Video: Jon Stewart dumps on Climategate researchers
posted at 2:29 pm on December 2, 2009 by Allahpundit
No, he’s not questioning man-made global warming, but neither is he ignoring the e-mails or pretending that they don’t matter like, say, the UN or Obama’s climate czar or pretty much all nutroots bloggers great and small. Put Stewart in the Monbiot camp: Data manipulation doesn’t mean the icecaps aren’t melting, but it sure ain’t helping convince people that they are. At Reason, Ronald Bailey surveys the damage:
But for now, regardless of the motivations of the researchers, damage has been done. How can the world of climate science recover? First, carry out independent investigations of the activities of the researchers involved. Pennsylvania State University has announced that it will investigate the activities of researcher Michael Mann, who worked closely with the CRU and several times expressed in the leaked emails his desire to stifle the scientific work of researchers with whom he disagreed. In Britain, Nigel Lawson, former chancellor of the exchequer, has called for an independent investigation of the CRU. Tireless journalistic global warming scold George Monbiot has declared, “It’s no use pretending this isn’t a major blow….I believe that the head of the unit, Phil Jones, should now resign.”…
One thing more transparency won’t fix: the complications and uncertainty inherent in the policy debate about global warming. “In the end, I would hypothesize that the result of the freeing of data and code will necessarily lead to a more robust understanding of scientific uncertainties, [and] that may have the perverse effect of making the future less clear,” emails Pielke Jr. “The inability to tolerate dissent has unfortunately destroyed the credibility of climate change science and I don’t know how it’s going to come back,” laments climatologist and free-market Cato Institute fellow Patrick Michaels, who was frequently reviled in the CRU emails. “I don’t know how the public and policymakers will ever trust what climate scientists say in the future.”
No less a skeptic than Jim Inhofe was sufficiently pleased with this bit to post it to his own YouTube account, even though its primary target ultimately is, er, Jim Inhofe. Think of it as the “Daily Show” equivalent of Obama’s new timetable: Very far from ideal, but probably the best you’re going to do from a lefty.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Scientists Hide Global Warming Data | ||||
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I saw it last night. It was actually pretty funny, which I don’t usually say about Jon Stewart.
Daggett on December 2, 2009 at 2:31 PM
Does this mean that after four weeks the AP will take the story up?
jukin on December 2, 2009 at 2:33 PM
I think it means that everyone knows it, despite the AP.
rollthedice on December 2, 2009 at 2:34 PM
Jon Stewart is getting real comfortable laughing at his own side. He better be careful; some of his friends on that side have NO sense of humor at all.
michaelo on December 2, 2009 at 2:34 PM
The AP is irrelevant
J_Crater on December 2, 2009 at 2:35 PM
Michael Mann digging in.
Stewart has his moments.
SouthernGent on December 2, 2009 at 2:36 PM
I can’t stand Jon Stewart or watch his program (nor any programs of those on the left) but his comment about Gore is actually quite funny.
No doubt, Algore is laughing all the way to the bank.
GrannyDee on December 2, 2009 at 2:37 PM
The latter half of that otherwise funny bit is him struggling emotionally and psychologically with the possibility that he and his ilk have been taken for the proverbial ride by these “progressive” cretins they slobber over every day…and that they haven’t come to grips with it yet. Hence, the meaningless twaddle and name-calling/smearing of Sen. Inhofe. He’s just flabbergasted that Inhofe and Co. have been right all along and that he might have to (shock) live with it.
Pulling one’s head out of the giant collective backside of progressive politics is a difficult thing when all you’ve ever known has been the progressive faith.
The journey of 1000 miles begins with one step, Mr. Stewart.
Good Lt on December 2, 2009 at 2:38 PM
LOL! Still has Penthouses from the 70s!
John the Libertarian on December 2, 2009 at 2:40 PM
Yahoo news finally actually acknowledges that Jones is stepping down — but also has a story that Goebbels Wortening could lead to a sudden ice age.
rbj on December 2, 2009 at 2:41 PM
I love the nervous laughter from the audience.
“Jon, you’re on OUR side! We don’t talk about OUR side, except to say good things!”
Living4Him5534 on December 2, 2009 at 2:41 PM
I don’t agree with his views but Stewart is funny.
lavell12 on December 2, 2009 at 2:42 PM
Is Stewart CJ’s target of hate for today?
JammieWearingFool on December 2, 2009 at 2:42 PM
PRICELESS!
upinak on December 2, 2009 at 2:42 PM
REFUND my money!
