A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) has finally gone too far. His words and votes against global warming have been annoying, but now he is vowing to use parliamentary procedure [1] to personally block Al Gore's "Live Earth" concert from using the U.S. Capitol building as a venue as planned.

Inhofe is infamous for calling global warming the "greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people."

Just last week Inhofe sparked headlines when he tried to bully Gore during a recent hearing, only to be completely humiliated [2] by Sen. Barbara Boxer. Boxer pointed out that she had assumed control over the committee from him following the recent Democratic victories, and that he no longer gets to dictate the rules. "Elections have consequences," she said.

The real irony in Inhofe's behavior is that it is completely hypocritical of his stance against global warming. Without presenting any real science of his own, Inhofe has mostly just whined [3] that those who deny that people are impacting the environment are being ignored and even blacklisted.

Inhofe went so far as to liken those who believe in global warming to Adolf Hitler [4] and his "big lie" propaganda technique.

So why is Inhofe trying to abuse his power to silence Gore and his free concert, which is seeking only to spread a message?

Inhofe explains that the concert "is a partisan political event." But the resolution to approve the plan is cosponsored by Sen. Reid and Sen. Snowe, a Democrat and a Republican, respectively. Just which party is the concert supposed to favor?

Of course, this isn't the first time Inhofe has tried to dismiss an issue by crying partisanship. He did the same thing [5] at a 2004 hearing over the Abu Garib prison scandal, claiming he was "outraged by the press and the politicians and the political agendas that are being served by [the investigation]." He was later one of just nine senators to vote against an amendment banning torture on detainees.

When Al Gore was alone on global warming, he used science and patience to help change global consensus. Now that James Inhofe is in the minority, he is left only with obstruction and misdirection. During Gore's hearing Inhofe unveiled a chart which he claimed listed "literally hundreds of scientists" who disagree with Gore. But DeSmogBlog.com writes that there were only about 88 names. [6] At least one was listed twice, and many of the rest were retired or unpublished in several years, are tied to industry, or study unrelated fields such as tuna.

At this point, James Inhofe seems to be fueled only by stubbornness. Take a look at what he said earlier this month [7]:

"I have been called -- my kids are aware of this -- dumb, crazy man, science abuser, Holocaust denier, villain of the month, hate-filled, warmonger, Neanderthal, Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun. And I can just tell you that I wear some of those titles proudly."

Then again, maybe Inhofe is right that global warming - which he has called the "greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people" [8] - is all a vast conspiracy orchestrated by... the Weather Channel. "It's all about money," he told Fox News. [9] "I mean, what would happen to the Weather Channel's ratings if all of a sudden people weren't scared anymore?"

Unbelievable.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

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