I am a scientist, not a conspiracy theorist. I am a rational thinker, not an alarmist. If you will accept this, you will understand when I say our way of life, indeed, our civilization and the survival of the human race and perhaps all life on this planet stand on a cusp. The slightest push—or the failure to take action today—will drive us over the precipice. Donald Trump seems determined to provide that push and determined to ensure that action isn’t taken to stop it.
His denial of climate change and his nomination of Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and of Scott Pruitt as EPA Administrator bode nothing but disaster for the climate and for Planet Earth. Trump relies on lies, slogans, and propaganda. He seems to be impervious to facts, truth, and reality. Trump has said he supports “clean coal.” Mr. Trump, there is no such thing as ‘clean coal.’ It is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels *. When you say “clean coal,” you lie. Trump has labeled climate change a "con job," a "hoax" and "bull ---t." Mr. Trump, you lie. You deny facts. You deny data. You deny the truth. * Trump has said that “nobody really knows” the facts about climate change, and “It’s not something that’s hard and fast…” With these words, he casts doubt on something he knows little or nothing about. And he lies **. The facts about climate change are somewhat complicated, but should not be hard to understand by a “smart person” as Trump claims himself to be when he dismisses the entire US intelligence community. Mr. Trump, you are not smart. You are seriously intellectually impaired, largely because it seems your mind is closed to new information. Not your fault. It’s those pesky perceptual filters that you’ve erected and which seem impervious to any information that conflicts with your preconceptions. In 2012, Trump tweeted that global warming “was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” ** If you or I said that, we’d be labeled “conspiracy theorists” or “kooks.” Trump said it, and was labeled “president-elect.” Does anyone else see the irony? A large part of the problem is Trump’s creation (if not creation, then nurturing) of the “post-truth” era, in which the far-right embrace of social media threatens the truth. Trump declares something without any basis in reality.† It is immediately re-tweeted to his millions of “followers” (think “sheep”). In their minds, it becomes the truth. Trump’s distortion of reality, and the gullibility of Trump’s Chumps is perhaps more threatening than climate change. For only with massive popular support can the worldwide attack on climate change succeed. And Trump has diverted that support to his populist agenda. (Actually, I suspect his agenda is simply to increase his own power, but it is the mob that will allow him to do that. Remember, the root of the word “mob” is “mobile party,” another name for “riot.”) As far as his nominations of Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State, and Scott Pruitt as EPA Administrator, the best thing I can say is, “I told you so.” It seems that they’re both “climate change deniers,” and likely shills for the energy industry. The results of the most recent presidential election, between the two most disliked candidates in history, suggest several things. One, that the American people by and large are more gullible than even P. T Barnum ever thought. (Barnum is credited with saying, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”) Second, that they’ve grown even more gullible since Barnum died in 1891. What can you do? Write your Senator. Demand that they vote against the confirmation of Tillerson and Pruitt. Don’t trust me… check multiple news organizations’ reports of who these to people really are and what they really believe. It’s probably too late to change the results of the recent election. It’s not too late, however, to throw as many roadblocks as possible in the path of the Trump juggernaut as it seeks to destroy the world. (Question: How does he expect himself and his genetic heirs to survive? Does he care?) Try this link: http://actions.priceofoil.org/stand-up-for-our-future/?sp_ref=253081734.363.177498.e.0.2&source=em_p PS: In a few days, I plan to post an article on how Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixon, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen have become victims of climate change. You may not want your children to read this. References: Yes, I have drawn on some foreign news sources and some easily identified with the “left.” I’ve done this, because neither the US mainstream media nor the “alt-right” have offered hard news on these subjects. * Blog Post 2016-12-07 “CO2 Breaks Five Million Year Record…” ** http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-climate-change_us_584d5cf2e4b0bd9c3dfd3473 † http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/carl-bernstein-donald-trump_us_584df2b4e4b0bd9c3dfd4c02
Paul Lentz
12/14/2016 10:00:46 pm
President-elect Trump does not have any sort of political experience (same as Dwight Eisenhower). Which means that he isn't fully aware of how the world functions on a much more broad level in terms of international interaction. Comments are closed.
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AuthorRegistered Curmudgeon, scientist, skeptic, humanist, and writer. Archives
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