What will happen to the Climate Research Unit if AGW is disproved? Do you think they have a vested interest in making sure that it continues to exist? This needs to be the first question to every “Climate” scientist put under oath.
barnone on December 2, 2009 at 2:43 PM
If you believe right and wrong and are sane… then you are in CJ’s sites.
upinak on December 2, 2009 at 2:43 PM
Stewart does apparently have his limits, as far as how much he’s willing to double down to support his side.
Such past incidents as the Daily Show exposing the Kennedy clan and other liberals hypocrisy over the Nantucket wind farms is one example of the show realizing there’s only so far you can go towards covering for ‘your guys’ before you end up looking like a panelist on “The View” and start losing credibility among your core audience. But there’s no question Stewart will catch flack for not showing 100 percent fidelity to ‘the cause’, and he’ll probably make up for it on tonight’s Daily Show by attacking Obama from the left over last night’s West Point speech on Afghanistan.
jon1979 on December 2, 2009 at 2:43 PM
Hopefully the new President will treat everyone(including Al Gore) as Bernie Madoff or Ken Lay. This is pretty much the same thing. It is lying to scam people out of their money. a.k.a. FRAUD!
jeffn21 on December 2, 2009 at 2:44 PM
Hey, do you think Obama has room on his flight for AlGore when he heads over to Copenhagen? That way Al can give back the peace prize and the check.
milwife88 on December 2, 2009 at 2:45 PM
an inconvenient lie
BKeyser on December 2, 2009 at 2:45 PM
This is Stewart trying to do lefty damage control with a few cheap laughs at the expense of a few researchers, not at the expense of the the AGW lie itself. Mock a few guys in England for inappropriate behavior, but back up the cause. That way, he feels he can take the sting out of the scandal by focusing in on the behavior, not the greater lie for which the behavior was conscripted. In the end, he makes sure to mock Inhofe and say that this does not mean that Global warming is debunked at all.
Read between the lines people.
keep the change on December 2, 2009 at 2:46 PM
Liberalism can survive without global warming, just like it can survive without ACORN.
Stewart is ahead of the curve by throwing it into the wolves and making light of the situation. This is the reaction liberals ought to take if they want to survive. Burying their heads in the sand ain’t gonna cut it.
tflst5 on December 2, 2009 at 2:46 PM
that was about the only funny thing in that skit…
cmsinaz on December 2, 2009 at 2:46 PM
Life sure is easy for comedians, these days, with the MSM writing such great material on a daily basis. Just add laugh track and voila!
Cybergeezer on December 2, 2009 at 2:46 PM
“Truth plus – now with Lemon”
hawksruleva on December 2, 2009 at 2:47 PM
All the US newspapers and networks that are not running this story are getting discredited each every day they don’t cover this news.
pedestrian on December 2, 2009 at 2:47 PM
He’ll definitely be Olby’s Worst Person in the World.
rbj on December 2, 2009 at 2:48 PM
The more people that hear “hide the decline” from a source they trust, the better. It makes it harder for the rest of the media to not cover the story.
pedestrian on December 2, 2009 at 2:49 PM
Perhaps someone on Stewart’s staff should inform him that the polar bear population IS INCREASING.
GarandFan on December 2, 2009 at 2:50 PM
Of course Stewie isn’t going to exactly ask pertinent questions. He’s a Leftie, after all. But his poking fun at the situation and Algore by name says about as much as being a true journalist.
I wonder who is going to fact check this skit.
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 2:50 PM
More than some. I’d love to see Al Gore on the show when he does a bit like this.
Question for Jon: why is climate change a problem if it’s caused by man, when climate changes CONSTANTLY already? It’s like saying plants grown with fertilizer are worse than plants grown without “artificial” help.
Oh wait. The left says that too, nevermind the people who would starve without modern farming.
hawksruleva on December 2, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Liberal icons falling all about him.
ACORN, SEIU, OBAMA, Man-caused Global Warming,Main-Stream Media non-coverage…
What…oh..what is a poor leftie to do?
kurtzz3 on December 2, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Stewart thinks that only the proponents of AGW care about science even though evidence to the contrary is staring him in the face? Talk about a non-falsifiable position and blind faith.
aikidoka on December 2, 2009 at 2:52 PM
Ok, are Stewarts ratings falling, and he’s smarter than all the msm’s, and realizes he needs to do this, in order to bring back some viewers who strayed, or is he just this honest, and willing to scold, even when it’s on the liberals? I don’t get his motivation sometimes, but I’m glad someone on the left is willing to bring this to the light of day.
capejasmine on December 2, 2009 at 2:52 PM
Blind religious fervor always recovers.
mankai on December 2, 2009 at 2:52 PM
In more interesting news, did anyone see last night’s Colbert Report? It is as left as you can bend but recently reality is making it turn right.
