“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’”
― Isaac Asimov
When reading about society’s that destroy themselves by turning against their most thoughtful, educated, and insightful citizens, one thinks of the medieval inquisition, China’s cultural revolution, or the Cambodian holocaust. Such events have always seemed beyond the pale, unimaginable for most in the developed world.
The anti-science and climate denial movement of today shows us that those brutal, authoritarian, anti intellectual impulses are still strong, and maybe, in the age of Fox news and internet, getting stronger.
Receiving an email with a statement like “You should resign, and if you don’t, I’ll work to see that you are fired” or “I know where your kids go to school” would be unsettling enough. But they “pale compared to what other climate scientists are getting,” says Raymond Orbach, director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, at whom the first threat above was aimed.Now climate scientists—in atmospheric physics and chemistry, geophysics, meteorology, hydrology, and oceanography, among other disciplines—have begun to fight back. “I think the community is finding a voice,” says Ben Santer of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, whose work has largely focused on identifying the human influence on global climate, and who once answered a late-night knock to find a dead rat on his doorstep.
A prime mover behind this reptilian assault on reason is Marc Morano, a leading goodfella in tight cabal of wing nut thugs not-so-secretly funded by the fossil fuel industry. Morano is well known for advocating medieval, Sharia Law style punishments on scientists, teachers and intellectuals.At Texas Climate News’ request, she provided a sample of these emails to illustrate what she was talking about. Here are some excerpts, quoted verbatim except for bracketed material, with the eight writers’ own punctuation, spelling and other style features. Caution: The fourth item includes language that some readers may find offensive and presents a disturbing and violent fantasy by that email writer:
- you are nothing but a liar; you lie
- AGW [anthropogenic, or manmade, global warming] is a hoax […] Where are the facts? Prove your unproven hypothesis. Prove it. Show the world. You can’t. You are a fraud. […] Your name and the names of the other warming alarmists will be mud as the years go forward. You are a disgrace. You are a nut.
- DUMPED FROM GINGRICH’S BOOK HA HA HA […] IT’S A GREAT START!!! SEE YA, FRAUDSTER – GET A REAL JOB, MCDONALD’S IS HIRING
- [Misogynistic vulgarism] Nazi Bitch Whore Climatebecile […] You stupid bitch, You are a mass murderer and will be convicted at the Reality TV Grand Jury in Nuremberg, Pennsylvania. AGW has never been anything but a Rockefeller depopulationary eugenical scam. […] After the Grand Jury indicts you, I would like to see you convicted and beheaded by guillotine in the public square, to show women that if they are going to take a man’s job, they have to take the heat for mass murder, just like the men do when they get caught. If you have a child, then women in the future will be even more leery of lying to get ahead, when they see your baby crying next to the basket next to the guillotine.
- [This writer was reacting to a Twitter message that Hayhoe sent after learning from the media that her chapter would not appear in the Gingrich book. In it, she said the chapter represented “100+ unpaid hrs I (could have) spent playing w my baby.”] I read your whiney comments about researching for a rejected book chapter instead of spending time playing with your baby. Perhaps you should take responsiblility how you choose to use your time. In my opinion, the problem with America is women refuse to stay at home taking care and nurturing their offspring while prioritizing their selfish ambitions attempting to carve out a career for themselves. Be a good mother or be a good researcher.
- I am afraid [blogger Anthony Watts, a former television meteorologist and prominent climate-change skeptic] has exposed you as something of an academic fool. Try using actual data next time.
- Stop using Jesus to justify your wacko ideas about global warming. First, it is an insult to the Lord Jesus. Second, it is insulting to those of us who actually take our Christianity seriously. Third, it is juvenile.
- Do you believe in God? If you do, then you must believe that He is all powerful. But believing in AGW contradicts that, because to be able to change the climate in such a manner as you prescribe to would mean that we are more powerful than He is. I know better than that, but it would appear that you and your husband don’t. Maybe you should both take another look at your belief system. I think it needs some adjusting.
Hayhoe believes such messages represent efforts to intimidate climate scientists. She told The Globe and Mail:
There’s a well-organized campaign, primarily in the United States but also in other countries, including Canada and Australia, of bloggers, of people in the media, of basically professional climate deniers whose main goal is to abuse, to harass and to threaten anybody who stands up and says climate change is real – especially anybody who’s trying to take that message to audiences that are more traditionally skeptical of this issue.
