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NY Times furor due to half-skeptic — Mass subscription exodus? Best thing!

Posted By Jo Nova On In Global Warming | Comments Disabled

Nothing is more dangerous than a polite conversation.

On April 28th Brett Stephens wrote his first NY Times column, but dropped a complete bomb, he made it seem respectable to not robotically accept every bit of wild hyperbole about climate science:

“Let me put it another way. Claiming total certainty about the science traduces the spirit of science and creates openings for doubt whenever a climate claim proves wrong. Demanding abrupt and expensive changes in public policy raises fair questions about ideological intentions. Censoriously asserting one’s moral superiority and treating skeptics as imbeciles and deplorables wins few converts.

None of this is to deny climate change or the possible severity of its consequences. But ordinary citizens also have a right to be skeptical of an overweening scientism. They know — as all environmentalists should — that history is littered with the human wreckage of scientific errors married to political power.”

Naturally, the spaghetti hit the fan, people who think they are logical, scientificy types, but who pray at the Altar of Scientism have no where to run with this kind of dangerous material around. For once they have to think for themselves, to doubt any part of the dogma, or to allow a skeptic into their conversation, it’s all over. The whole deal unravels.
Hence their reaction was a turbo dummy spit — vowing to cancel the subscription to the newspaper that had fed their fantasy loyally for so many years. So much for loyalty:

Climate scientist Michael E. Mann launched the hashtag #ShowYourCancellation this week after the paper’s public editor defended the decision to hire the former Wall Street Journal columnist, dismissing its so-called “left-leaning critics” who they claimed were leading a “fiery revolt.”

Mann called for people to prove to the Times that they were actually ending their subscriptions to the paper over Stephens…

Things aren’t going too well for the Subscription-Cancellers, the aren’t that many unsubscribing, judging by the tweets at hashtag #ShowYourCancellation.

This”ll be the best thing for the NY Times if they don’t cave in.

If they ever want to find the middle of the road again, the last thing they need is a vocal, belligerent, and outspoken group of subscribers constantly nagging them to only publish their brand of religion.
Who knows, a few skeptics may even subscribe again to replace them — then the newspaper might become the decisive central publication that influential people read.
The dangerous article:
Climate of Complete Certainty,  By BRET STEPHENS

How about a reasonable conversation on what to do about our warming planet?

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