Presented for your enjoyment, President Obama in fine form Wednesday night at the League of Conservation Voters
Capital Dinner, mocking climate change deniers for refusing to acknowledge the reality of what's happening to our planet:
It’s pretty rare that you encounter people who say that the problem of carbon pollution is not a problem.
It's rare, he said, because people...
...generally they don’t just say, no, I don’t believe anything scientists say.
Except where?
Where do people routinely deny what the scientists have to say? Well, that's the easiest question in the world. Audience, take it away:
AUDIENCE: Congress!
Yep, said the president:
In Congress. (Laughter.) In Congress. Folks will tell you climate change is a hoax or a fad or a plot. (Laughter.) It’s a liberal plot. (Laughter.)
And what about Republicans in Congress who know it's real, but are scared to say it?
They say, hey, I’m not a scientist, which really translates into, I accept that manmade climate change is real, but if I say so out loud, I will be run out of town by a bunch of fringe elements that thinks climate science is a liberal plot so I’m going to just pretend like, I don’t know, I can’t read.
Beyond the humor, the president's message was this: Despite the fringe know-nothing crowd in Congress, most Americans actually think carbon pollution is a problem and a problem that must be dealt with. And part of creating the political willpower to get something done is by making it clear—as the president did—that we shouldn't fear the deniers. The thing we should fear is doing nothing.