2496422563_dc6ff1dd70_m.jpgThe McCain campaign’s greenwashing efforts are getting hit from all sides and could actually provide a unifying factor across the political spectrum: everyone finds it absurd. As per EarthFirst, Finally, Something the Righties and Lefties All Agree On: McCain Needs to Stop this Environment Crap.

Greenwashing is the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, an industry, a government, a politician or even a non-government organization to create a pro-environmental image, sell a product or a policy, or to try and rehabilitate their standing with the public and decision makers after being embroiled in controversy.

John McCain’s campaign is going GREEN … and even trying to raise some funds via this greening. As a reach out to Birkenstock wearing eco-terrorists, it seems, the McCain campaign website now had eco-friendly items" for sale. You too can have your "Bamboo Pique" "Go Green McCain Embroidered Polo Shirt with New Recycle Logo" in stone color, for just $50. A ladies bamboo T-Shirt will run your $25. An "unstructured organic cotton canvas" "Go Green McCain Visor" will run you $15. Time to raid your piggy-banks, you eco-terrorists, to help fund the "eco-friendly" McCain campaign.

$15 too much? Well, there is always the $8 note book with that new recycle logo. "The lined sheets and notebook covers are colored with organic based inks."

There are some things that fall beyond satire.

Who do they think they’re kidding? Rebranding McCain as Mr. Environment? Rebranding the Republican Party as the Eco-Friendly choice? The McCain campaign must have a real disdain for the intellect of the American voting public.

While those concerned about seeing that nation (and global community) rise up to address the challenges of Global Warming with enough seriousness are concerned over the inadequacies of McCain’s proposals and find the concept of "eco-friendly items" at the McCain campaign store utterly absurd (for fun, see the comments section here and for one of the best pieces on McCain’s speech is Jon Stewart and The Daily Show’s ridiculing of it.), the (uber) conservatives are outraged that McCain is taking a step toward the reality-based policy world. In the pseudo-intellectual world, we can turn to George Will who hides his resolute rejection of reality in "just wondering" questioning of John McCain. While material straight from global warming denier playbooks, Will’s material remains within the pseudo-reasonable space. To get some more direct language and a clear understanding of the outrage, let’s take Rush Limbaugh, for example:

“The troubling thing here, Senator McCain, is I’m mapping out plans here to try to persuade Republicans to eventually cross over to vote for you and this is not making it any easier,” conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said on his May 12 show. “At some point Republicans are going to have to decide whether to cross the aisle and vote for McCain. Clearly, he’s rolling the dice in thinking that the ‘green’ community and the independents and the yutes out there will buy into this global warming business and think he’s different than the average conservative Republican and that will stand him in good stead.”

Note that Limbaugh is stating that voting for the Republican nominee 2491129226_4d0ae30ee7.jpg?v=0for President will be, in his definition, a "cross-over" vote. To vote for McCain would be "cross the aisle". For me, this shows yet another way that Limbaugh is disconnected from reality, as if McCain has not be a highly loyal Republican through the years, despite his media stardom as (the myth of) the Great Maverick.

Over at the Minority Report,

McCain’s campaign folks say this new eco-friendly merchandise is not pandering to environmentalists but I don’t know what other conclusion we’re supposed to reach.

With McCain’s nonstop climate change rhetoric over the last few days and this … the intention here seems clear — and we conservatives again have good reason to be disappointed with our nominee!

From Andy Aplikowski

Sticking your finger in the eye of conservatives is never a good idea if you are the Republican candidate for President, but waging an all out war on capitalism and promoting the junk science designed to end the American way of life [emphasis mine] is a colossal electoral failure waiting to happen.

Yes, the talking points. The National Academy of Science,McCain's path to extinction ... thank you Daily Show the International Panel on Climate Change, the 1000s (10,000s) of scientists and experts are all working to distort science in an effort "designed to end the American way of life".

You know what risks an "end [to] the American way of life"? How about the double whammy of Peak Oil and Global Warming? Of course, Andy’s and Rush’s and George W’s response to both is to scream: NOT REAL at the top of the lungs and call on us to drill the hole deeper.

What is interesting about Andy’s comment is to speculate about pure political terms. Would it be better for John McCain to embrace the reality-denying base (all 26% or so of the voting population) or to attempt to present himself as operating in the real world and risk angering the base to the extent that they won’t show up to vote? Clearly, McCain’s camp has chosen the second, evidently believing that the base won’t have a choice.

Related posts:

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