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More navel-gazing!
Now that the wingnuts have moved on to their latest outrage of the day, let's take a closer look at the notorious Nuremberg analogy. On reflection, I've come to think that it's inappropriate -- and not because it gave Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh (and Brit Hume!) one of their patented umbrage woodies. Three reasons:
First off, never violate Godwin's Law. It's a law for a reason.
Two, the Nuremberg trials resulted in executions. I'm opposed to state-sanctioned execution in all cases, but would certainly never advocate it merely for the crime of being a lying scumbag.
Third -- and more to the point -- Nuremberg was primarily about prosecution and punishment. I'm not a particularly vindictive person, and I'm not that interested in retribution. What I'm interested in is the truth: that the truth be aired; that those who have lied own up to it and be held accountable; that those who suffered as a result of the lies be allowed to tell their stories.
For these reasons, a far better analogy for what I had in mind would have been South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or perhaps what the Germans call Vergangenheitsbewältigung:
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From Ellen to Illin’
Ay, there’s the scrub First came the ads and webisodes showing Dawn detergent cleaning itty-bitty oil-soaked critters. Now Ellen DeGeneres is barking about becoming a seal on Dawn’s world-saving website. Nemo has yet to comment on the development. Photo: Kevin Mazur / WireImage.com Remote controlled Channeling vintage Grist List, Connecticut has launched a “No Child […]
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Biofuels are wiping out rainforests
Almuth Ernsting over at Biofuel Watch has been working hard to get the word out on a small problem: a billion tons of carbon going into the air annually, with the potential of about fifty billion more on the way. People are deliberately setting Southeast Asia's rainforests and peatlands on fire to convert the land into something they can sell to countries striving to meet their Kyoto obligations -- palm oil. To put this into perspective, there are about 8 billion metric tons of carbon being dumped into the atmosphere by people annually, 6.5 billion tons from fossil fuels and 1.5 billion from deforestation. This is much worse than just dumping carbon from a tailpipe because it also simultaneously destroys entire ecosystems. You get two disasters for the price of one. -
Take Me to Your Weeder
Solar-powered robot could pick weeds and reduce herbicide use Here’s an innovative idea for limiting herbicide use: A solar-powered robot with 20/20 vision and depth perception that uses GPS navigation to search out and destroy weeds. As it moves along at three miles per hour, the two-foot-tall, five-foot-long robot, designed by engineers at the University […]
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America’s Coast Wanted
Katrina and Rita destroyed 217 square miles of Louisiana coastline Hurricanes Katrina and Rita drowned 217 square miles of Louisiana’s fragile coastline, turning wetlands, undeveloped dry land, and farmland into open water, says a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey. The research underscores the urgent need for a storm buffer of plants, soils, and […]
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‘Burb Your Enthusiasm
Commuting costs often outweigh savings from living in suburbs, researchers say The cost of commuting more than 12 miles often nullifies the savings of cheaper suburban housing, says a new study by the Center for Housing Policy. Low- to moderate-income families are often pushed to outer suburbs by a lack of affordable housing near job […]
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The Killing Fields
Study links breast cancer to farm work October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Think that has nothing to do with the environment? Guess again. A new study of women in Windsor, Ontario, found that those who have worked on a farm are 2.8 times more likely to develop breast cancer than those who haven’t. The […]
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Incentives in modern-day punditry
My brother called this evening to tell me that I was mentioned by name on the Rush Limbaugh radio show today. He was amused and delighted about it, on the theory that "any publicity is good publicity."
I'm more ambivalent. I won't say I don't enjoy the prospect of being more widely read -- any writer who says otherwise is blowing smoke up your ass -- but I can't say I'm entirely pleased that my renown will come from using an unnecessarily inflammatory analogy that did little but nurture the right wing's permanent persecution complex. I do a lot of work on Grist, at least some of which I like to flatter myself is thoughtful, occasionally insightful. But to thousands of people, I'm now and forever the guy who wants to execute global warming skeptics.
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A few choice bits from the hate mail that’s come today
A while back, I wrote this post. Senate Environment Committee attack dog Marc Morano highlighted it in a press release. Then it ended up on the front page of the Drudge Report.
Here are some excerpts from the emails I've received today (warning: explicit language):
