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Has ‘Inconvenient Truth’ Reached ‘Tipping Point’ Status?

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Posted on Jul 5, 2006
inconvenient truth

From the Huffington Post

George Lakoff’s use of the term “inconvenient truth” appears to be in the advance guard of a slew of inconvenient truths soon to blanket America.

By Blair Golson

No, we’re not asking whether the message of Al Gore’s global warming movie has crossed the threshold of mainstream acceptance. (It has.)

We’re wondering about the term itself: Like “perfect storm” and “tipping point,” has the phrase “inconvenient truth” become the new way to describe any set of facts that is getting short shrift in the public arena?

  • We’re wondering because we’ve seen it around a lot, most recently in George Lakoff’s column on the Huffington Post, “Occupation: The Inconvenient Truth About Iraq.”
  • Are there other examples? Have Al Gore’s publicity efforts, the public’s growing unease about climate change, and a piece of evocative language combined in a perfect storm that has pushed past the tipping point the term “inconvenient truth”?
    I want to hear from you, Truthdig readers....



    Blair Golson is Truthdig’s managing editor.

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    By tony peart, July 21, 2006 at 5:57 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    it realy is pitifull If you had been reading science based factual info Instead of politicaly and economicalt based propoganda you may have noticed that we are all headed for a runaway greenhouse effect not seen on this planet for many eaons . Denial is a powerful affector of belief systems which does not negate reality.
    Bye bye dinosaur
    tony

    Report this

    By JJ, July 16, 2006 at 8:48 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    “the debate is over"…
    “Stephen, in your comment #13309 you use arguments that are way “past” outdated."…
    “The debate is over."…
    “Respected scientists and thinking people everywhere are in agreement.”...

    These comments are Orwellian propaganda, they tell you not to consider all the options, the debate is over… and in fact, if you even consider the options- you’re not a thinking person… the debate is over, you see… any argument you have has been labeled as way “past” outdated- rather than refuted- you’re such an unthinking person for considering an alternative in the first place… just see the movie…
    just see the movie…
    just see the movie…

    “Just how is it for political gain that one wants to save the planet?”

    How could it possibly NOT be for political gain.  IT IS AL GORE. HE IS A POLITICIAN. IT IS WHO HE IS, IT IS WHAT HE DOES.

    Create a fake emergency that requires Big Gov’t to deal with. Put Dem’s in the lead on the topic. PRESTO! We will all be so stoked on the Dem’s for saving us from MANBEARPIG!!!

    Report this

    By Carey, July 12, 2006 at 1:24 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    I’m not sure the phrase “past the tipping point” conveys what I think you mean by it.  Instead it almost connotes a feeling of a lost cause.  Perhaps it’s the use of the word “past”.

    I strongly believe once people see the movie for themselves, there will be a groundswell of people concerned enough to do something about their daily habits to curb greenhouse gases.  The rest is up to us readers.  We must urge activism citing the ultimate goal of saving the planet.

    Stephen, in your comment #13309 you use arguments that are way “past” outdated.  The debate is over.  Cycles no longer apply to the statistics now being found.  The graphs are off-the-charts. This is a man-made crisis.

    Al Gore is not out for political gain in his fight for the planet.  If you actually see the movie, instead of making comments off the cuff, you would recongnize that.

    Just how is it for political gain that one wants to save the planet?  Remember your life and your children’s and grandchildrens lives are at stake.  This is no idle political argument.  It’s a cry to help save the planet.

    Report this

    By Anne, July 11, 2006 at 9:11 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    The first time I heard the phrase “inconvenient truth,” I thought about the meaning of these powerful words.  They were, and are, applicable to global warming. As Al Gore so effectively points out in his film, the debate is over.  Respected scientists and thinking people everywhere are in agreement.  Global warming is real.  And yes, the solutions might indeed be inconvenient.  However necessary.

    I’m afraid, though, that if overused the words become a cliche, then like all cliches, they take the place of conscious thought. What a tragedy.

    Report this

    By QC, July 9, 2006 at 4:25 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Sterotypes exist: Lib...er… I mean progressive stereotype:
    “Comment #13227 by Margaret Currey on 7/07 at 2:26 pm

    How can Liberman become an imdependent when he acts more like a Republician than a Democrat, even though there is insider politics on both sides, the Republicians have taken partinship to a new level, George acts like the King George III from merry old England.

    M Currey, Portland Oregon”

    SO FUNNY!!!! LOL!!! OH MY SIDES!!! Your parody of the unthinking lockstep left is brilliant and hilarious.  It is parody, eh?

    Move to Eugene.

    FEAR MANBEARPIG!!!!!

    The better question is, “Has Manbearpig reached the tipping point?”

    Report this

    By jeanne, July 9, 2006 at 10:12 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Stephen (#13309),
    Environment starts with an “E” while tragedy has only one “d”.
    What specifically do you refer to when you say “expands and contracts”?
    Al Gore is not a radical.  You need a broader view of things.
    Volcanos and extensive fires occasionally blast the environment with particulate, but that’s not to say that “we” should accelerate the process with “our” own heedlessness.
    Any “tools” for political gain and for control over our lives are generally held by corporate interests and their lobbyists.

    Report this

    By tirade, July 9, 2006 at 12:44 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    i had the runs REALLY bad the other day and i called it the “inconvenient poop”.

    does that help?

    Report this

    By Stephen, July 8, 2006 at 11:26 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Another inconvenient truth is that where we now stand, glaciers once sat.  They come and they go.  The earth warms and it cools.  The sun heats us up and then withholds heat in a cyclic fashion. The melting of a glacier is not a tradgedy, it’s something that has been going on for millions of years as they expand and contract.

    The truth is, if man were not here at all, the glaciers might still be melting, as they have done in the past.

    The use of the invironment as a tool for political gain and as a tool to take control of others lives is an old game, but it’s still being played today by “progressives”.

    It’s an Inconvenient Truth for Al Gore and the radical left wing of the democratic party.

    Report this

    By Margaret Currey, July 7, 2006 at 1:26 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    How can Liberman become an imdependent when he acts more like a Republician than a Democrat, even though there is insider politics on both sides, the Republicians have taken partinship to a new level, George acts like the King George III from merry old England.

    M Currey, Portland Oregon

    Report this

    By Star A. Decise, July 6, 2006 at 1:26 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    from The Enigmatic Paradox - http://www.enigmaticparadox.com - post, “Secular Religion: I Think Therefore It Is” about Lieberman preparing to run as an independent:

    As Robert Heinlein noted “progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”

    So now truth and technology are dismissed as too hard or, to steal a phrase from the belatedly-appreciated Al Gore, as little more than “inconvenient truths.” They can be dismissed and finessed by simply stating a point with a particularly beguiling slogan and having the conservative propaganda machine repeat it like a broken record – what should be called AWA for Authority without Accuracy.

    Report this

    By bill, July 6, 2006 at 11:04 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    other incovenient truths (beies Lakoff’s occupation frame):

    invasion, not liberation

    imperial empire (redundant?), not republic

    nascent corpo-theocracy (i shy from fascist), not constitutional democracy

    consumerist, careerist, hate filled…

    Report this

    By John F. Butterfield, July 6, 2006 at 10:08 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    An “inconvenient truth” “tipping point” may be one of several “unintended consequences” of “An Inconvenient Truth”. “Unintended consquences” are often “inconvenient truths”.

    Report this

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