Has anyone seen yesterday’s “Better know a made up district”
It was a hilarious spoof on the stimulus package as it is currently oriented. Hilarious. I might see the Colbert Report once again.
I can’t link to it as it goes to the general comedy central website but the synoposis is
“Better Know a Made-Up District – Connecticut’s 42nd
Connecticut’s 42nd District is located in the middle of the River Styx and is represented by Brad Pitt’s character from “Fight Club.”
nyx on December 2, 2009 at 2:54 PM
Just in time for the meetings in Copenhagen: CO2 fraud in Denmark. You think the U.S. media will report on this, since they’ll see it on newstands when they go over to cover the climate conference?
hawksruleva on December 2, 2009 at 2:55 PM
Hey, I found this video of one of the ancestors of the ClimateGate deniers.
thirteen28 on December 2, 2009 at 2:55 PM
Actually, the end bit was rather funny, even for Stewart.
MadisonConservative on December 2, 2009 at 2:56 PM
Whoooo…Universties have “value added” data published in peer-reviewed journals that says their populations are decreasing. So it must be true.
WashJeff on December 2, 2009 at 2:56 PM
The Left might need to change its theme song from John Lennon’s Imagine to Thomas Dolby’s She Blinded Me With Science.
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 2:56 PM
Another good story from Watts Up: Marine biologists find out that they’re wrong about elevated CO2 destroying marine life.
hawksruleva on December 2, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Interesting piece, especially since sea water is salty and salt is a buffer that makes difficult any changes in pH.
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 3:02 PM
OT hilarity!
Markos of Daily Kos tweeted on Monday that: “Holy s~~t — big news coming tomorrow or Wednesday. GOOD news, for a change. And yes, I’ll remain annoyingly vague about it.”
Turns out, it was today… and the “holy s~~t big news!!!!” that he shook the kook-liberal side, making them wait in anticipation… was that NY Senate was taking up gay marriage.
In other somewhat related news, NY Senate just rejected the push for gay marriage 38 to 24.
Markos is quietly weeping his “holy s~~t big news!!!!” didn’t pan out…. again.
Enoxo on December 2, 2009 at 3:04 PM
“Better Know a Made-Up District – Connecticut’s 42nd
Connecticut’s 42nd District is located in the middle of the River Styx
In reality, the River Styx, a T-shaped inlet of Lake Hopatcong, is within the very real 11th Congressional District of New Jersey. Don’t knock it, I grew up within a mile of the River Styx Bridge!
Does that make me the Conservative from He!! ?
Steve Z on December 2, 2009 at 3:04 PM
The Greatest Scandal in Modern Science
ABC, CBS and NBC’s collective silence on “ClimateGate” has reached ridiculous levels as the broadcast networks continued to ignore the great and growing scandal. The bias by omission has now become scandalous.
freedomplow on December 2, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Well-played.
Sights even.
The Race Card on December 2, 2009 at 3:06 PM
You’re 100% right, but it’s ok.
If we can get lefties to demand the usage of accurate data the global warming goes away.
Stewart is unwittingly helping to destroy global warming.
blink on December 2, 2009 at 3:07 PM
Today’s leftists were yesterday’s flat earthers.
jukin on December 2, 2009 at 3:07 PM
I got a kick out of the final sentence:
So after going through how the elevated CO2 levels (levels within AGW predicted ranges for the next 100 years) showed little to no impact, that study shows predictions are very difficult. he stil says reduce C02. Augh!
WashJeff on December 2, 2009 at 3:08 PM
Even a (ideologically) blind squirrel finds a nut (the truth) every now and again.
Yakko77 on December 2, 2009 at 3:09 PM
We need a class action against the scientis…con-men that have received over SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS in grants. In my book that’s called fraud at best.
jukin on December 2, 2009 at 3:13 PM
Only if we can dine there watching 300
nyx on December 2, 2009 at 3:15 PM
It’s kind of like Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy breaking Pearl Harbor before the news networks did. Except Jon Stewart isn’t a wooden puppet. [citation needed]
Jim Treacher on December 2, 2009 at 3:15 PM
“Oh for fu**’s sake.”
Lol, hahahaha.
nickj116 on December 2, 2009 at 3:15 PM
Stewie was quite subtle in his mockery, seemingly trying to tread a thin edge. He isn’t converted yet, but it seems he ripped the AGW believers much more than the ‘deniers’. Remember, too, of the names he could have chosen to mention directly, he chose Gore.
