Laurie David Curbs Her Enthusiasm for Balance, and for Science
Maybe She Should Pitch Al's Movie to the Teachers of Politics -- or Fiction.
By Pat Cleary Posted in Liberals — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Hollywood spouse and apparent climate expert Laurie David has a piece in today's WaPo, expressing outrage that corporate America is helping to support science education in the schools. As outrages go, this one is truly a head-scratcher. Her latest rant was triggered by the National Science Teachers Association's refusal to accept 50,000 free copies of Al Gore's one-sided propaganda film, "An Inconvenient Truth," a political film with a political message made by a once and likely future Presidential candidate.
David smells a rat since NSTA is the recipient of corporate largess supporting science education in the schools, presumably an otherwise-laudable goal. Seems that the nation's premiere organization of science teachers demurred because they didn't want to offer a "political" endorsement of the film. What?!? The nation's science teachers are concerned about politics masked as science? Go figure. A portion of Corporate America's contributions, says David, supports a program that brings "standards-based teaching and learning" into the school. Oh, the horror. Imagine if standards-based teaching caught on -- where would it end?
David, of course, has been widely critiqued for her hypocrisy, Gulfstreaming around the country and fouling up the wetlands in Martha's Vineyard, site of one of her many homes -- all energy-efficient, no doubt.
Read on...
Every one of them. As for the "Gulfstreaming" of liberals, said Greg Easterbrook, quoting Eric Alterman, "Conservation is what other people should do."
But the piece doesn't fall for hypocrisy alone, although it's an eyesore. She also is just flat wrong on the facts, referring twice to "shortfalls in education funding" and "tight education budgets." This when education budgets are at all-time highs, far outpacing student performance. No matter. This alleged shortfall is the gap through which corporate America is rushing, filling it all with so much propaganda in David's view. Like programs that support standards-based teaching and learning.
We saw a piece last week that critiqued Al Gore's dismissal of peer review. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has hunted down those who disagree with him on climate change with unequaled zeal. This Star Chamber "off with their heads" approach to this debate by the left is a new low -- even for the left. This is a world where no dissent is entertained, where skeptics are harassed and intimidated. Whatever happened to open debate?
For our part, we applaud the move of the nation's science teachers, who teach the scientific method every day, who hopefully are instilling in young minds some degree of curiosity, inquisitiveness and yes, even skepticism. In the end, that's what science teachers are supposed to be teaching.
Maybe David should pitch Al's movie to the teachers of politics -- or fiction.
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Laurie David Curbs Her Enthusiasm for Balance, and for Science 3 Comments (0 topical, 3 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Perhaps her siding with those who seek to silence critics and criticism makes her have more in common with Nazis in brown shirts than scientists. Perhaps someone in the public eye will have courage to call out these people for what they really are. I guess they're afraid of calling Jews out for behaving like Nazis. Don't know why. Isolating those who think or believe differently and asking them to be ostracized is certainly making some progress down the path of the Holocaust. I guess "Never Forget" did.
Science is about asking why, about questioning everything, and about accepting the null hypothesis until the evidence forces you to reject it. None of those things is happening with the Global Warming folks now.
I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. - Alan Greenspan
that education be funded entirely from public monies, and the national curricula determined by a select few enlightened minds such as her own?
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" portrays her as being smart; perhaps that's just one more area where the show diverges from the Davids' real life. I wonder what she thinks of the Michael Richards controversy?
After a little internet foot work I found some relevant information about the lady.
Well this seems to eminent qualifications to decide national energy policy and decide the validity of climatological theory. I do note the absence of standup comedy, but she seems well on her way to rectifying the deficiency.