theories about it were quite conservative. The positive feedback loops we are seeing are actually turning out to be accelerating changes faster than they theorized.

Lord Moncton is a self-aggrandizing loon who, despite his own claims to the contrary, has absolutely no scientific background. No one in the mainstream press, excepting Faux news, gives him any attention and they shouldn't. Al Gore I suspect sees him the same way. Why should Al Gore (Harvard grad, volunteer Viet Nam veteran, US Representative, US Senator, US Vice-President, Nobel Prize winner) give such a man a platform to rant? I don't know of anyone who considers the "good Lord's" attempts at harrassing Gore as giving him a black eye... more like nips on his ankles. It reminds me of when Rush Limbaugh was "challenging" President Obama to a debate. Limbaugh earns that right if/when he wins the GOP nomination for president in 2012. Until that time, they should stop trying to artificially elevate themselves and their "opinions" by trying to somehow tie themselves to someone more credible than they are. How the Democratic party comes into the argument I don't understand. Gore is not in public office any longer.

To somehow believe this non-US citizen that Obama can with a simple stroke of a pen turn the USA into a puppet of some "New World Order" is absurd. Quite simply, treaty ratification requires a positive vote by 2/3 majority of the US Senate. Even Bush and Cheney in their unprecedented power grabs couldn't Patriot Act themselves around that requirement. Just because the guy inherited the title Lord from the death of his father, has an Oxford accent, and wears a well tailored breasted wool suit doesn't mean he's not an idiot. There is more than a little reminder of the Cauncey Gardener character in the movie Being There there. He actually calls the various western European governments "liberal regimes??"

There is no "liberal bias" in our media. There are a few liberal commentators out there (Madow, Olberman etc) who are far outnumbered by there far-right contemporaries. As far as the "news" goes, there isn't and never was a liberal bias. Ever since we lost the Fairness Doctrine (thanks Ronnie) and corporations have achieved media control, we have quite the opposite. They tend to report on what is good for there own investors. I won't even include Rupert Murdoch's New Corporation as anything close to actual news. The day the US gave him citizenship to allow his media ownership is a day we should always regret. William Randolph Hearst back from the grave..... yikes.

I too have been quite concerned about which way this country has been heading for years. I, like many, feel more optimistic (although still not much) than I have for many years that we might be waking up and starting to take care of our problems. Unfortunately, until we get the Fairness Doctrine back and media control un-monopolized by the large corporations, get tough anti-trust laws back in place, get reasonable and effective regulation within our financial market and banking/insurance systems, get the rampant graft and corruption (euphemized as "lobbying") out of our governments, invest once again in broad based public eduction, and regain our secular traditions from those who foolishly wish upon us a backwards theocracy we are doomed to a slow death spiral. The idea that the economy will take care of itself has quite obviously been painfully proven wrong once again. If allowed, there will always be a greedy, clever few who will take care of themselves in such a way that puts all of the rest of us at risk. The latest GOP Ponzy scheme of "privatization" has been nothing more that privatization of profits, with the public taking all of the risks. Many of the more liberal and truly fiscally conservative leaning minds out there (including nobodies like me) warned of what would happen and how we would all be left holding the bag. We were right. I want better for my kids and my country. I guess you could say I'm "patriotic" and tired of being accused of being otherwise (by those fed by our corporate run media) because I understand the patriotic duty of questioning authority, and staying alert and educated about what's going on around me (I'm not suggesting you question it, but on a national scale, yes the Bush/Cheney era did just that).

A couple of links to speeches that have struck me as better putting into words ideas that I also hold better than I can.

http://www.liberalparty.org/JFKLPAcceptance.html
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/11/29/message_to_west_point.php
http://pol.moveon.org/goreremarks052604.html

So there, I've got my own rant down I suppose. It's quite obvious that we won't agree on much politically, economically, religiously etc.... I thinks it 's best that you remove me also from the emails you occasionally send out with religious and political comments. All I suspect will happen is tension between us, and I cherish our friendship too much to want that to happen.

btw, Happy birthday once again;

J$%$%$%

[mimitabby]

1. you're too nice.

[roguevalley]

2. good stuff, hon.