A Broken Clock is Still Right Twice A Day

Anyone can give good advice. Like the old saying says, “A broken clock is still right twice a day.” Generally, however, I don't think I would consult a known broken clock it what I am looking for is an accurate account of the time. If you are looking for expert understanding then you look for an expert. Ok, forget clocks. We are talking about humans.

I would like to introduce you to one of the most well known broken clocks that actually received a world renown award for sounding off an alarm as if from an expert perspective. Everyone, please put your hands together for Al Gore.

Ok, this is a pretty dramatic lead-in on the issue of Al Gore presenting the topic of Global Warming. And I am not going to go into the validity of Global Warming (and more importantly the discussion surrounding the relative importance of human causes.) All of the minutia on that topic will be addressed in my book, “Global Warming and Other Trends and Movements As Pioneered By Politics and Popular Opinion.” I am kidding, and I digress. The full scope of this short topic can be summed up in the question, “Is Al Gore a well educated champion of Global Warming?” Let me drop a few facts down on you.

1. Al Gore went to Harvard, and this is where he was introduced to issues of Global Warming.
2. Al Gore received a grade of “D” in Natural Sciences.
3. Al Gore received a score of 488(out of 800) in Physics.
4. Al Gore received a score of 519 in Chemistry.
5. In his senior year Al Gore raised his Natural Sciences to a grade of “C-”
   

Now, to repeat, I am not addressing the issue of human causes of Global Warming. But I am thinking that this makes for an incredibly bizarre story. Any of us who had to take science classes in college likely did better than Al Gore. And how many of you understand the details of the complex equations, graphs and trends involved in the U.N. report on Global Warming? For the record, I only read the summary of that report, and for the record I did better than a “C” in my college science classes and it took me days to get through that summary.

With grades this low, Al Gore is completely in someone else's pocket on this topic. Someone is spoon-feeding him the summary and likely what to think about it. In all likelihood he knows how to give his presentation but there is almost no chance he can speak intelligently on the topic in reality. At best, he is like a reporter on the nightly news reading the TelePrompter.

“Stay classy, San Diego,” if you know what I mean. Stay classy, Al Gore.

Full Disclosure: I am a believer in responsible living. I recycle, drive a full efficient car, turn off and unplug electronic devices that typically use phantom power, go digital rather than waste a lot of paper, etc. My personal goal is to reduce my "waste" footprint, but having read a number of reports from all sides of the argument, I honestly struggle with the concept of the "carbon footprint." But at the same time, mark my words, Federal politics will likely find a way to create a tax based on some over-simplified calculation for "personal carbon footprint" which will require Americans to pay a tax-penalty on something they don't really understand. But we will do it because people like Al Gore and Leonardo DeCaprio and Matt Damon have done their part to bring us PBS specials straight from the TelePrompter.