UPDATE: 2/27 6:30AM PST It seems the person making the attack, Shelley Rose, is part of a climate activist group, see below.
UPDATE: 2/27 2:50PM PST, The ADL Atlanta website has deleted comments on the issue, and has closed the press release to further comments. See below.
Boy, this is ugly, and I hope this boils down to simply an error in judgement by a lower tier administrator because this is like some bizzaro-world episode; on one hand the Anti-Defamation League is coming down against the “…type of comparison diminishes and trivializes the Holocaust.“, while on another they are giving a “get out of jail free card” to the people who have repeatedly done that very thing over several years.
Two telephone calls and two emails today requesting comment from ADL’s Southeast Interim Regional Director Shelly Rose have gone unanswered. She’s aware of my calls. I asked for her directly, gave my name and affiliation, and after a pause on hold her assistant asked if it would be OK to “send you to voice mail”. Ms Rose did provide a copy of the press release below, after I queried the main organization in New York after receiving a tip about this release, but found no evidence of its existence on the ADL Press Center website. The press release below still isn’t on the website as of this writing at 6:15PM EST well after close of business there. All of my requests were done during normal business hours for both the Atlanta and NYC office.
I have to wonder if the main organization is endorsing this press release, or if this is some regional director who went rogue.
Here is the press release.
==============================================================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shelley Rose (404) 262-3470 work; 678-938-1399 cell
ADL Condemns Spencer’s Nazi Analogy
February 25, 2014, Atlanta, Georgia … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today denounced remarks by University of Alabama – Huntsville professor Roy Spencer who wrote on his blog that those who refer to him as a climate change “denier” should be called “global warming Nazis” and that they “are supporting policies that will kill far more people than the Nazis ever did — all in the name of what they consider to be a righteous cause.”
He also claims those who advocate for policies to slow global warming are “like the Nazis” in that they are fascist and anti-capitalist. The post is also accompanied by an image of a swastika.
Shelley Rose, ADL Southeast Interim Regional Director issued the following statement:
University of Alabama Professor Roy Spencer’s analogy of proponents of global warming to Nazis is outrageous and deeply offensive. This analogy is just the latest example of a troubling epidemic of comparisons to Hitler and the Holocaust.
It has become too common to use comparisons to the Holocaust and Nazi imagery to attack people with opposing views, whether the issue is global warming, immigration or stem-cell research.
The six million Jewish victims and millions of other victims of Hitler deserve better. Their deaths should not be used for political points or sloganeering. This type of comparison diminishes and trivializes the Holocaust. There is no place for it in civil discussions.
Shelley Rose |Interim Regional Director
Anti-Defamation League | 3490 Piedmont Road; Suite 610 | Atlanta, Georgia 30305
Phone: 404-262-3470 I Fax: 404-262-3548 I Cell: 678-938-1399 I srose@adl.org
ADL website I our blog I facebook I twitter I youtube I pinterest I google+ I linkedin
==============================================================
I queried Ms Rose for a comment on the last paragraph, asking:
Wouldn’t that also apply to the use of “denier” to denigrate people, including Dr. Spencer. whose research has nothing to do with the holocaust or denial of it?
I also asked her to comment on the “green light” as a working title, asking if it was an accurate representation of their position. It was clear to me from the lack of response to two emails and two telephone calls was ” no comment”.
From their website, apparently slurs in major league football rate higher in concern than comparing climate skeptics to holocaust deniers for the purpose of denigration:
ADL Welcomes NFL’s Willingness to Address Hate Speech
The League welcomed reports that the NFL is considering how to discourage the use of offensive slurs during the course of games and said that “the question of how to address offensive speech and the best ways to counter it on playing fields and in locker rooms is an important conversation.”
And that’s why I think this is bizarre. The selective hypocrisy is stunning. I’m hoping the main office in New York will come to their senses and disavow the press release from the “Interim Regional Director”. Surely they must see the ugly conundrum they’ve manufactured for themselves.
Dr. Roy Spencer responds:
Hypocrisy at the Anti-Defamation League?
He asks exactly what I was thinking; where was ADL all these years when such ugly and hateful comparisons were being made:
Ms. Rose, where was your organization when journalists, politicians, and even some scientists, chose to call us skeptics “deniers”?
We don’t deny either “global warming” or “climate change”. Yet, we are called “deniers”. Ms. Rose, do you have any inkling why the term “denier” (which is a lie) might be used against us, rather than the term “skeptic” (which is accurate)? I think you know why.
I’d really like to know how ADL can turn a blind eye the use of “denier” for the purpose of denigration while at the same time calling out a victim of the denigration for fighting back after years of abuse.
There’s also a newspaper article about it:
UAH climate expert Roy Spencer calls critics ‘global warming Nazis’; Anti-Defamation League objects
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2014/02/uah_climate_expert_roy_spencer.html
UPDATE: The PR is now posted on the Atlanta ADL website here
http://atlanta.adl.org/news/adl-condemns-spencers-nazi-analogy/
Comments are allowed there. Be civil if you leave comments please.
