What mystifies me about the Climate Change deniers is what they hope to prove? Will keeping your head firmly in the sand make the bad news go away? When the White House and Exxon sink zillions into spreading confusion and uncertainty to protect their investments what are they hoping to do with their limitless wealth? When their ranch in the mountains has been destroyed by wildfires, when their private island in the Caribean and their apartment in London are both underwater? When the economies of the countries they hope to control are devastated by 100s of millions of refugees and increasingly erratic weather?

What will they say when their grandchildren ask "why did you let it happen, Grandpa?"

My belief; TRUTH is important.

I guess not if one is APPOINTED as PRESIDENT of the United States.

Just wondering where those other Values escaped to:

FREEDOM, LIBERTY and JUSTICE;

were they also flushed by George of Washington and his "REPUBLICAN GUARD".

Cherry O.

Do you people really expect a politician to change a political position because of science?

That sounds like a childish wish to me.

So now tell me -- what would you have done if you were Bill Clinton and you found out scientists had shown that marijuana users are NOT a threat on the highway?

I don't believe there's a single Democrat alive and in power who would have told the truth about that report. Telling the truth about that report would have been political suicide.

Politicians HAVE to lie about science because that's what their supporters expect of them.

Clinton's supporters expected him to be tough on drugs. Does anyone really think he was ever going to choose scientific fact over the wishes of the people who backed him?

We can't hold Bush to a standard higher than that.

You can't suddenly change all the rules for the other guy.

If it's really a matter of principle, then it has to apply equally to both sides.

but it is awesome to see the bullet shells from the smoking gun. It is a bit disturbing to see that Senators had to rely on your work to take these jokers to task. Also, I would really like to know what happens to these lowlifes and what the consequences will be to them for suppressing science in the name of politics.

Nice investigation Salon. Kudos to you for your excellent work.

These lies aren't surprising as I've come to expect it from this administration. The surprising thing to me in all of this is the number of republicans that still remain loyal to this administration. After the lies that got us into Iraq I was positive that the American people would vote Bush Inc out of office. But of course they didn't, so why should they start telling the truth now. And before you say the Kerry wasn't a great candidate I have to say that he was and is much better than Bush.

Republicans seem to ignore the deceptions of this administration. At least the Dems had the decency to be disappointed in Clinton when the Lewinsky affair was revealed and again when we saw how he handled it. Publications like Salon even reported on it. What will it take for Republicans to criticize this administration. Colin Powell always seemed like a decent man but even he is reluctant to publicly disagree with these guys. Can't one high profile Republican come off message? Is all this lying OK to them as long as they have power?

The image of Nero fiddling while Rome burned has become almost a humorous one -- this nutty guy in a toga sawing away at "Turkey in the Straw" while nameless, faceless and long-dead Italians run to and fro as the flames lick at their...wait, didn't they have, like, buildings made out of stone? Oh, well...it's an amusing image. But it isn't so goddamned amusing when it's today, and GWB's administration is a whole friggin' orchestra of fiddlers and it's you and me and our children who are going to be burned out of house, home and future. Yes, this stuff should generate outrage. We're anesthetized.

In a happier universe this story would enrage all honest people. That a story like this evokes a yawn at most says a great deal about the quality and quantity of lies and nefarious behavior that have been taking place at 2600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Remember when the most outrageous episode to emerge from the White House was Bill Clinton getting his cock smoked?

Those were the days.

Who's surprised?

I am. Specifically, I'm surprised they got caught like this, verifiably and on the record. While I don't expect the meme to spread much - those who don't want to hear it won't repeat it and the rest of us are, well, not surprised - I think the lengths the Republicans go to lie to us should be shouted from every hill.

Who's surprised? This is exactly how the Bush Administration handles everything. Bush & Co. have spent their entire time in office stripping the professionals from every department (including the federal bench) and replacing them with loyalists and ideologues. And those honest professionals who do remain are kept out of the public eye. Since the media is so craven, the Bushies know they can continue to lie baldly and, on those rare and quickly forgotten occasions they are confronted with the truth, simply laugh in our face. Recall how quickly a similar incident with NASA faded from our collective memory. Their audacity is breathtaking and the key to their success.

As with the tobacco/cancer or asbestos/cancer evidence in the past, all the Busheviks need to do is create confusion, the illusion that there's still a scientific debate on the merits. With enough smoke and mirrors they can continue to claim that the jury's still out on the issue until it's too late. It's a subsection of the adage that a lie travels halfway round the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.

Within a month of Bush first taking office, it was reported that he had removed from his science advisory boards anyone who disagreed with his views. Anyone paying attention knew right there that Bush valued ideology and didn't care about truth. It's interesting that this many of his employees "dropped off the menu", despite his best attempts to employ only scientists who agreed with him. Hopefully we'll get a Democratic (and democratic!) Congress now who will take serious action on global warning.

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