An Unwelcome Messenger

Collide-a-Scape
By Keith Kloor
Jan 30, 2010 4:15 PMNov 19, 2019 8:24 PM

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That Osama Bin Laden. What a carpetbagger. It's not enough for him to be the front man for a global jihad movement? He's got to horn in on the biggest environmental issue of the day, too? Seriously, Bin Laden entering the global warming fray is about the last thing climate advocates would want. He's toxic. (Just ask John Kerry.) That's why Limbaugh jumped all over this one:

I wonder how, ladies and gentelmen, former Vice President Algore felt today to awaken and find out that on his global warming team is none other than--Dadelut dadelut dadelut dadelut dadelut!--Osama Bin Laden.

So it puzzles me that Joe Romm, who chastises the media for taking Bin Laden's latest message at face value, does exactly that with Limbaugh. Here's Romm apologizing for having to post on the news:

But after Limbaugh and FoxNews got suckered into spreading this disinformation to their millions of followers, I felt I had no choice.

Limbaugh didn't get suckered.This was Limbaugh doing what he does best. Romm surely understands this, because guilt by association is one of his favored tactics. (It bears noting, though, that Romm has significantly curtailed this behavior in recent months.) Anyway, let there be no mistaking the glee that conservatives have over this. Here's Jonah Goldberg at The Corner:

I love this story about Bin Laden denouncing global warming. Will he come out in favor of beheading carbon emitters? Can I get 72 virgins if I promise to weatherstrip my house? How about if I install solar panels?

Does that sound like somebody being suckered by Bin Laden? The day Bin Laden gets caught or is found dead in a cave will be the last day he is used by conservative commentators to score crude, dishonest talking points against democrats--or environmentalists.

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