Harassment of climate scientists by climate-change deniers goes back at least to 1995, after the IPCC published its Second Assessment Report. Santer was the lead author of chapter 8, which looked at the causes of climate change. “The single sentence ‘The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate’ changed my life,” he says. “I was the guy who was associated with this sentence. Those who did not like that finding did everything not only to undermine the finding but also to undermine my scientific reputation.”The harassment has ramped up in recent years, says Michael Mann of the Pennsylvania State University, whose book The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines, due to be published by Columbia University Press in early March, includes a retelling of his own ongoing experiences with harassment. “Political intimidation, character attacks, what appear to be orchestrated phone and email campaigns, nasty and thinly veiled threats, not just to us but to our families, are what it means in modern American life to be a climate scientist,” says Mann. Even this magazine, after publishing last October articles on the science of climate change—about its being under fire and about communicating that science to the public—received an abundance of letters with the tenor, “How could PHYSICS TODAY print such a one-sided portrayal of climate science when many reputable scientists disagree?”Fossil-fuel interests, says Gavin Schmidt, a climate researcher at NASA, “have adopted a shoot-the-messenger approach. It’s been a very successful strategy. They have created a chilling effect, so other [scientists] won’t say what they think and the conversation in public stays bereft of anyone who knows what they are talking about.”Schmidt cofounded RealClimate.org, a forum for climate scientists to “provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary.” Meanwhile, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a vocal opponent to limiting greenhouse gas emissions, is suing NASA for the release of Schmidt’s personal emails.
As I wrote on twitter all support for Ms Hayhoe but she needs develop a thicker skin. I’ve received worse and then I’m not even a public figure. It’s also rather unfortunate women are subject to verbal assault on the internet (more often than men), a sad indictment of humanity if you ask me.
That said, being libelous against Morano or fantasizing about a Climate Spectre seems more like a childish reaction. Good luck with that. I understand Mann is going to take a few loyalties out of that meme.
your defense of Morano and his thug tactics speaks volumes
omnologos QUOTE:
>>
“US politics is not for the thin-skinned. OTOH everybody complains but the police is seldom (if ever) called in.
It’s a common tactic in Italian politics as well, to use strong words decrying persecution and targeting of family members via email. Only thing, nobody ever comes out with the actual content of the emails (of the messages RECEIVED, thank you), nobody ever involves the police, the police has never ever arrested anybody for “hate emails” or threats, etc etc.
I could easily come up with a story like that about myself, and you too about yourself. Any story can be concocted, as long as no evidence is asked.
So it’s all just part of the (hypocritical) game, until proven otherwise.”
>>
climatecrocks.com/2012/01/11/hey-hey-hayhoe-climate-denialist-hatred-and-intimidation-campaigns-have-got-to-go/
Forgot “notify”…
Reading some of that hate-mail, it would seem that there some people who are in serious need of a padded-cell and a straight-jacket and some powerful narcotics.
Yet there are the apologists for the Moranos of this world. And those liars who insist that we have all the wrong-way round. It’s the deniers who are the victims and it’s the ‘warmists’, who are the perpetrators.
That’s not too different from saying the Jews were the mass-murderers, while it was those poor Nazis who were the real victims.
Yeah, right! You can tell it to the Marines.
Peter – I know you can’t tell a a green field from a cold steel rail, but if you could enlighten me on the “defence of Morano” when I’ve pointed out t5hat vague accusations are vacuous (and libelous, in most places), that’d be nice.
There is no evidence that any money collected under false pretenses ever was paid out to any of their victims –
“Talk Radio powerhouse Rush Limbaugh is planning a one-man Broadway show to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina … for a one-day-only performance on Tuesday Oct. 18 … Sean Hannity will provide … a special introduction” (“Rush Limbaugh Plans Hurricane Katrina Benefit”; By Cris Bergman; nationalledger.com, 9/6/05). Amazingly Rush did not mention that his original reason for being on Broadway was a benefit for the Hurricane Katrina victims, “ RUSH: We had a great time last night at the Lion King theater, the New Amsterdam Theater down on Broadway. “Rush on Broadway” is our first such appearance in New York, and I’ll tell you, I fed off the audience last night. The audience was just fabulous … No, there was no press there, no protesters showed up. They knew they would be in hostile territory if they showed up. Would you show up with 2,000 dittoheads in one place trying to protest it? “ (“Great Night in New York”; Mr. Rush Limbaugh, The Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity Extremist Republican and Christian Media Outlets; rushlimbaugh.com, Airdate: 10/19/05).
