Mann vs. Steyn: The Trial of the Century

realclearpolitics ^ | - February 12, 2014 | By Robert Tracinski

[dennisw]

When the "Climategate" e-mails were leaked five years ago, a lot of us speculated that it could all end up in the courts, given the evidence that climate scientists were pocketing large sums of government money on the basis of a scientific consensus they were manipulating behind the scenes. But it's typical of our upside-down political and cultural environment that when this issue does reach the courts, it will be in the form of a lawsuit against the climate skeptics.

Steyn and the others are being sued for criticizing Mann's scientific arguments. In the case of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, for example, they're being sued for Rand Simberg's complaint that Mann "has molested and tortured data." (See a summary of the case here.) Frankly, I'm not sure how I escaped this lawsuit myself. I shall have to review what I have written and see if my language was not sufficiently inflammatory. Perhaps I don't have pockets deep enough to be worth looting. Or perhaps I'm not a big enough target to be worth intimidating and bankrupting. Note the glee with which the left slavers at the prospect of taking out a prominent voice on the right, with one leftist gloating that "it's doubtful that National Review could survive" losing the case.

(Steyn points out that National Review is insured against such lawsuits and will survive. But it's interesting that no one asks who is going to go bankrupt funding Mann's lawsuit. A deterrent to the abuse of libel laws is the prospect of spending a lot of money on lawyers' fees for a lawsuit that fails. Who is insuring Mann against this loss?)

But along the way, the global warming campaign is already wrecking our science and politics by seeking to establish a dogma that cannot legally be questioned.

[Slings and Arrows]

Steyn ping. (About him, not by him.)

[SatinDoll]

“Who is insuring Mann against this loss?”

Perhaps Al Gore? He has the money to do so.

[tet68]

seeking to establish a dogma that cannot legally be questioned.

Rather like our president and his democrat party...

[abclily]

OK!! Everybody pay attention!

Lesson for today:

1. The sun is 1,300,000 times as big as the earth.

2. The sun is a ball of fire that controls the climates of all its planets.

3. The earth is one of the sun’s planets.

4. The earth is a speck in comparison to the size of the sun.

5. Inhabitants of the earth are less than specks.

Study Question: How do less-than-specks in congress plan to control the sun?

[Yardstick]

Love this paragraph:

Mann has recently declared himself to be both a scientist and a political activist. But in attempting to intimidate his critics and suppress free debate on global warming, he is violating the fundamental rules of both science and politics. If it is a sin to doubt, then there is no science. If it is a crime to dissent, then there is no politics.

It's incredible to me that this lawsuit can even exist.

[hecticskeptic]

Breaking news!! Steyn is countersuing Mann.... http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/02/21/steyn-countersues-mann-for-10-millon-dollars/

[dennisw]

Steyn counter-sues Mann as in, “the best defense is a good offense” If Steyn can generate the right PR and coverage he will turn this trial into a circus that benefits him. Steyn will be lead inquisitor on Mann when he takes the stand because Markie is operating pro se. Guts!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_se_legal_representation_in_the_United_States

[RedMDer]

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[Edward Teach]

"Study Question: How do less-than-specks in congress plan to control the sun?"

They don't want to control the Sun, they want to control YOU!
Oh and the fact that NOTHING they do will have any effect whatsoever on the Sun (nudge nudge, wink wink) will mean that they will be able to ratchet up whatever taxation scheme they come up with, to levels which will beggar the likes of you and me.

[musicman]

"Study Question:
How do less-than-specks in congress
plan to control the sun?"

[Neidermeyer]

www.steynonline.com/documents/6028.pdf

www.steynonline.com/documents/6109.pdf

[Neidermeyer]

Actually it’s a minimum of $20Million... ($5m+$5m(or more) * 2)

[cherry]

dogma that can't legally be challenged....that is such a true statement...

and the same applies to so many things...you can't call out a black person, you can't call out a gay, you can't use certain words, because you know, words are "hurtful"...

you can't question hitlery or bammey the boy...

you can't question the welfare queens and the pimping daddies....

obesity...alcoholism...drug addiction...gambling...promiscuity...well, you know you can't assign blame to anybody on that list...

[SuziQ]

A deterrent to the abuse of libel laws is the prospect of spending a lot of money on lawyers' fees for a lawsuit that fails. Who is insuring Mann against this loss?)

Apparently, he's being funded by deep pocket 'green' supporters.

[Noob1999]

BFL

[Political Junkie Too]

But it's typical of our upside-down political and cultural environment that when this issue does reach the courts, it will be in the form of a lawsuit against the climate skeptics... Note the glee with which the left slavers at the prospect of taking out a prominent voice on the right, with one leftist gloating that "it's doubtful that National Review could survive" losing the case.

Notice how, to the Leftists, it's already a foregone conclusion that Steyn will lose.

-PJ

[Intolerant in NJ]

Steyn and the others are being sued for criticizing Mann's scientific arguments...if that's true, then the first guy on the list to be sued should be Dr. Edward Wegman, who undertook an analysis Mann's Hockey Stick Snake Oil for Congress years back. Wegman, a first class statistician, found not only that Mann's publications had all been peer reviewed by a close-knit bunch of associates who very probably were all biased toward the global warming scam, but also that his studies were statistically unsophisticated and violated accepted analytical practices: "we explicitly looked at the first principal component of the North American Tree-Ring series and demonstrated that the hockey stick shows up when the data are decentered, but not when properly centered. We also demonstrated the same effect with the digitalized version of the 1990 IPCC curve". I've a hunch Mann doesn't want Dr. Wegman anywhere near any courtroom where his suits are tried.....

[JLS]

About Mark Steyn ping.

Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.

THanks for the ping Slings and Arrows.

[Liberty Valance]

bttt