The only thing that makes sense to me is that this person simply doesn’t know the history, and committed a terrible error in judgment.
UPDATE2: 2/27 6:30AM PST It seems the person making the attack, Shelly Rose, is part of a climate activist group, see photo and caption.
The caption reads:
Congregations Caring for the Climate – Atlanta, GA
Bill Witherspoon, from Congregation Bet Haverim writes: This was taken Friday evening before Erev Shabbat Services. We had about three times this many for services eventually, but these were the ones who arrived in time for the photo. As part of our second week of the Omer to Honor the Earth, Shelley Rose (third from right, just right of our Torah scrolls) gave the d’var (sermon) on acting with awareness that we all breathe the same air, and Tovah Melaver (second from right) led a breathing meditation.
April 13, 2007
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stepitup2007/464126698/
You can read all about this organization at http://stepitup2007.org
Of note is the list of “Friends and Allies” which reads like a who’s who in climate activism.
This whole episode makes a lot more sense now.
UPDATE3: 2/27 2:50PM PST, The ADL Atlanta website has deleted many comments on the issue, and has closed the press release to further comments. About an hour ago, I noted 90 comments were posted, now it is down to 50. See below.
Meanwhile I’ve drafted and sent a letter by email and by fax to ADL National Director, ABRAHAM H. FOXMAN asking if ADL plans to comment on the issue, and to ask id they plan to apply their condemnation equally, along with examples of what climate skeptics have been subjected to over the years. I think they simply have been caught unaware in a conundrum created by their Atlanta Interim Director.
I ask that if anyone makes communications with this organization, please be factual and respectful – Anthony
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Richard D. name something factually inaccurate in my post and I will correct it. Believe it or not I have nothing personal against Willis, my problem was with those I was arguing with about Willis. You seemed to miss something, Willis has extensive experience in the Peace Corps and a degree in Psychology, both of which could be exploited to good effect. How many alarmists have worked in the Peace Corps? How many alarmists when they try to do “psychological” studies actually understand the subject matter?
As I have stated many time, I am employed as a computer analyst.
Jimbo, four more quotes added, including Monbiot.
Thank you dbstealey for responding as I had already promised I would no longer respond to him/her on this thread. Thanks for pointing out the gray literature the IPCC uses after he/she advised me to read more scientific literature. Thank you for informing he/she on WUWT consistently pointing our land use changes over the years. You nicely finish off with this challenge:
How much has always been the question, not does it cause some warming. Our friend should realise that this is the very CRUX of the issue.
Why not –
Now let me enjoy my soft drink which has been gassified by ‘human influence’.
UPDATE:
Not only are comments now closed on ADL Atlanta press release, but all of the comments have been removed.
Mods may want to consider adding another update to this story.
“Both Willis and Andrew have contributed greatly to the field of climatology”
Hillarious, you people actually believe that?
REPLY: Something really hilarious (note your spelling) are the comments you make via the link in your fake name https://plus.google.com/102857839404861866501/posts
At least Willis has the courage to use his real name, you, not so much. Other than complaining about others views and some snarky commentary under the cover of anonymity, what have you produced? Anything of substance? – Anthony
AGW_Skeptic says:
March 1, 2014 at 4:21 am
…and let me echo the prior suggestion, with apologies in advance to all who may have contributed, that all troll-inspired, off-topic threads (including my response here) be removed post-haste. As I compose reply #425 to this topic, it is currently inundated with unrelated troll droppings and responses. Anyone coming late to this controversy will already be inclined to quickly depart.
Mods…clean it out…please.
Anthony
i am not the one that claims to have contributed to climatology.
REPLY: So other than snark and griping, you’ve contributed nothing. Thanks for clarifying that. I note in your reply on a previous thread you still insist on insulting me even though I suggested you resubmit your comment sans those insults. Therefore, since you won’t adhere to WUWT site policy, you’ve earned a place in the permanent troll bin. – Anthony
[snip -using secondary identities to get around moderation is called sockpuppetry Mr. Kuhn, aka “Aanthanur DC” – 2nd policy violation, so you’re banned – Anthony]
It is now over 30 quotes!
http://www.populartechnology.net/2014/02/skeptics-smeared-as-holocaust-deniers.html
Thanks poptech, we’ll be using this in a story Monday.
Aanthanur DC:
EVERYONE here believes in AGW it is the catastrophic part of CAGW that most of us believe is fake.
Oh man PopTech those are some nasty quotes. (We are in denial?)
“Surely it’s time for climate-change deniers to have their opinions forcibly tattooed on their bodies.”
– Richard Glover, The Sydney Morning Herald (2011)
Sounds more painful then the yellow “jude” to me
[snip – a bit over the top -mod]
Richard D:
Willis E is a good man i don’t always agree with him either.
