This page was last updated on October 2, 2011.
Monday Musings Volume 8; John Paul; Beaver Countian; October 3, 2011. Though dated October 3rd, the piece was published on October 2nd.
The Beaver Countian appears to be a “one man band” consisting of John Paul, a self-described “citizen journalist.”
Below is a detailed critique of excerpts from the subject opinion piece.
If you would like some insight as to Mr. Paul’s motivation for writing this piece, please read a previous column he wrote entitled “In Defense Of Marriage.”
The first thing Mr. Paul tried to do was draw an equivalency between being a skeptic about the religion of manmade global warming and being “thoroughly convinced that earthquakes are caused by gay people.” That’s pretty lame, and out of touch. Doesn’t Mr. Paul know being a skeptic of manmade global warming is like being a Holocaust denier? Seriously, though, as a good “citizen journalist,” I’m sure Mr. Paul knows one of this religion’s high priests (Phil Jones, former head of the East Anglia University Climate Research Unit) last year conceded there has been no statistically-significant warming since 1995. Mr. Jones also conceded there was a statistically-insignificant cooling trend from 2002-2010.
Mr. Paul later wrote, “In a Letter to the Editor published by the Beaver County Times last week, Thomas A. Joseph of Big Beaver asserted God is punishing our country with heat, drought, tornadoes, blizzards, hurricanes, wild fires and earthquakes, all because some people are gay.” Liar, liar, pants on fire. While it’s fair to conclude Mr. Joseph believes what Mr. Paul wrote could be the case, Mr. Joseph did not claim it to be fact. I guess Mr. Paul missed the part where Mr. Joseph wrote, “we can never make specific cause and effect conclusions.” Since learning to lie is part and parcel to becoming a professional journalist, perhaps Mr. Paul is moving up in class from a mere “citizen journalist.”
Later in the piece, Mr. Paul referred to a “gay homosexual.” I concede I’m not current with homosexual lingo, but isn’t referring to a “gay homosexual” like referring to a “straight heterosexual,” a “slender slim” person, et cetera?
The comments on the Beaver Countian website at the time I wrote this critique were of the same quality Mr. Paul’s “Musings.”
Finally, you’ll note Mr. Paul repeatedly referred to “we” throughout his piece but never identified who “we” are. Another local lefty and would-be pundit/reporter with initials suspiciously <g> similar to Mr. Paul has the same habit or style.
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.