John McCain gave a big address on global warming yesterday (read all aboot it) and as you can guess, those who are further to the right on the ideological scale are handling it with all the maturity we’ve come to expect – by threatening not to vote for him, calling him a liberal, and claiming he gets off on “poking ‘real’ conservatives in the eye.”
Which is funny in that “bang your head against the wall just to make it stop hurting” way, because Ronald Reagan used to say of people who disagreed with him “you’re 90% my friend, not 10% my enemy,” yet for people who claim to be Reagan disciples, that 10% really makes them go ape shit.
Which is why it was pleasently surprising to see Hugh Hewitt of all people chime in as the voice of reason:
Skeptics about any aspect of the global warming debate thus have a choice: A candidate with a plan that includes a push for nuclear energy and accountability for China and other rapidly industrializing countries, or a candidate who will push an America-first, only, and without nuclear power plan….McCain has occupied the center on this debate, and the GOP and conservatives should get over it and begin working to keep enough Republican senators in place to assure that President McCain’s emphasis on a new generation of nuclear power plants becomes a reality, thus keeping cap-and-trade from becoming a suffocating blanket.
The long-term health of a growing American economy requires nuclear power, and McCain’s embrace of a renewed renewable energy policy with nuclear power at its center is the carrot that climate change skeptics need to work towards making the legislative scheme work.
But who needs common sense when complaining aboot President Obama will sell more books, radio commercials, and/or subscriptions to the “National Review.”