Banning people for not agreeing with WUWT opinion pieces would make us just as bad as the so called Anti-Defamation league wouldn’t it?
Wow Poptech that is an amazing list of quotes from Marxist Nazi’s.
“Surely it’s time for climate-change deniers to have their opinions forcibly tattooed on their bodies.”
– Richard Glover, The Sydney Morning Herald (2011)
Sounds more painful then then the yellow “jude” star to me.
Aanthanur DC
Bad news for you. NOT ONE person here, NOT a single person on WUWT is in denial with AGW. It is the Catastrophic part of CAGW that we have a problem with. At least try to understand the difference.
From Moderator: [snip – a bit over the top -mod]
My opinion or the quote? sorry? did I miss something?
Thank you
+ + +
(Some moderators are more censorship prone than others. -mod)
OX AO, thanks …up to 33 now, thanks to James Powell.
Can’t wait for Anthony’s article on Monday, massive hypocrisy at the ADL.
Poptech. You should put all the mentions in from Lewandowsky, Cook, Mann, Nuccitelli (should be plenty at the Guardian) Romm, and Gleick.
Should be plenty of examples. Oh and Trenberth’s AMS address here, where we asked him to please remove the term.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/01/16/trenberth-reacts-edits-speech-to-fix-copying-leaves-deniers/
Anthony, I will see what I can find.
Some good news, I got Pachauri evoking Hitler and Pimms in Nature.
Alright, Gore’s in.
AGW_Skeptic says:
March 1, 2014 at 4:21 am
UPDATE:
——————————
Now if we could just convince then to remove the article, then everyone would be somewhat happy/er.
On another note, did anyone notice how the troll would slip in and out of using poor English? I noticed what seemed like a style of manipulation in his writing. I thought of saying something the other day, but I didn’t expect him to last too long around here.
WSJ 2/28/2014, Business, Holman W. Jenkins, Jr
Jenkins: Personal Score-Settling Is the New Climate Agenda
The cause of global carbon regulation may be lost, but enemies still can be punished.
My comment, #52:
Jenkins: \\ The New York Times runs a cartoon of a climate “denier” being stabbed with an icicle.
Indeed, a rational case for action on cost-benefit grounds is challenging to make at all….. After 35 years, it’s time to accept that adaptation is the way ahead. The problems of climate change, whatever its causes, are the same old human problems of poverty, disease and natural hazards like floods, storms and droughts. The best hope on offer is the continued accumulation of human wealth and knowledge. //
Mr. Jenkins, be prepared to have the word “Denier” tattooed on your forehead.
“Surely it’s time for climate-change deniers to have their opinions forcibly tattooed on their bodies.” – Richard Glover, The Sydney Morning Herald (2011)
See this and 30+ quotes from leading climate change activists at: [1] that DEFAME scientists, engineers, and economists who dare to question the sensibility of a ruinous “worldwide socio-engineering project.”
“Deniers” as in “Holocaust Deniers”. You would think that an organization like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) might object to the cheapening of the Holocaust by its use in ad hominem attacks in scientific matters.
“It has become too common to use comparisons to the Holocaust and Nazi imagery to attack people with opposing views. whether the issue is global warming, immigration or stem-cell research.” – Shelly Rose, ADL This was not in regard to epidemic use of “denier” over the past eight years. No. The Anti-Defamation League last week denounced a scientist, defamed for years as a “denier”, pushing back on his accusers as “global warming Nazis”. {2}[3]
The ADL posted their denouncement on their website.[via 3]. In the course of 18 hours, approximately 90 comments were contributed, most well written, civil, but in disagreement to the ADL’s one-sided denouncement while keeping mum on use of “Holocaust Denier” for years. Rather than defend their own ADL statement, the ADL chose to close the comment window and delete 50, later ALL 90 comments. Imagine the ADL, in full view of the internet archive, holding its own web page comment bonfire. Shame on them.
[1] http://www.populartechnology.net/2014/02/skeptics-smeared-as-holocaust-deniers.html
[2] http://www.drroyspencer.com/2014/02/time-to-push-back-against-the-global-warming-nazis/
[3] http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/02/26/bizzare-anti-defamation-league-apparently-gives-a-green-light-to-defamation-of-climate-skeptics-by-comparing-them-to-holocaust-deniers/
I can barely wait for the new post on Monday.
– – – – – – –
Poptech,
I think with your efforts there will be no stone left unturned.
Nice to see you leading by great example. : )
John
Poptech,
I think with your efforts there will be no stone left unturned.
Nice to see you leading by great example. : )
John
Now at 40, Joe Romm and Chris Mooney added.
My apology for redundant comments.
John
John, there appears to be many more of these comments than I initially estimated and believe there are many more left to find, even when I take a break from looking. As of now there are definitely enough to make the point with Gore, Craven, Monbiot, Powell and Pachauri being well known alarmists.
The ADL is, and always has been, a criminal organization …