“O the irony!” says "Save"LaPlata's front man, Peters. The irony indeed.

This is an updated version of  "SaveLaPlataCounty's "Facts" Tainted by Koch's DarkMoney Tentacles" (2/16), this expanded version was inspired by SaveLaPlataCounty's Dave Peters' bile filled PR release of 2/22.  I submit another study in Intellectual Confrontation, you could also call it simply speaking up for honesty, and trying to rationally describe the process.  In any event, it's something we need more of.

 ________________________________________________________________

Durango Herald's February 22:  “O the irony!” said Dave Peters, another (Lachelt) recall organizer, in the news release. “It turns out the queen of outside dark money is actually Commissioner Lachelt herself.” Recall supporters created a website, Save La Plata County, which explains why they are seeking her removal from office.”  

Oh the irony indeed!

What about The Rest Of This Story? 

What about SaveLaPlata.com’s many ties to unabashedly oil loving, environmentalist hating outfits with their vast amounts of Koch DarkMoney ready to be lavished on any go-getters ready to join their fabricated war on rationality and raise hell in their communities?

A network that Ken Francis alluded to in his thoughtful November 17th, 2017 Durango Herald opinion piece,” “Big oil and gas behind county commissioner attacks.” https://durangoherald.com/articles/195280 (at the end of this I share his insightful final paragraphs.)

Where is SaveLaPlata.com getting their funding from?  No hint at their blog.  I’ve sent Mr Peters an email requesting that information, we’ll see if I get a response. I will keep you updated. (still no word 2/27)

Here we look at the brain-trust three locals depended on to fabricate their malicious effort to do an end-run around the democratic voters' will. 

(click on images for clearer view)

To begin with, isn’t their summary title a bit hysterical? 

Confronting the Koch machine’s hostile take-over bid

Hello, stopping by to say I haven't forgotten about CSC, WUWTW or global warming issues but that's been effectively derailed for at least another month.  Then again, what I'm working on now isn't so far removed from my core mission, callout and confront political liars with factual evidence, and constructive debates.  Which is why I want to share this example.  You see some Koch front groups have invaded my town and have started a malicious recall petition based on the usual mix of hate-mongering and lies.  I don't see why we the people should take it laying down.  Thus, I share this example of what I'm talking about when I say intellectual confrontation.  

___________________________________________________________

¶ SaveLaPlataCounty's Recall Petition Examined - dirty tricks in action.

https://americansforkochsprosperity.blogspot.com/2018/02/savelaplatacounty-recall-petition.html

February 16, 2018

Save La Plata County’s Petition Language - Take a closer look at what’s being circulated by http://savelaplatacounty.com/the-recall-effort.  See if you don't agree it's a bunch of deceptive handwaving?  Please help discuss this malicious political deception aimed at robbing us of our duly elected County Commissioner!  Here I make a study out of the complete text of the Recall Petition, I have not altered any words from their Recall Petition, but I do address their claims and deceptions.

___________________________________________________________

      Save La Plata County (from what?)

Recall Petition full text

We need commissioners who represent our interests above their own, and who govern with accountability and transparency.  (Of course!  Don't we all)  Commissioner Lachelt has not done that.  (False, look at the support rallying around her.)  She has repeatedly leveraged our public office for her private gain by appearing before the U.S. Congress and other federal government entities to advocate and advance her and her employer’s political and policy agendas under the guise of her role as our commissioner.  (False, she has been advocating for issues that we elected her to advocate for.  Those interests include protecting this environment that is our life support system!  Whether oil interests like it or not.)  Her county commissioner meeting attendance record further demonstrates where her allegiance lies. Her 2017 attendance record was much lower than any other commissioner.  (False, 91% v 95%.) 

We can and should expect our commissioners to act ethically (We should be able to demand the same of their opponents!) and not to take actions that undermine the public’s trust in our local government.  (Lachelt has never done such a thing.  No evidence of wrong doing presented - beyond advocating for a healthy environment*, that is. Why has that become an impeachable offense?).  As a result of Commissioner Lachelt’s actions,  (Nowhere is specific misconduct presented.)  the county has been required to investigate ethics complaints filed against her and to seek out ethics advice from at least one other county.  (Malicious misrepresentation of the facts.  This same group filed and pushed that frivolous complaint which was dismissed at every level it was looked at.  Now they resurrect it yet again.  Pure dirty politics in action!)  

