An unspeakably stupid video about Al Gore and penguins has been floating around YouTube for a while. Over at The Wall Street Journal, Antonio Regalado and Dionne Searcey pulled off a crackerjack bit of reporting, tracing the author to an email address, an email address to an IP address, and …

… the email originated from a computer registered to DCI Group, a Washington, D.C., public relations and lobbying firm whose clients include oil company Exxon Mobil Corp.

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Stories like this don’t tell themselves.

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You don’t say.

DCI runs Tech Central Station, the notoriously bought and paid for opinion outlet. ("TCS is supported by a small group of sponsors: the American Beverage Association, ExxonMobil, Freddie Mac, General Motors Corporation, Gilead Sciences, McDonalds, Merck and PhRMA.")

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Somebody’s paying for adolescent, faux-amateur, "viral" smears. Wonder who?

Video below the fold: