"Al Gore's views on climate change are advancing as rapidly as the phenomenon itself."
Such was Newsweek science editor Sharon Begley's sub-headline of her proselytizing piece "The Evolution Of An Eco-Prophet."
Fortunately for the Goracle's loyal followers, Begley didn't ask him how the planet could possibly have cooled the past eleven years despite his warnings about the plague "carbon dioxide."
As for all those powerful hurricanes Prophet Al hath foretold, tropical cyclone activity has been at 30-year lows for the last three years.
Even New York Times environmental writer and true believer Andrew Revkin recently noticed that Arctic ice levels have actually been on the rise lately.
But Begley, although being a "science editor," wasn't concerned about anything so mundane as -- ahem -- science in this article. Heavens no.
'Twas much more important to tell parishioners how the eco-prophet looked:
Dressed in blue jeans and a button-down shirt open at the collar, Gore looks younger than his 61 years: the mountain-man beard he grew in the wake of the Florida recount debacle of 2000 is long gone, and the extra weight, which hung on several more years, is nowhere in evidence.
Frankly, that's about how relevant this 3,458-word love letter is.
But what should we expect from someone who wrote a cover-story in August 2007 entitled, "Global-Warming Deniers: A Well-Funded Machine?"
And let's certainly not forget how she blamed last year's floods in the Midwest on climate change.
Most recently, Begley likened healthcare reform opponents to people who believe there's a link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11.
So when she and Newsweek chose to allocate space for almost 3500-words of nothing but praise for a man whose climatic predictions are looking more pathetic than prophetic, why should anyone be surprised?
Truth be told, Gore really IS an eco-PROFIT; Begley just got the spelling wrong.
But nowhere in this piece was any discussion of his investments in the technologies he's supporting to solve a problem he's purporting.
Why should there be? There really wasn't enough room to get into such things.
Yes, this was a FINE piece of investigative journalism from this so-called "science editor."
Fortunately for readers brave enough to suffer through this tome was the following gem nicely hidden in the third to last paragraph:
(Disclosure: in the book, he praises NEWSWEEK for a 2007 story on greenhouse deniers.)
Ah, yes. A modicum of quid pro quo.
Couldn't Newsweek have accomplished that in substantially less than 3,458 words?
Even more embarrassing, one of Newsweek's own contributing editors at the time called that article "fundamentally misleading" and "highly contrived" while concluding, "NEWSWEEK shouldn't have lent it respectability."
I guess for Begley and Newsweek, praise from an eco-prophet is more important than respect from one of their own.
Amen.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Gore is no prophet
November 1, 2009 - 18:40 ET by R D HelmHe is a profiteer, and has managed to pull off one of the largest scams since Social Security.
As for Begley, he is the type of useful idiot that enables the enviro-scammers, as he clearly hasn't done his homework.
-Dave
Our elected representatives have failed us.
I think it's his wife,
November 1, 2009 - 18:47 ET by Dan DiegoI think it's his wife, although he probably helped.
Dan, I mistyped. I
November 1, 2009 - 18:50 ET by R D HelmDan,
I mistyped. I meant [she].
Either way, Al's a crook, and I would love to see a full investigation carried out oneday.
I know it won't happen, but it would be interesing to see what all falls out.
-Dave
Our elected representatives have failed us.
→ Not related?
November 1, 2009 - 18:54 ET by Cool ArrowI can't find any connection between the two other than they're both way left.
Ed Begley, though a complete loon, actually practices what he preaches.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
My bad on the wife thing, it
November 1, 2009 - 19:20 ET by Dan DiegoMy bad on the wife thing, it sounded so much like Ed. I wonder what concessions (if any) were made for Ed when he did the Direct TV spots.
Dan,
November 1, 2009 - 19:26 ET by R D HelmLOL-Well, if I had been paying attention and not trusted my stoopid spellchecker, it wouldn't have happened.
And you're right, they all sound alike to the point they are pretty much interchangeable.
-Dave
Our elected representatives have failed us.
Dave... I think we may in
November 1, 2009 - 18:57 ET by bigtimerDave...
