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RachelWatch: Hypocritical Mass

Today: Bill Nye the Science Guy on climate change and Senator Inhofe gets a different correction than he’d hoped for.

Abominable

Hey! Have you noticed that there has been a lot of snow this winter? Some global warming, huh? Where is that global warming? We could use some!

If you’re tired of people saying that as if it’s the most witty and incisive thing in the whole wide world, has Rachel got a segment for you.

I fear it will not reach the right people because the ones who are beating this drum the loudest tend to say phrases like “known facts” and “scientific research” in the same tone of voice most people would reserve for describing a liver fluke. One that had just been busted on To Catch a Predator.

But the rest of us can enjoy Rachel talking climate change with Bill Nye the Science Guy.

(If you will excuse me, I need to give rein to my inner geek for a moment. Feel free to skip to the next section.)

I enjoyed that segment and agree that the “one snowy winter doesn’t negate decades of overall trends” point is an important one. But I am experiencing some nerdball discomfort with the three-pointer clips that Rachel used by way of illustration.

The three-pointers are against-the-odds anomalies, and my understanding is that climate change means a general increase in stronger, wilder weather — and that includes bigger snow dumps along with the stronger hurricanes and hotter summers. This winter’s blizzards shouldn’t be seen as a deviation from the trend. They are a taste of snow-whompings to come.

It’s either that or someone has access to a weather machine and is trying to make our nation’s capital feel more like the snow-blasted tundra of — oh, dear.

They’re Not Embarrassed

Speaking of whompings, I’m guessing those are suddenly relevant to Senator James Inhofe (R — Oklahoma) and his staff.

True, they did learn the lesson that if you’re going to ask Rachel for a correction, you’d better make sure you are accurate when you do so.

But they didn’t think about an important corollary: You need to have more than just that one fact straight.

You are about to see Rachel put a bandage on Inhofe’s boo-boo and then break out the flail.

Flaw & Order

Chris Hayes was right in that last clip: We’re not going to get anywhere with the truth until we stop being polite about lying. To hell with “misstatements,” “inaccuracies,” “different opinions on how to interpret these concrete, plain-as-day facts,” “speaking in tongues,” and “a case of the loopies.” We need to be clear about it when our public figures are lying.

Rachel brought up a case in point: the amount of brazen, baldfaced lying that is swirling around the case of the Panties Bomber.

Ms. Information

Rachel reported on yet another step towards getting rid of the ridiculous Don’t Ask Don’t Tell rule. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D — New York) plans to propose a budget amendment to de-fund the enforcement DADT.

Did you know that we’ve already spent $1.3 billion to investigate whether trained military personnel have The Gay and then stop them from doing what we spent money to train them to do?

I am really looking forward to hearing the Fiscal Responsibility folks explain that we should keep this expense. Because why spring for body armor when we could be delving into whether someone knows the names of too many main characters on The L Word?

In another step in the right direction, Lieutenant Dan Choi, who came out on The Rachel Maddow Show last year, has rejoined his unit for training. Our entire military is expected to collapse by Tuesday.

And Rachel took great pleasure in welcoming Nigeria’s new acting president, Goodluck Jonathan. She wished all the best to him and acting vice president Serendipity Bob.

A Creep By Any Other Name

Rachel noted that the Iraqi government has given more than 200 current and former Blackwater employees a week to get out of the country. The move is in response to an American court dropping the charges against Blackwater contractors who were involved in the shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians.

Don’t worry, though: Blackwater, now known as Xe, is still doing its fine, fine work for us in Afghanistan.

Blue Crass

In other Forces of Darkness news, Anthem Blue Cross California just increased individual policyholder premiums by an average of 39% as permitted by their plan’s “What Are You Going To Do About It?” clause.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wondered why Anthem would price so many people out of the market. I fear that the answer is “because they don’t have as much money as we’d like.”

Ms. Sebelius, however, used to be the insurance commissioner of Kansas and made her name in politics by delivering a massive insurance company smackdown. And she would like a word with Anthem Blue Cross.

This may be the first time Health and Human Services news has caused a nation to jump up and down and clap with anticipation.

Soar Subject

But it turns out the female half of the nation should stop jumping up and down right now. Rachel has some astonishing medical news for us.

Oh, and she and TRMS executive producer Bill Wolff will also explain why women’s ski jumping won’t be in this year’s Olympic games.

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