Bush Climate Speech Worth It for the Wall Street Journal Headline

Bush's speech on climate today generated an enormous amount of activity. If we could just bottle up the energy expended in paying attention to this latest presidential climate non-event, we'd be off Middle East oil in no time.

Just about everybody has issued a statement about what Bush had to say, but in the interest of promoting energy efficiency, I won't summarize any of it.

Instead, I'd like to call your attention to the headline that graced the front page of the Wall Street Journal -- just above the fold even.

Here's what it said:

Bush to Call For Greenhouse Gas Curbs

And here was the sub head:

Pressured for Years, President Warms to Broad Regulation 

The use of the verb "warms" was an excellent touch. And now here's the lede.

In a significant shift on global warming, President Bush will propose stopping growth in US greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and signal that he is open to lawmakers reining in pollution from power companies.

Who would have ever thought that these headlines and these words would ever be found on the front page of the Wall Street Journal? How delicious. The news guys at the Journal must really be enjoying the moment while the editorial page's arch-denialist crew eats crow, now alone out in the cold more than ever before. It's probably a new Gigot low.

Sure, the substance of what the president had to say amounts to a death sentence upon the planet, but there's a silver lining to this latest bit of absurdist political theater.

Recall that famous story about Babe Ruth -- at least the version I heard was ascribed to him -- when he was propositioned by a prostitute seated next to him at a fancy dinner. He ended up offering a paltry sum to conclude the bargaining, and the woman in her finery, offended, wanted to know: "What kind of woman do you think I am?"

The Babe responded -- so the story goes -- "We've already determined what kind of woman you are. Now we're just haggling over the price."

So too Bush. Now that the Wall Street Journal has determined he has warmed to broad regulation of greenhouse gases, we shouldn't worry about the meaningless target he's pointing us toward.

Now it's just a matter of haggling, which can commence in earnest once Bush, and the rest of the oil whores in all their finery, are out of office.

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