The rest of the world has yet another reason to take a break from their travails and laugh uproariously at The United States of America. It starts with one of smallest and most flagrantly mismanaged states. I’m unsure what makes me gladder not to be a resident of The State of Rhode Island. Either
A) I could be relieved not to be represented by [mc_name name=’Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’W000802′ ] or
B) I could be relieved that I wasn’t previously represented by Senator Lincoln Chafee.

I think of this because Sheldon got on his white horse recently and demanded that scientists who disagreed with the scientific CONCENSUS™ regarding the UNDENIABLE TRUTH of Anthropogenic Global Warming must be prosecuted under the RICO Act for their denialist collusion with the fossil fuel industry. In case you wondered whether the last sentence was lifted from an Alex Jones screed, I can show you in situ evidence that it accurately represents Sheldon Whitehouse’s mental condition. To remove lingering doubts as to where the man resides on the appropriate DSM axis in comparison to “Crazier Than a @#$%house Rat” I quote him in his own screed below.

The shape of the fossil fuel industry’s denial operation has been documented by, among others, Drexel University professor Robert Brulle. In a 2013 paper published in the journal Climatic Change, Brulle described a complex network of organizations and funding that appears designed to obscure the fossil fuel industry’s fingerprints. To quote directly from Brulle’s report, it was “a deliberate and organized effort to misdirect the public discussion and distort the public’s understanding of climate.” That sounds a lot like Kessler’s findings in the tobacco racketeering case. The coordinated tactics of the climate denial network, Brulle’s report states, “span a wide range of activities, including political lobbying, contributions to political candidates, and a large number of communication and media efforts that aim at undermining climate science.”

Then the leading lights of science from the vital field of Climate Science decided that the best way to settle a scientific debate was to sick the armed agents of the US Government on anyone who funded an opinion that differed from their own. George Mason Meteorologist Jagadish Shukla organized a letter to The White House strongly endorsing Senator Whitehouse’s robust defense against the threat of free inquiry. The letter is proudly published on the web site of The Institute of Global Environment and Society. Here’s what Dr. Shukla is doing with some of your tax dollars.

The letter that was inadvertently posted on this web site has been removed.

Those of you who would like to reach Dr. Shukla and find out when he intends to burn literature containing opposing points of view for the betterment of science and culture can reach him perhaps at this point of contact. Maybe he can share with you just what happened to the inadvertently posted letter that just turned up over at his website. Or maybe he doesn’t have to. Dr. Judith Curry offers us the following explanation.

What these 20 scientists have done with their letter is the worst kind of irresponsible advocacy. Attempts by powerful people to silence other scientists, especially in this brutal fashion, is a recipe for stifling scientific progress and for making poor policies.

Judith, Judith, Judith. You dear, sweet duchess of naiveté.’ Who says environmentalists want scientific progress? Once a consensus gets power, they never want inquiry to continue. Progress is only progress if it helps me. That is the new scientific method in Post-modern America. Why should Wall Street be the only one in on the racket? Here is how science works in American academia.

Since 2001, the earliest year for which its annual tax filings are available, the IGES has received more than $63 million in government funds, comprising more than 98 percent of its total revenue in that time. Its federal support has come primarily through the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, according to its website. Jagadish and Anne Shukla have together received $5.6 million in compensation from IGES since 2001, tax filings show. According to the group’s website, their daughter Sonia is also on staff.

Hell, I’m teed-off that I can’t get a hook up. If Shell or Exxon Mobil is handing out $63 Million for the intellectual bullying of global warmers, I want the Linked-In address of the dude who honchoes that whole rodeo. Because if one scientist can get on Fox News and send this multi-millionaire bum-on-the-plush scrubbing his web site of his “deeply held beliefs,” than what President Eisenhower warned us about upon leaving office is truly coming to pass.