For all these reasons, and more, we believe Commissioner Lachelt has acted in ways that have undermined the public’s trust  

(This perspective leaves  >2/3s of crowd out of frame, taken Feb 15, 2018 at Eno, Durango.)

AFP and Koch's libertarianism - Why It Matters To Set Them Straight. [INDEX 2/17/18]

February 2, 2018

Five Myths About the Koch Brothers - Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Theda Skocpol* - 2016

https://americansforkochsprosperity.blogspot.com/2018/02/five-myths-about-kochs.html

... and Why It Matters To Set Them Straight.

I've had a few more days to continue my crash course into Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers and "Libertarian" ideology in general.  The convoluted logic and the ruthless efforts I'm learning about get overwhelming.  Thankfully I have my Maddy dog who makes sure I get out for good long walks regularly, which helps clear my head and allows me to breath some fresh air and regroup.  

Why do I think this is so important to discuss and share?  Because liberalism, or more accurately, enlightened-self-interest, our democratic process of learning from and considering each other, and compromise - understanding critical thinking skills and the scientific process for assessing the world around us - all this is under existential threat.  

We have this group of faithful people who genuinely believe they have a personal reciprocal relationship with God (a Being billions of years old and encompassing the universe) and who now want to totally crush the Children of the Intellectual Enlightenment and our pluralistic society .

When all the layers are scraped away that's what I'm coming down to, this huge group of people who have convinced themselves that their own goals are God's own goals.  Think about this.

To believe that your personal goals are those of the God of Light and Time, Life and Love!  That  really is what's going on here!  Yet, the Bible warns us, God is beyond human understanding.  Still, we have leaders marching around proclaiming they are doing God's Will and all who oppose them are damnable enemies deserving no quarter.

Self-certitude and absolutism, that leads right into totalitarianism and I understand too much history to delude myself into presuming it could never happen here.  It's happened in plenty of equally unlikely places before.  Particularly when few care to, or dare to, think about it, let alone talk about it.  A healthy Democracy demands an informed and engaged electorate.    

Well, that intro went way longer than expected, but than, this exercise is about wrestling with this information and ideas and seeing where they take me.

Okay, for the main feature, this addition to my Americans for Koch's Prosperity Collection is the product of two scholars who's investigations enabled them to share some important background information most have overlooked, important details worth thinking about if you're trying to understand what's happening today.  It does have a long history.  (link)

Americans for (Koch's) Prosperity - a closer look

Americans for (Koch's) Prosperity.blogspot

http://americansforkochsprosperity.blogspot.com

They say life is what happens while you're busy making plans.  This past Thursday I was waylaid by the fact that Americans for Prosperity has invaded our little eastern slope Colorado town with the intention of removing a much liked County Commissioner because she shows concern for the local environment and believes the Oil Industry should take responsible for their own messes, though she's never voted against a well permit.  She is simply too green for Koch's agenda.  Next they want to kill a long overdue and much worked on county land-use code.

"12) Faith-based Thinking: God or EGO?" - GOP's hate-on for Pluralism

I've reached out to some internet acquaintances, some scientists and communicators, telling them about my new blogging effort ConfrontingScienceContrarians, trying to get a little feedback.  Nothing much by way of response, these are busy people with bigger concerns filling their days, plus they come from a more establishment background.  And me, what am I, a terrified spectator, low on anyone's priority list.  Plus most simply don't understand what I'm trying do, which I shouldn't be surprised at.  In many ways they can't understand me any better than I can understand them.  Still, I try, so along with a couple other posts, I shared my list of 14 Observations regarding communication failures. 

One response I did receive:

"Your section 12 Faith-Based Thinking makes absolutely no sense to me."

On reread the text it seemed straightforward enough, so I figured the main problem was with my convoluted title and I made it more concise; 

12)  Faith-based Thinking - God or EGO?

Possessing the hubris to fancy that we petty, jealous, fearful, prideful humans can access and understand the real God of Light and Time, Life and Love, leads to a profound disconnect from our planet’s physical reality, and an immoral absolutism.  

It's one thing to believe in an unknowable god, quite another to mistake one’s own hyper-inflated EGO for God. 