I think we may in our lifetime see an investigation, whether congress or elsewhere....either way...in the meantime he and his ilk get away with this as they run to the bank and deposit (Or wherever they stash their stash)...just wait until Cap&Trade goes through...if it does...which I fear it may before 2010...talk about making them all beyond wealthy...as we all pay for it.
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
bt,
November 1, 2009 - 19:22 ET by R D HelmI certainly hope we will.
It's just too bad there are no more real investigative journalists out there with the guts to go after one of the left's most sacred of cows.
In part, I can understand why, given the tactics they use to silence their critics.
After all, Herman Cain stood up to Bill Clinton on national television way back when and challenged him to his face, and shortly thereafter underwent one of the most anal IRS audits ever conducted.
I would expect a similar fate would befall anyone outside of government who pursued this, especially if they started finding things that certain people don't like.
It's not just Gore that has me irritated, either, but this whole enviro-kook movement. God only knows how many billions have been thrown down a rat hole over this insanity.
-Dave
Our elected representatives have failed us.
Should not, a prophet..
November 1, 2009 - 18:53 ET by Gary Hall.. get something correct? He wasn't even right on ethanol (as if that wasn't a no-brainer looser path).
Begley seems fixated on sea level rise. When, just when after my 57 years of emission contributions is this thing supposed to happen?
I offer two historical sea level charts:
(;~> gary
Gary, Al did get something correct
November 1, 2009 - 19:04 ET by R D HelmHe looked out over the landscape and correctly determined there were enough government-educated doltz among us who get the bulk of their "news" from Entertainment Tonight, and thus proceeded on his merry way.
-Dave
Our elected representatives have failed us.
Hansen's 1988
November 1, 2009 - 19:06 ET by danboHansen's 1988 projections.
"You lie!" Rep. Joe Wilson R-(SC)
Don't forget false prophets
November 2, 2009 - 06:58 ET by m1xramGore doesn't need to get anything right if he is a false prophet. Their purpose is to mislead and wreak havoc. If you can make a few hundred million along the way that's just icing on the cake.
He has already failed... his country.
The Left's new strategy - none dare question us!!
November 1, 2009 - 18:56 ET by Patrick MichaelRemember earlier this year when the Irish film maker Phelim McAleer choose to challenge Gore's statements that Polar Bears were endangered seeing as the Polar Bear population is actually rising? Again, someone dared question some leftist theory, or 'fact'. The Obama administration needs to keep close ties with Gore so that they can see this "Let's Go Greeen" strategy which is next on the Socialist wish list. We should all be asking why so many radicals and domestic terrorists are part of the Green Movement.
Stay Free!!!
Kook algore, Hello....Science took away your hockey stick..
November 1, 2009 - 19:10 ET by upcountrywaterTime to go home to your 10,000 sq ft "home", (not that there is anything wrong with that).
And who has spent more funds???? Your gang!
The Global Warming Science Machine: $79 Billion and Counting
The report’s author, Joanne Nova, points to a “well funded, highly
organized climate monopoly” that she says is spending billions of
dollars without any proper scientific audits. Those audits, she
maintains, are instead being conducted by “unpaid volunteers” who have
exposed the climate industry’s “major errors time and again.” Nova also
says these government expenditures have “created a powerful alliance of
self-serving vested interests” drawn by the prospect of lucrative
profits soon to be garnered from carbon trading. The result: the
establishment of a near-monopsony that is distorting climate science in favor of climate alarmism.
Record lows 2009
This page is VERY LONG...
What did the folk do in the Old Testment with Prophets that LIE?
→ UCW
November 1, 2009 - 19:23 ET by Cool ArrowWhat did the folk do in the Old Testment with Prophets that LIE?
I know the answer to this one. They got stoned. Of course, Al's son ran off with the Prius, so his stash isn't handy.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
Well at least you can say it in a public forum
November 1, 2009 - 19:18 ET by Patrick Michael"Eco Profit", that is soooo much nicer than anything anyone I know calls him.
Stay Free!!!
Profit of doom?
