"Global warming denial": the new "Holocaust denial."

As frequent watchers of the Discovery Channel – “Dirty Jobs” and “Deadliest Catch” are programming par excellence – Wife and I have been bombarded with ads for Discovery’s upcoming Very Special Presentation on global warming. “No politics, just the facts!” say the ads.

“Hey, a fair and balanced accounting of this very controversial topic,” I would think to myself (in not so many words). “If there is absolutely nothing else on, I may have to flip over there to watch it. No politics, just the facts!”

Hokum.

The Indianapolis Star has a wire story on its website today about documentary host Tom Brokaw and his consternation about global warming. Two quotes from the article (neither from Brokaw) stand out:

One expert even envisions half of the planet's species disappearing by the end of this century.

Hold on to your hats, folks, because the anti-progress progressives will, by year’s end (and that’s being generous), turn that quote into, “Half the planet’s species will disappear by the end of this century!” This, in turn, will be widely reported as fact by a compliant media, will take hold on “Nick News” to help create a new generation of rabid environmentalists, and will further the global warming cause celebre.

Mass extinction fantasies aside for a second, here is the more egregious quote from the article:

Producers speak to no one, at least on film, who believes the current warmth is part of the Earth's natural cycle and who minimizes the importance of what is happening.

No politics, huh? Just the facts, eh?

The producers of the documentary, Discovery Channel and the BBC, have apparently decided to move forward with a plan to change the rules of debate about global warming. By marginalizing those folks who believe wholeheartedly – and with good reason! - that global warming is nothing more than a Sierra Club flight of fancy, a concoction used to justify higher taxes and the criminalization of industry, Discovery and the Beeb have effectively stated, “Your beliefs about global warming not existing are not valid, and you are no longer welcome in this discussion. Sit down and shut up, and we will preach to you about global warming.”

“No politics,” huh? Apparently not, when there is only one party line being pushed forward at the expense of all others. What a load of bunk. Global warming deniers are now being shoved off into that same crazy house that holds Holocaust deniers and 9/11 conspiracy theorists.

Even if my satellite gets hit by lightning this week and screws up my receiver to the point that the Discovery Channel will be the only thing on, I’ll still avoid this documentary like the plague. It’s insulting to think that Discovery can get by with presenting what they would claim to be a balanced documentary about global warming, yet not make the effort to show what a good percentage of the population believes is a very valid counterpoint.