Dead Enders
Being in the Republican minority has it’s perks, especially if you’re Marc Morano, the communications director for Republican Senator and climate skeptic dead-ender James Inhofe.
You get to spend oodles of time debating the merits of climate science with journalists on blogs, as Morano did most of yesterday over here. What impresses me most is not Morano’s rhetoric, but how he was able summon his evidence at will, as many of his comments were issued robo-call style, often within one minute of each other.
By 6pm, my colleague Tom Yulsman, who runs CEJournal, where the debate took place, was so exhausted that he thew up the white flag and closed the comments section.
Keith: It was only a tactical retreat. I’m regrouping to fight another day, but this time on a battlefield of my choosing. Debating Marc “Robocall” Morano on the “global warming: yes or no?” issue is like trying to use a fly-swatter to fend off a swarm of a million no-see-ums. Besides, there’s nothing to be gained. He doesn’t seem to care about truth, only politics and scoring debating points. He never concedes a point. Ever. It’s all attackattackattack even when his argument is patently absurd. My experience yesterday made me realize just how profoundly screwed up our political culture is. — Tom Yulsman
In case you’re not aware of it, Morano has an interesting history indeed.
“History” in my comment above is a hyperlink. For some reason they don’t show in comments here unless they’re moused over.