November 1, 2009 - 19:25 ET by acumenI presume Begley didn't bother to explore the consequences of Algores' "preaching" on the poor in her proselyitising.
acumen... WOW! As they
November 1, 2009 - 23:46 ET by bigtimeracumen...
WOW!
As they say...a picture IS with a thousand words.
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
Lay off the Prophet Al (blessed be he)
November 1, 2009 - 19:47 ET by Dim BulbAt least Prophet Al (blessed be he) isn't living in the Judean wilderness with a leather belt around his waist, eating locust and wild honey. Locusts are nitrogen rich and, as a result, gaseous!!! And if you roast them on a fire...well, that's just an affront to the atomosphere.
At least the Prophet Al (blessed be he) isn't out there playing the bourgeois capitalist by stealing honey from the worker bees. A spectre is haunting the Judean Wilderness--the spectre of Eusocialism. Worker bees of the wilderness, UNITE!
Sorry, I digress.
At least the Prophet Al (blessed be he) did not call down fire from heaven like the prophet Elijah. When James and John wanted to commit such eco-terrorism Jesus stopped them, thus proving that the Prophet Al (blessed be he) is Jesus redivivus.
From Begley's 2007 NewsTweak
November 1, 2009 - 19:51 ET by R D HelmFrom Begley's 2007 NewsTweak article linked above
Correct me if I am wrong, but was their little scam not already coming unravelled in 2007?
As for the "well funded machine," I wonder if anyone has ever looked into the money spent by the enviro-kooks to keep their little charade going, and of that, how much was seized from us hapless taxpayers in order to promote this lunacy?
This was the last sentence in the 2007 article:
Talk about prophetic.
But this explains it all:
With Eve Conant, Sam Stein and Eleanor Clift in Washington and Matthew Philips in New York
-Dave
Our elected representatives have failed us.
Look at your quote of Newsweek:
November 1, 2009 - 22:26 ET by Kingfish17"In the Newsweek Poll, 38% of those surveyed identified climate change as the nation's gravest environmental threat, three times the number in 2000."
Just how many environmental threats are there? We are an advanced society that pretty much has eliminated large scale environmental threats, such as plauges of locusts, or famine, or the like from hurting our way of life. They have to answer they survey somehow. I'm guessing that the readers of Newsweek responded with 62% as George Bush, but that's just a guess.
Next Month We Pass a Tipping Point and We All Die
November 1, 2009 - 20:44 ET by dboPoor Sharon. Only 37 days left to save the planet. Even some of the worlds biggest uber-alarmists are calling out people like Begley that exaggerated claims are undermining efforts to cut emissions of a trace gas.
Isn't It Any Wonder Why...
November 1, 2009 - 20:47 ET by Wildcatter1980...the Eco-PROFIT Algore won't take up Lord Monckton's challenge to debate him on the subject? He cannot risk being made out to be the fool he is and have all his sources of income dry up, that's why!
--
We need to stop calling them "Progressives" when in reality they are big government "Socialists" who no longer value the individual's rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
"Most recently, Begley
November 1, 2009 - 20:48 ET by ckc1227"Most recently, Begley likened healthcare reform opponents to people who believe there's a link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11."
In other words, she's prone to making things up, and has a healthy craving for straw.
Just as Congress is exempting itself from participation in the
November 1, 2009 - 20:58 ET by Cape Conservativescam Healthcare proposed bill, so it is with the so-called environmentalists. The one thing I will say about Ed Begley is that he does 'walk his talk' - UNLIKE most celebrities who are telling you and me to stop doing this or that while they continue to jet here or there or drive their many vehicles or live in houses in which several of those the 'common folk' call home would fit. Instead, I say let Travolta do away with 4 of his 5 jets...or Sheryl Crow stop demanding 1 square TP per use while flying all over for her concerts and having bottled water available for her thousands of concertgoers (we don't abuse the environment on any scale compared to that). BigAl should replace his huge energy-consuming mansion with a more modest sized home with every recent TOP OF THE LINE energy-saving design...he certainly has made enough $$ from his scam of the entire world to do so.