Unhinged from reality is not too harsh a descriptive.

I shared my change and added some explanation.

The right-wing and evangelical faithful tell us to our faces that they are in direct communication with God Almighty of Time and Light, Creation and Life.  They tell us they are doing God's duty.  For instance, it's God demanding that Government interfer with a woman's right to self-determination and to self-defense when it comes to having a child, or not - though it matters not one bit to the State what any woman does with herself.  

It's God telling people that Evolution is Satan's plan and that liberals are enemies who are going to hell.  They really and truly believe and broadcast it.  It's God telling them scientists are liars.

That is something Children of the Intellectual Enlightenment really ought to start facing up front - it demands a new sort of language and questions and open rejection of such nonsense.  

"Blue team v Pruitt" update

Here's an update on my Blue Team teaches Pruitt project.

A reminder, this is an outline for exploring the learning opportunities Pruitt's Red Team Blue Team challenge offers for exposing GOP's intellectual dishonesty.  With time I hope to add posts and links to sources explaining all of the listed items.

"Blue team v Pruitt"

 Pruitt, questioning the unquestionable is fine. 

 Now, will you pay attention to the answers you receive? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Science’s Blue team educates 

Pruitt’s GOP Red team  -  A Rough Outline.

I appreciate this is only an amateur’s exercise, I dare you to do better.  

Heck, I implore you to do better.  Please.

 https://study.com/cimages/multimages/16/earths_atmosphere_and_the_setting_sun.jpg

Schooling Pruitt's Red Team about our planet and its climate

I wrote the following column mid December for the Four Corners Free Press out of Cortez, Colorado.  Since then it seems that the GOP doesn’t think much of Pruitt’s Red team Blue team idea and his challenge appears dead.  Still as I explained at Confronting Science Contrarians I believe Pruitt’s challenge is worth exploring, if only in outline.  Beginning with an observation and a pointed question:

Pruitt, questioning the unquestionable is fine. 

Now, will you, can you, pay attention to the answers you receive? 

Science’s Blue team educates Pruitt’s GOP Red team

https://confrontingsciencecontrarians.blogspot.com/2018/01/science-educates-pruitt-redteam.html

A rough outline for exploring the learning opportunities Pruitt's Red Team Blue Team challenge offers for exposing GOP's intellectual dishonesty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following column was inspired by a lecture that Kevin Trenberth  gave at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado on November 9th, 2017.  Pruitt's "challenge" happened to jump into the headlines giving this story the hook that had been alluding me for weeks.  Worth noting is that most of what I write here at WUWT and at CSC is intended for readers up to speed on the science and the public dialogue - these columns for the FCFP force me to write for an audience preoccupied with other concerns, which produces a different sort of piece.

==========================

January 2018 - Four Corners Free Press, Cortez, Colorado

Early in December U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt told lawmakers he intended to organize a “Red team v Blue team” exercise to debate climate change science.

Pruitt is being willfully blind to the fact that the scientific aspects of global warming have already been thoroughly debated by experts. It’s expected that Pruitt will orchestrate a lawyerly winner-take-all debate. One that’s based on rhetorical trickery and a ruthless disregard for facts.

It’s a shame, since we Americans needs a constructive educational dialogue. A debate where honestly representing your opponent’s arguments and data is as important as honestly representing your own data. One where objective learning is the goal, and where truth matters.

Speaking of honestly representing the science, November 9th Dr. Kevin Trenberth (the distinguished senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder and a lead author for IPCC’s Scientific Assessment in 1995, 2001, and 2007, a giant in the field of climate assessment), gave a talk at the Fort Lewis College Climate Symposium explaining what scientists have learned about our planet. It sounded to me like a potential Blue team opening statement.

Since, today climate scientists and the science itself is under attack like never before it’s critical for more citizens to become aware and engaged. That’s why I want to share what Trenberth explained to us, along with some additional science. Information that makes clear what an internally consistent understanding scientists have achieved.

Trenberth underscored that pretty much all scientists agree. As for the few outliers, they are driven by other causes, such as religious and political inclinations. He explained that: “… as a whole the data are of mixed quality and length. If you were to look at one little piece of it you might be able to be skeptical that climate change is happening, but when you put it all together there's no doubt whatsoever that this is happening.”