QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 12:14 P.M. ET:  From the great Michael Barone, one of our best political commentators.  He comments on the breathtaking assertion by New York Times columnist Tom Friedman and distinguished philosopher/scientist/statesman/ranter Al Gore, that the debate over global warming is over.  Barone recalls earlier warnings, now forgotten, about overpopulation:

The lesson I take from the overpopulation scare is to be wary when media, university and corporate elites warn that we must change our ways or face disaster 50 years hence, and when they insist, as Al Gore does and Friedman seems to, that the time for argument is over. In our two-party democracy it never is. And shouldn't be.

COMMENT:  I recall a comment by Larry Summers, who is better than the administration he now serves, expressing his skepticism about warnings that we're "running out of" this or that.  He pointed out that the world has rarely run out of anything. 

There are many elitists who try to shut down debate on the ground that "experts" have decided, or that there's a "consensus" at some international conference.  President Obama is one of the worst offenders, often belittling his opponents as quibblers, or even suggesting, as he did recently on health care, that debate isn't helpful. 

We've seen too many experts proved wrong over time.  Debate anything you wish.  That is the American way.

September 13, 2009