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As President Obama prepares for his meeting tomorrow with Senators at the White House to discuss clean energy and climate change legislation, he might want to check with the White House staff on an important matter first. No, not the details of the legislation, although that’s important of course. Instead, what President Obama might want to make absolutely sure about is the non-trivial matter of whether the White House air conditioning is in tip-top shape. I say "non-trivial," but these days it’s more like "life or death." How hot is it in the Washington, DC area? As NBC Washington puts it, "We're Talking Spontaneous Combustion." (UPDATE: it's more likely this is apocryphal than literally true, but it sure feels like plants could catch on fire these days in Washington, DC!)
How hot is it? It's so hot that dead plants are spontaneously combusting in Frederick, Md.
Don't believe it? Just ask Frederick County Fire Marshal Marc McNeal, who told the Frederick News-Post that excessive heat caused a dead plant to catch fire Sunday afternoon in a hanging planter on the rear deck of a townhouse.
The hanging basket fell to the deck and burned some vinyl siding, causing about $3,000 in damages.
It has definitely been hot in the Washington region. Monday will be the 10th day in a row that we've reached 90 degrees or higher, and this will be the 17th day of the month that the thermometer has reached 90.
NBC4 meteorologist Tom Kierein said that when it's all said and done, June 2010 likely will be the hottest June on record in the District.
Dead plants catching on fire in the hottest June on record in the Washington, DC area? Sadly, this may not be an aberration, but a frightening sign of things to come in a global warming world. True, we shouldn’t draw broad conclusions about the earth’s climate from one heat wave in one specific geographic area, as certain climate change deniers dishonestly did during last winter’s "snowpocalypse" blizzards. However, when we see month after month, decade after decade of record-setting heat globally, it starts to get a bit hard to ignore.
In fact, climate scientists are not ignoring these heat waves and other phenomena. Earlier today, for instance, The Project on Climate Science reported that the "record-breaking heat wave" we are currently experiencing in the eastern United States "is consistent with climate change." According to Tom Peterson, Chief Scientist for NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, "We’re getting a dramatic taste of the kind of weather we are on course to bequeath to our grandchildren." Of course, as The Project on Climate Science points out, "individual heat waves can be driven by a number of factors." However, they conclude, "more frequent heat waves are one of the more visible impacts of climate change already underway in the United States" and "will occur more frequently in the future."
In sum, if you enjoy record-setting warmth – not to mention the stronger storms, mass extinctions and "record sea ice shrinkage" in the Arctic that go along with that warmth – you have a lot to look forward to! If not, then you should contact your Senator and let him or her know you want climate action now.
Come to think of it, perhaps we should all hope for the White House air conditioning to be broken tomorrow – or turned off on purpose - so that the Senators meeting there get a taste of what the planet will feel like everywhere if they don’t do something about it now. When you think about it, a bit of Senatorial sweat and a few stained shirts is not too high a price to pay if it results in long-overdue, comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation on the President’s desk sometime this sweltering summer. Is it?
In Speaker Pelosi's backyard we now have the next chapter in the storied career of Ari Fleischer. First it was as White House Spinmister. Then Freedom's Watch hack, supporting the Iraq War, trying to tie 9/11 to Iraq. It prompted the Chicago Post-Tribune to call it "Another assault on the truth".
Now motivational speaker for Jerry Rice's old team? (any down by the river SNL skit memories?)
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who served two and a half years under President George W. Bush is now running his own communications company geared towards sports.
(snip)
"The only two institutions in our society that get the amount of focus, passion and intense coverage are the White House and the NFL," said Fleischer.
Head coach Mike Nolan had heard Fleischer speak similar words at the NFL owners meetings this spring and decided he would be a perfect speaker for his annual training camp lecture series. At least one speaker every summer is dedicated strictly to how to deal with the media, something that Fleischer possesses considerable knowledge of, and experience.
(snip)
"I dealt with some of the toughest, most intelligent, sharpest reporters in the country and I loved it," said Fleischer. "I did it in a pretty tough time for our country. I did it for the Presidential recap in the year of 2000 when we didn't know who had won the election because it was that close. I did it on 9/11, I did it through war, and I did it through an Anthrax attack."
(snip)
His number one tip, "be honest."
Okay, pick yourself up off the floor, and go out and play dodge ball with the kids.
We should all be proud of the fact that Nancy Pelosi who is rapidly becoming one of the best Speakers of the House in modern times went to the middle east on a fact finding mission, and actually sat down with Syrian President Assad to discuss Iraq and important issues. For this she is being demonized by the right wing, the White House, and the main stream media. What isn't being reported is that Republicans are there as well, have been there, and that one is in Pelosi's delegation. Hypocrisy is now the by word of the aforementioned commenters. Not one word about Republicans being in Syria. Check out the story in Think Progress.
Not only are the administration's attacks on Pelosi hypocritical, but the timing suggests they are a partisan hit. ThinkProgress has learned that a delegation of Republicans is currently in Syria. (This has not been previously reported by the press.) Why did the White House wait until Pelosi's imminent visit to raise this issue publicly, and not make mention of the Republicans already there?
Here's what the White House isn't talking about:
Republican Reps. Aderholt and Wolf are currently visiting Syria. According to a congressional official on Rep. Robert Aderholt's (R-AL) staff, Aderholt and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) are currently visiting Israel and Syria. Republican Rep. Hobson accompanying Pelosi on Syria visit. Speaker Pelosi will be traveling with a contingent of members of Congress to Syria. The delegation includes Reps. David Hobson (R-OH), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Tom Lantos (D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Nick Rahall (D-WV).
Moreover, as the AP reports, "Earlier this month, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey held talks with a senior Syrian diplomat on how Damascus was coping with a flood of Iraqi refugees, the first such talks in the Syrian capital for more than two years."
As I was watching our Speaker get on the plane to leave on CNN last night I picked out another familiar face to West Virginians getting on the plane who is also mentioned above. Our own Nick Joe Rahall (D-WV). Not a whole lot in our local press about Congressman Rahall, the other Congressmen, or the Republicans... just rants about Speaker Pelosi.
The shame is that the American people and the mainstream media should be condemning the "stay the course" BS from the White House, and the Kool Aid drinking Republican members of Congress that aren't pushing for major talks with Iraq's neighbors to find a way to immediately get our troops out of Iraq. I should mention that the Huntington Herald-Dispatch did accurately report the trip. I can't find any mention in other major newspapers in the Congressman's district.We should all contact Congressman Rahall's office by phone, email, or by letter and thank him for the courage he has displayed in accompanying Speaker Pelosi on her trip to the middle east and to Syria. LATE UPDATE: Click There's More for an update and ACTION ALERT below the fold
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