Stewie’s skit could have been done a lot of different ways but he used one that mocks the climate-change advocates. I find that curious in a couple of ways.
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 3:16 PM
Delicious.
Yeah, Stewart is trying to lessen the blow, but not all of his audience are morons. So will say, wait a minute, and realize what is going on. It won’t be many, be it will be enough.
gary4205 on December 2, 2009 at 3:16 PM
That possibility has come in England’s Daily Telegraph.
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 3:17 PM
But the scientists says so , it’s settled.
the_nile on December 2, 2009 at 3:25 PM
At least Stewart is pointing out the fraud, even if he does seem to believe it is likely an isolated incident.
I found it rather amusing his guest after this segment was Friedman, pushing the paperback version of “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” (Or maybe in a different order?), but focused solely on Afghanistan and didn’t even mention the climate to one of the loudest Green Cheerleaders out there.
JamesLee on December 2, 2009 at 3:29 PM
What i don’t get about the liberal media.. is the ignoring of stories like Climategate. Here Stewart paid 5 minutes to the story, covered it well, and still got to take jabs at the right and maintain his cred with the left w/ his final words. As far as we are concerned he said “something” about it.
Meanwhile, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, etc are all ignoring it like it didn’t happen. That in of itself, is becoming a story and is giving ridiculous amounts of ammunition for us on the right and middle.
tflst5 on December 2, 2009 at 3:30 PM
About Jon Stewart, a Churchill quote is apt.
nyx on December 2, 2009 at 3:33 PM
Ah, but, in science, if one member of a team massaged data, the entire team’s results are called into question. Their study, as a whole despite what one of their team might have done, would be thrown out under normal peer review.
In science, one mess-up can invalidate the work of everyone involved.
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 3:36 PM
Is Stewart CJ’s target of hate for today?
JammieWearingFool on December 2, 2009 at 2:42 PM
Only if Stewart’s cameraman’s sister once got her hair cut by a stylist who’s brother-in-law once lived next door to somebody who may or may not have been a raaaaacist.
BlueStateBilly on December 2, 2009 at 3:37 PM
LOL…yeah, after reading his reasoning behind his mind shift, I am convinced he got dumped by a Christian Conservative and his anguish is manifesting itself in overall hatred of anything reminiscent of either.
LOL
ihasurnominashun on December 2, 2009 at 3:39 PM
I nominate Kajagoogoo’s “Lies”
“lies lies lies yeah…they’re gonna get you!…”
BlueStateBilly on December 2, 2009 at 3:40 PM
A quote in an article in today’s Daily Express by Professor Ian Plimer, of Adelaide and Melbourne Universities, perfectly sums up everything one needs to know about the AGW fraud that these Leftists have been trying to perpetrate:
Understanding these neoComms is actually quite simple: the more control they’re able to exercise over aspects of an economic system, the more control they’re able to exercise over the population beholden to that system (see US healthcare “reform”).
That’s why AGW is their Holy Grail. They would be able to exert tremendous influence over the global economic system (except for communist China, which explains why they could care less about them signing on to this nonsense…they’re already communists!), thus providing them with the ability to control virtually every aspect of human economic activity.
This is how the Leftist perceives you. And this is why he thinks that it’s his right to control you and your actions…for your own good.
rvastar on December 2, 2009 at 3:43 PM
I’ll go for it, too!
But wasn’t that Thompson Twins(three people–a white chick with odd hair, a white guy, and a black guy).
You might be right, I forget now.
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 3:43 PM
thompson twins for sure…
cmsinaz on December 2, 2009 at 3:44 PM
Ditto that!
4shoes on December 2, 2009 at 3:44 PM
No rational person could ever have “believed” in something so preposterous as “catastrophic man-made global warming.”
These new facts will not weaken their religious beliefs.
July 10 on December 2, 2009 at 3:46 PM
This is probably the Thread Winner here. A powerful post!
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 3:47 PM
True! But now they face a planet awakened.
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 3:48 PM
He didn’t explain why he laminated the Penthouse issues.
Oh, wait… never mind.
rogersnowden on December 2, 2009 at 3:51 PM
Those “Watts Up With That?” links… yeah, they’re gone now…
WitchDoctor on December 2, 2009 at 3:53 PM
Is there an example of a catastrophic AGW believer who, because of Climategate, no longer believes in catastrophic AGW?
