Sunday, March 8, 2009: Tompkins: Liberals Deny What They Declare Absolutely:
Liberals rail against the torture of terrorists, but adamantly argue for the abortion of innocents.
I suppose the inverse of this sentence would be: Conservatives adamantly argue for the torture of terrorists, but rail against the abortion of innocents.
Obviously, both constructions are absurd and offensive, notwithstanding the implication that eliminating torture or decreasing the number of abortions are partisan issues.
With all due respect, I have to wonder whether or not Mr. Tompkins has ever met a “liberal,” because the stereotype he presents seems to have been built on talk radio memes.
A conservative sees the statue of U.S. Marines at Iwo Jima planting the flag on Mount Suribachi and gets goose bumps about their bravery under fire. A liberal sees the same statue and gets shivers that they didn’t plant a Japanese cherry tree instead.
You see, only conservatives can appreciate, viscerally, the bravery represented by a statue. Apparently, liberals have never fought in the service of our country. Only conservatives own patriotism. Only conservatives understand valor. Liberals, on the other hand, wanted Japan to win World War II.
Riiiight.
Liberals accept as gospel the message of global warming from a former vice president or an actor or a singer, but they reject the message that global warming is bunk when it is delivered by a weather expert such as the former director of meteorology at The Weather Channel.
Nevermind the thousands of scientists, climatologists, meteorologists, and geologists who have thoroughly documented the effects of climate change and global warming; the guy at the Weather Channel says global warming is bunk.
Except that is not what he said.
Joseph D’Aleo, the Weather Channel guy now working at the illustrious Lyndon State College, questions the veracity of data on CO2 emissions. But regardless, D’Aleo doesn’t actually deny global warming. Quoting SourceWatch:
D’Aleo’s fundamental premise is that although there is a global warming trend there is not a strong causal relationship between that trend and carbon dioxide buildup in the atmosphere. Instead D’Aleo contends that the global warming trend correlates more closely with other phenomena such as solar activity and ocean current oscillations.
Mr. Tompkins may consider finding another expert to support his argument. It may take awhile, but fortunately, big energy companies, like Exxon, spend millions of dollars every year funding organizations who churn out opposition research solid scientific reports on climate change.
Tompkins concludes:
Given the choice between watching a rerun of last year’s U.S. Open golf tournament final or a live telecast of a visit by Jimmy Carter to Cuba, Iran or North Korea, a liberal will choose the Carter visit every time — and yet make a $10 wager with a conservative watching the rerun that Rocco will beat Tiger this time.
With the exception of the snipe about liberals not knowing Tiger beat Rocco last year (I wonder what Tiger Woods, the Buddhist, multi-racial, Stanford graduate, thinks about global warming), the metaphor Mr. Tompkins presents works perfectly in the context of this editorial. The conservative is watching re-runs of a sporting event while the liberal is paying attention to the actual news.
Maybe this explains it:
Bob Tompkins is a sports reporter and columnist for The Town Talk and www.thetowntalk.com.
He’s also a much better sports writer than political commentator.
CenLamar 
This is becoming a vicious cycle. The Town Talk, never a heavyweight among La newspapers, gradually cuts staff as fewer people read the paper and advertisers find new venues for their dollars. Less staff means the few remaining writers get drafted to create filler “articles”, even in areas where they have zero expertise. People read that idiotic commentary, and quit subscribing. Gannet lays off more employees.
Seriously, Tompkins writing political commentary? I prefer the old guy from Rock Hill, Wallace something, that I occaisionally see walking down Jackson St.