UNBELIEVABLE! I was out of the loop on this one and I just started hearing about it from watching live C-SPAN coverage of it today. They just turned it over to House coverage but before they did James Connaughton, Philip Cooney’s former boss, was testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform committee. I believe Philip Cooney did earlier among others. The hearings grew a bit heated at times.

Basically, Philip Cooney was a former oil lobbyist who was the Chief of Staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. He resigned his post in June of 2005 and was hired by ExxonMobil THREE DAYS LATER!

This guy had no scientific background, but rather a degree in economics. Anyway, there’s evidence that he politically doctored up global climate reports to undermine the evidence of climate change.

Read everything you can about this guy, I know I am out of the loop to just be finding about this now, but I am sure I am not the only one because I did a Yahoo! news search on Philip Cooney and obits from obscure cities came up rather than any news on this.

More on Philip Cooney:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Cooney
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/politics/08climate.html?ex=1275883200&en=22149dd80c073dd8&ei=5089
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/20/1328225
http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=1177
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/3/18/23467/2233

Bill Clinton. Not a figure that is too respected on the religious right. Many times when people who follow the politics of the religious right cite reasons for disliking Bill Clinton it is usually a pretty easy reason: he had extramarital affairs when he was a married man. But what about Newt Gingrich? When Newt was trying to bring down Clinton he was doing the same thing. But, who gets forgiveness? Newt Gingrich.

That’s right, because Newt Gingrich will be addressing graduates at Falwell’s Liberty University this year. I don’t know, but the Bible I read growing up did not say only forgive those who share your politics.  Obviously, Falwell has not forgiven and forgotten Clinton’s affair if one reads statements that were made just late last year comparing Clinton’s affair to the Mark Foley scandal, where by the way in case you have forgotten, Rep. Foley was molesting children not a consenting adult.

When our forefathers wanted to keep church separate from state, and equally as important state out of church, it was not something to be taken lightly. Unfortunately, certain churches have become political machines supporting an agenda of people on the far political right and making the God and the Jesus Christ I was taught about growing up into a tool to make a ton of money and influence political affairs. What a shame.

If there was one person in this great country of ours who should not have a right to free speech because of not knowing how to use such a great privilege, it would probably have to be Ann Coulter. Much like a junior high bully, she insulted a heterosexual married man by indirectly referring to him as a “faggot”. John Edwards, who has dedicated his time to helping the less fortunate and poverty stricken people in our nation, was simply insulted by her for no good reason. Ann Coulter spends her time on the things she is passionate about. Usually, it consists of insulting widows who lost their husbands in terrorist attacks or insulting politicians who actually try to make positive change.

I have not heard anyone actually try to insult someone publicly with something as unintelligent as the word “faggot” since probably late middle school or early high school. Would not one think that a political action conference would be a place to have intelligent discussion about issues affecting Americans? Instead, Ann Coulter uses it as a bully pulpit for name calling. What good has Ann Coulter done for her conservative cause? Nothing.

She is so unprofessional and unintelligent in her arguments that she has no respect from anyone who actually has political clout. All three Republican presidential front runners for 2008 denounced her comments basically saying that they were childish and way too unsophisticated for modern day political discussion.

Ann Coulter thinks way too highly of herself to care what anyone thinks. I doubt she even cares that the most prominent people in her political party denounced her, let alone a leftist blogger from rural Pennsylvania. However, my final point is that people like her have no place in modern society. People who publicly use the immature, uneducated, unprofessional and downright childish rhetoric that she uses to characterize people on the other side of the isle deserve no place in the politics of this great country, even if it is just a PAC meeting.