“‘Yes, we plead guilty … ‘Skeptics will proudly celebrate … Climate Depot takes full responsibility for the fate of your children and grandchildren from any future man-made climate catastrophe” (“Australian PM warns skeptics ‘are too ‘dangerous to ignore’ and are ‘holding the world to ransom’”, By Marc ‘EIB’s corporate pilodinal cyst’ Morano, assistant shower coach to Evil Inhofe, Climate Depot Editorial”; 11/6/09) (Editorial and reality abuse by Joseph ‘EIB coli cocktail wiener’ D’Aleo, CCM, IUD, IED, BMF, STD, H1N1, HPV, SIDs, failed state free lunch predictor, laundering t-GOP via paypal, HIV, and ExxonKoch approved TV weather presenter aka another pseudo-scientist, denier, and corporate horror; new web crimes against humanity, nature, and big oil & small snake wrestling with Joe Bastardi since March 11, 2011; icecap.us).
he puts people’s emails where his deranged followers can find it.
they supply the threats against mothers and their babies, and the dead rats.
you pretend its not happening.
a complete circle of denialist thuggery.
I’m not a religious guy, so I normally give evangelists a bit of a wide berth, but gotta say, I think Katherine Hayhoe has really stood out in this sorry episode for her strength of character, calmness and rationality. More power to her elbow.
Having put such a lot of work into it, I hope she finds another way to get her chapter into the public domain.
hayhoe is very bright, humorous, likable, and witty.
Otter17 – apologies for having requested evidence. I know you’re not used to that word (‘evidence’) but I am 😎
Make whatever blanket statements about me you like, but the point of the matter is that just a couple weeks ago you were criticizing Dr. Hayhoe’s efforts to speak out against the threats towards climate scientists concerning their work as a hypocritical game. At that time, there was evidence that some journalists were allowed to see Dr. Hayhoe’s emails and confirm their intentions. Now, you are trying to play this hypocritical game by claiming that you have received worse emails despite not holding a job position with as much public attention.
So, Dr. Hayhoe needs thicker skin because she is speaking out against these threats? So, what is the other option; scientists should keep quiet about it and just watch their backs?
omnologos QUOTE
>>
“Those victim of “intimidation” who turn up on HuffPo aren’t the real concern…they have a lot of support already…it’s the ones alone and forgotten the real scandal.”
>>
http://climatecrocks.com/2012/01/24/katherine-hayhoe-the-interview-much-of-this-is-intended-to-intimidate/
The heart of the matter is, multiple scientists and journalist sources are indicating that climate scientists are receiving threats from folks that have very strong feelings against climate change or climate change action. Guys like Marc Morano and Lord Monckton (also guys with strong political feelings against climate change) have made it a habit to publish email addresses of scientists along with negative and factually incorrect articles. The climate scientists are most likely the ones on the defensive here, unless there is some form collaboration among them to fake these threats. So, as a rational person, I simply want guys like Morano and the cowards sending the emails to please STOP. One way to help stop this is to encourage Dr. Hayhoe to shed light on the nature of the public’s perception of climate change and advocate against this threatening behavior. Another thing that would help, would be to stop calling Peter libelous for simply stating what Marc Morano has actually done, many times before.
Well if there’s evidence somebody will go after him. Everything else is fluff.
The thing is, HE’s not making the threats, he’s just talking trash about people, and providing everything needed for OTHERS to make threats. It’s a long-used method of intimidation that has worked in a number of spheres. One example is the anti-choice crowd – they call people baby killers, and post information on abortion doctors publicly, and then when someone like Dr. Tiller gets shot, they say, “Well, WE never did anything like that!” and just keep on doing it.
And then they have the support of clowns like YOU, who say, “There’s no EVIDENCE that that’s what they wanted!”
You want evidence? It happens over and over again, and they KEEP DOING IT.
the abortion comparison is exactly apt.
Anybody cares to provide quotes by Morano about Hayhoe?
I really don’t. But you could try using the awesome power of Internet Search.
http://www.climatedepot.com/s.asp?tag=hayhoe#
Otter17 – I’m happy for you. You haven’t been threatened on websites or via email and I hope it stays that way (perhaps the fact that I use my real name like Ms Hayhoe does helps the nutters).
Shall we say that given your inexperience in the topic your opinions about this multiple lines of attack against climate scientists is likely exaggerated, since attacks are sadly occurring on all sorts of topics andnot just climate.
Now we’ve seen the evidence we can say it’s nasty stuff and there’s even nastier stuff out there especially for women on the net. Nothing to be proud of as humans. Now is there anything special about climate? Who knows? Thus far, nothing much.