In the middle of a debate over global warming with Sen. James Inhofe, CNN anchor Miles O’Brien defended one of his arguments by alluding to “The Day After Tomorrow” scenario:
INHOFE: And I wonder also, Miles, it wasn’t long ago — you’ve got to keep everyone hysterical all the time. You were the one that said another ice age is coming just 12 years ago.
O’BRIEN: I said that? I didn’t say that.
INHOFE: You didn’t say that. Let me quote you…
O’BRIEN: No, no, no. I’d be willing to tell you there are stories like that. But there’s not…
(CROSSTALK)
INHOFE … quote you so I’ll be accurate. I don’t want to be inaccurate.
O’BRIEN: All right, go ahead.
INHOFE: You said, in talking about a shift that was coming — you said, “If the Gulf Stream were to shift again, the British Isles could be engulfed in polar ice and Europe’s climate could become frigid.” That’s another scary story.
O’BRIEN: But that also is a potential outgrowth of global warming when you talk about the ocean currents being arrested. This is “The Day After Tomorrow” scenario that we’re talking about.
(CROSSTALK)
I wonder whom CNN will tap to tell O’Brien that “The Day After Tomorrow” didn’t really happen. The patient, fatherly Wolf Blitzer would be my choice. By contrast, Anderson Cooper would cruelly mock O’Brien, while Larry King would just confuse him even more.