[Lord Monckton Controversy]:Andrew Bolt Compared Nathan Rees To Nazi Minister

Weekend Libertarian ^ | June 24, 2011 | B.P. Terpstra

[AustralianConservative]

[Nazi Photo above]

Manmade global warming skeptic “Lord Monckton has embarrassed himself and damaged his cause” for drawing lines from fascism to one climate alarmist, claimed Herald Sun columnist and blogger, Andrew Bolt.

Really? For the record, I respect Andrew Bolt but fail to understand why he threw Lord Monckton under the bus, pressuring him to make an apology, he wouldn’t. Wrote he:

Monckton is right to warn against the surrender to argument-by-authority. He is right to warn against the surrender of sovereignty to international bodies claiming to work for “the planet”.

But he’s gone too far in this deeply personal attack and an apology is in order. Without one, it will be unwise for other sceptics to associate themselves with him on his Australian tour.

So let’s step back. Here’s NSW Premier Nathan Rees (Sydney Morning Herald, August 19) in 2009:

The threat of climate change is catastrophic. In fact, the current wave of climate change scepticism smacks of 1930s-style appeasement: ‘Hide under the blankets and it will go away’. But it won't go away.

Andrew Bolt’s headline response in 2009:

His better analogy is Rees = Goebbels

Bolt explains:

Rees’s sins are two-fold. First, he truly believes that the planet’s climate is now a greater threat than World War 2, even though it hasn’t warned [sic] in almost a decade. Second, he slimes those who point out such facts - including many, many scientists far more expert than he - by likening them to appeasers of genocidal killers.

Perhaps feeling he overstepped the mark, Bolt later added, without an apology:

UPDATE

First, in likening Rees to Goebbels, I mean only to twist his own absurd analogy to show him how grossly offensive it is.

Yeah. That’s it. And if Lord Monckton used Goebbels?

[AustralianConservative]

http://weekendlibertarian.blogspot.com/2011/06/andrew-bolt-compared-nathan-rees-to.html

[Elendur]

For the record, I respect Andrew Bolt but fail to understand why he threw Lord Monckton under the bus,
///
ditto !!! totally agree with you.
those are both 2 of my favorites!
it is bizarre for Bolt to do that.
(especially after he was called a racist about the aborigines,
when he was simply being honest...)

also, as jon ray has on “greenie watch”, the analogy is even more true, since the Nazis WERE greenies and environmentalists, in many clear specific ways.

[nkycincinnatikid]

Background is desperately needed here.
Monckton quoted climate change alarmist Professor Garnaut’s statement in its entirety, however Garnaut said this in essence.
“The OUTSIDER to climate science has no rational choice but to accept that MAINSTREAM science is RIGHT”
Monckton said of it.
“Thats a fascist point of view, that you merely accept authority without question. Heil Hitler, on we go”

[Elendur]

so Monckton was talking about the Al Gore authoritarian types, who say the science is settled, and people who don’t agree should be sent to jail? and simply used “nazi” to describe it for comparison?

if so, then i think Bolt definitely overreacted.
(although generally, justified or not, i think
it is better to leave out the word “nazi” from discussions.)

...i have adored Monckton since i read his “April fool’s joke”, where he wrote the “scientific paper” about the zebras... awesome!

[AustralianConservative]

Right, that’s the context – you can read more on the hyperlinks.

Two things troubled me about this: Why did one skeptic throw another skeptic under the bus when he also made Nazi references? And: Why is the Left allowed to use Nazi language?

[nkycincinnatikid]

I must defer to you since you have evidence of the use of the word nazi.
I was unaware of it from the reporting I have seen.
Sorry.
As an outsider I merely accept that nazi is a word reseved for use by certain interest groups and their allies.

[AustralianConservative]

I agree Lord Monckton is very funny – I think people misread his humor too.

[Elendur]

pardon Sir, but i was deferring to you! you had the specific quote, and information about it i lacked.

i was simply trying to paraphrasing, to see if i understood what seemed to be the intended meaning.

(and i was actually asking you, if you thought i was understanding it correctly, from what you read.
i didn’t mean “nazi” literally, but as in Monckton used “nazi” terms, like the “facsist” and “heil hitler” you quoted.)

...and i totally agree with you that the word nazi (or similar words) should be reserved. they simply are too “loaded”.
...so while i think Bolt over-reacted, i certainly wish Monkton had simply avoided it...

[Elendur]

I agree Lord Monckton is very funny – I think people misread his humor too.
///
absolutely! ...most people don’t expect such a sense of humor, from a British Lord.
...and even less so, from a mathematician !!!

(i BELIEVED that zebra article, until more than halfway through!!!)

he’s a unique man, and a valuable voice against the multi-billion dollar AGW insanity.

and, again, if i was understanding the actual quote, Monckton is right. the Al Gore types ARE authoritarian fascists, who want to control even what lightbulbs we buy, and they have said they want AGW skeptics actually arrested...

[Elendur]

considering how greenies say polar bears are becoming extinct, when 90% of studied groups are INCREASING in numbers, i wouldn’t be surprised at anything they say.
...but i wonder how many calls greenpeace got about it...

http://antigreen.blogspot.com/2008/03/zebras-endangered-this-just-in-from.html

Zebras endangered

This just in from Greenpeace UK media centre: 020 7865 8255 Fax 7865 8200 info@uk.greenpeace.org
ALL THREE surviving species of African zebras could lose their stripes in as little as 50-70 years as global warming threatens their habitat and way of life, Greenpeace UK reveals.
...
Zebras’ shiny coats dissipate over 70% of incoming heat. In one of the strange coincidences of science, the albedo or reflectance of a typical zebra’s coat — at around 31% - is identical to that of the entire planet Earth as seen from space. Sir John Houghton, the first chair of the IPCC’s science working group, says