All of the above is not written in envy...rather it is written in disgust for the two-faced people who wish to place rules on the great unwashed masses and not on themselves. "Let them eat cake" comes to mind!
This man has done more damage to the environment than the entire community in which I live could ever do in our lifetimes and yet he walks around tooting his own horn every chance he can...'look at me - I'm green and you are not' (WRONG) 'save the polar bears' (THEY'RE DOING FINE!) 'the debate is over' (THE DEBATE NEVER OCCURRED) and he is bound and determined that he will NEVER participate in a debate! Most recently, we were witness to the 'kill his mic' comment when he was questioned. Yes, Algore ranks right up there for a prize...not the Nobel, but for being one of the best snake-oil salesmen in history!
This comment comes from a proud Tea Party attendee, otherwise designated by Homeland Security as a Domestic Right Wing Terrorist! And now by our president as a 'swiftboater' - both titles I'll wear proudly! It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue ~ Sam Adams
202.224.3121 LET CONGRESS HEAR THE ROAR OF THE SILENT MAJORITY!
202.456.1111 WHITE HOUSE COMMENT LINE
The big name, big agenda
November 1, 2009 - 22:13 ET by GregEThe big name, big agenda Leftists, to the Leftist followers, are gods. Plain and simple. The hard Left is a religion, and they have their gods.
Glandular warming
November 1, 2009 - 23:41 ET by CO2MakerIf Sharon Begley and Ed "Don't bother me when I'm pillow-talking to myself" Schultz hit it off (like Jesse J. and John Edwards, and even Letterman) and have a sone, will they name him
. . .
. . .
[you can see this one coming, right?]
. . .
Ed Begley?
hoax deniers
November 2, 2009 - 02:32 ET by kono"Al Gore's views on climate change are advancing as rapidly as the phenomenon itself."
Newsweak has a point -- the phenomenon (to what extent there was one) has been reversed in recent years, and several recent polls showed more Americans are having doubts about Warmism's claims.
Claiming that the public is growing more convinced that Gore is right is like Hansen reverse-reporting the annual cooling trend in the Northern Hemisphere in 2008, or like Baghdad Bob insisting that the infidel invaders were being trounced everywhere by the Republican Guard (as coalition forces were taking all the land with mostly just token resistance).
"NEWSWEEK shouldn't have lent it respectability."
November 2, 2009 - 06:47 ET by baslimthecrippleHow can you lend whatyou don't got? NewsWeak is a joke, and Begley needs to come up for air.
Eco-Nutcase
November 2, 2009 - 08:03 ET by CCsteelcityThe picture alone tells all. What blasphemy.
"But a constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." - John Adams
November 2, 2009 - 10:10 ET by jessieHAl Gore is as fake as obama. That's why nobody voted for him. He's not a scientist. He is a polititian. I don't trust anyone who makes a career out of being in office.
Gore is the Bernie Madoff
November 2, 2009 - 11:10 ET by HockeyKidGore is the Bernie Madoff of snake oil salesmen.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
Really? Because I call him
November 2, 2009 - 11:49 ET by wiwfReally? Because I call him nuts.
The Rocky Mountain Collegian: Illustrating Idiocy
Gore - Why on earth?
November 2, 2009 - 12:01 ET by Patriot IIWhy would anyone ever listen to anything that lying clown says? He can't open his mouth without lying, his "inconvenient truth" bovine excretions were so "inconvenient" the English banned the B.S.!! The "father" of the internet strikes again....he is such a buffoon its unbelievable!! If you believe anything this jerk has to say.....listen to the hour and a half video on you tube by Lord Monckton!!!
Gore will go down in history as...
November 2, 2009 - 12:55 ET by holeinthehullHoleinthehull
Al Gore will wind up going down in history as the biggest boob this side of Dolly P. He is headed toward being a footnote in the annals of political and social history of this country. He could not debate a mirror without becoming confused on the issue and where he stands.
Don't forget that in the
November 2, 2009 - 21:54 ET by MikeBDon't forget that in the end times there are supposed to be all sorts of false prophets. Algore is indeed a prophet, albeit a false prophet.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan