THE RELIGION OF ENVIROMENTALISM



Author Michael Crichton delivered a speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco last September. His assignment? Identify and discuss the most important challenge presently facing mankind. His answer?

The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to mankind, but in the information age (or as I think of it, the disinformation age) it takes on a special urgency and importance.

So far so good. I'm sure the San Francisco audience was in rapt agreement, particularly because that evil President Bush has "misled" our national into an "unjust" war.



But it gets better. Crichton's example of this challenge is... environmentalism!

Today, one of the most powerful religions in the Western World is environmentalism. Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists...



Increasingly it seems facts aren't necessary, because the tenets of environmentalism are all about belief. It's about whether you are going to be a sinner, or saved. Whether you are going to be one of the people on the side of salvation, or on the side of doom. Whether you are going to be one of us, or one of them.



Am I exaggerating to make a point? I am afraid not. Because we know a lot more about the world than we did forty or fifty years ago. And what we know now is not so supportive of certain core environmental myths, yet the myths do not die.

You need to read the entire speech to get the full effect. It can be found here (thanks to The Corner at NRO for the pointer).

LEFT-WING GRANOLA SEATTLE ANTI-WORLD TRADE VANDAL IDIOCY STARRING REP. JIM McDERMOTT (D-WASH.)



The uber-liberal McDermott had this to say (via FoxNews, via AP):

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., told a Seattle radio station Monday the U.S. military could have found Saddam "a long time ago if they wanted." Asked if he thought the weekend capture was timed to help Bush, McDermott chuckled and said: "Yeah. Oh, yeah."



The Democratic congressman went on to say, "There's too much by happenstance for it to be just a coincidental thing."



When interviewer Dave Ross asked again if he meant to imply the Bush administration timed the capture for political reasons, McDermott said: "I don't know that it was definitely planned on this weekend, but I know they've been in contact with people all along who knew basically where he was. It was just a matter of time till they'd find him.



"It's funny," McDermott added, "when they're having all this trouble, suddenly they have to roll out something."

Ha ha. Very funny.

GOD AND W



David Frum, on his National Review Online blog, opines that God has a vested interest in the outcome of the next election:

For now, let�s say that while the President�s opponents have made much sport of the idea that God called George Bush to the presidency, it�s becoming increasingy difficult to doubt that God wants President Bush re-elected.

I'm smiling, even if Frum's statement is over the top.

ANDREW SULLIVAN ON FIRE TODAY



Andrew Sullivan has a list of "George Galloway" award nominees on his blog. A sample:

GALLOWAY NOMINEE I (for thinly veiled disappointment at the capture of Saddam): "I can't believe this. I'm crying here. I feel that we now don't have a chance in this election." - poster Carrie B. on Howard Dean's campaign blog. Way to get your priorities straight, Carrie.

If it's good for America, it's bad for the looney left.

HOWARD DEAN ON THE CAPTURE OF SADDAM



Howard Dean has a BIG problem:

The capture of Saddam is a good thing which I hope very much will help keep our soldiers safer. But the capture of Saddam has not made America safer.

All of the cable news network stations have cut away from Dean's "major" foreign policy speech.

RUSH LIMBAUGH ON FIRE



Rush opened his show today saying that he thought Saddam looked just like the type of guy who would vote for Howard Dean.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMENT, WE GOT HIM"



The unrestrained cheering of the Iraqi press corp showed more about the general feeling of the Iraqi people than all of the analysts at Fox, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. could possibly muster.



Congratulations to our troops, our intelligence agencies, our President, and the Iraqi people.



I repeat the words of President George W. Bush:



"May God bless the people of Iraq, and may God bless America."