July 10 on December 2, 2009 at 3:54 PM
You won’t say it but I will: It makes for easier cleanups.
What a JO…
If he wasn’t a lib, he might get the real thing more often.
I’d love seeing study of who are most often infected with STDs–liberals or Conservatives.
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 3:54 PM
But that’s exactly the problem, Professor Stewart. The worst partisan liberal (or partisan conservative) approach to any issue is to define the desired outcome first and then proceed to “prove” it from there. And the Jon Stewart show has been fully on board with that approach for many years. So it’s weaselly and disingenuous for Stewart to pretend like he’s just some innocent bystander to all this.
Django on December 2, 2009 at 3:57 PM
There is one Canadian scientist who used to believe the AGW thing but, after seeing the data, came against the notion. And he’s been fighting ever since.
Where there’s one, there are others. As for the average people we know, this new revelation is going to take time to sink in with them. Give it a while!
I’m not willing to say we won anything, but this news is significant.
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 3:57 PM
More true news from Jon than MSN. Just like the National Enguirer is more credible than NYT
Wade on December 2, 2009 at 3:57 PM
Liam, ya got me, it was indeed the Thompson Twins.
Never could keep all those artsy androgynous funny-haircut 80s bands straight! Good catch!
BlueStateBilly on December 2, 2009 at 3:58 PM
Thanks! And the 80s had the best music ever!
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 4:00 PM
I always figured his ratings would drop after the 2008 elections because his program largely targets the college crowd as the “cool hip” comedian.(I believe half of his audience is under 35) The problem with that is he’s in his late 40′s, you’re not cool or hip if you’re old enough to be your audience’s dad. (And that problem only gets worse every year.)
Dave_d on December 2, 2009 at 4:00 PM
Not to worry, crr6 already told us that no one cares about this story…
Scrappy on December 2, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Global Warming is Not Happening..Britt on youtube
Speakup on December 2, 2009 at 4:03 PM
PA taxpayers need to demand that Mann be fired. Why are their tax dollars being spent on a salary for this charlatan?
NoLeftTurn on December 2, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Did he? I didn’t see that post. Not to put you to work, of course, but where’s the place I can find? I love tearing libs apart with the words of their compadres.
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 4:04 PM
The entire Global Warming Hoax is now starting to unravel. I’m not the only one saying it either.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100018556/climategate-its-all-unravelling-now/
And the Australian Parliament TERMINATED their crap and tax legislation today.
dogsoldier on December 2, 2009 at 4:12 PM
It is possible for a rational person to believe that man-made CO2 could potentially change the aggregate global temperature by some small degree without significant consequence. But the concept of catastrophic man-made global warming has always been a wholly ludicrous idea.
Perhaps the Canadian scientist of whom you speak never “believed” in catastrophic AGW.
Hopefully you are correct that Climategate will be significant to more than just the people that have always had enough sense to realize that catastrophic AGW is preposterous.
July 10 on December 2, 2009 at 4:13 PM
It was in a different thread a couple days ago. Think it was this one.
Scrappy on December 2, 2009 at 4:15 PM
I found it. Thanks!
Typical lib: If they get nailed they say no one is interested. Or a statement was ‘taken out of context’. Or, 9/11 wasn’t bad because of the Crusades. Or what-have-you.
You know the deal. So do the rest of us and, so do they.
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 4:19 PM
Somebody should tell Jon Stewart that the polar bear population is the highest it’s ever been. Nothing like a discussion of fraudulent science by a fraudulent comedian who thinks he’s funny….;-) It like the blind leading the blind.
Planet Boulder on December 2, 2009 at 4:26 PM
Inhofe is a bad mofo.
Spirit of 1776 on December 2, 2009 at 4:35 PM
Hey AP — you should include a link to the boss’s site. She’s got a GREAT summary of climategate front and center.
John the Libertarian on December 2, 2009 at 4:42 PM
Has anyone noticed that when there’s a thread a libs can’t defend, the trolls are absent?
Liam on December 2, 2009 at 4:45 PM
Awww, someone needs to tell Stewart that the “Polar Bear decline” data is a fraud too. That they tried to make it LOOK like polar bears were declining by counting how much ICE there was, not how many polar bears. When actual polar bears are counted, their populations have increased dramatically.
American Elephant on December 2, 2009 at 4:50 PM
Not funny, he white-washed the whole thing.
jsunrise on December 2, 2009 at 4:51 PM
Another point, if AGW is real why would they need to manipulate data?
I guess that thought escapes stewart.
jsunrise on December 2, 2009 at 4:54 PM
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