# AOC's "Green New Deal" pipe dream **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 8, 2019, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160 "2019-02-08T08:48:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/261 "2019-03-09T06:26:22Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I read the Scott op-ed, and indeed the word “ban” does not appear in it. > > But I also read the PolitiFact critique of the Scott op-ed, and nowhere does it claim that Scott used the word “ban”. > > So what exactly are you complaining about here? They still ruled it “False” (not “Half True” or even “Mostly False”) despite his not having said anything about a “ban”. How can you justify that? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/262 "2019-03-09T06:32:33Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > They still ruled it “False” (not “Half True” or even “Mostly False”) despite his not having said anything about a “ban”. How can you justify that? They never claimed that he said anything about a “ban”. What they claimed is that the stuff he **did** say was false. Can you explain to me why you thought PolitiFact’s ruling on the Scott op-ed was inaccurate **without** using the word “ban” (which AFAICT doesn’t even appear in any of the documents under discussion, so I’m not sure why you’re making it the centerpiece of your argument)? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/263 "2019-03-09T06:42:25Z")
I have already explained this at length upthread, both directly and using a sort of satirical version that was flipped the other way. I don’t know what else I can do to explain to you that when there are “Mostly True”, “Half True”, and “Mostly False” options between “True” and “False”, it’s ridiculous to go all the way to “False”. Citing “climate advocates” outside of Congress who aren’t ready to sign on to “getting rid” of cows or airplanes, or saying that her calls to do so were “perhaps in jest” or whatever it was? That’s special pleading, pretzel logic. ETA: And yes, I already stated upthread (are you actually reading my posts??) that I was in error to use the “ban” framing. It was in no way helpful to my argument, and actually undermined it; so my belated recognition that it was wrong (and BTW, you and others here also used the word in this thread) \*strengthens \*my argument. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/264 "2019-03-09T06:53:06Z")
Here’s a contradiction in the PolitiFact ruling that I haven’t mentioned yet: > [@](#): > > Even if it were to pass both chambers, the resolution would be nonbinding.[…] > > Experts on climate change say it’s important to focus on the language in the actual resolution and not the FAQ, which carries no weight. NEITHER of them are binding, so the FAQ has just as much “weight” as the resolution! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/265 "2019-03-09T07:01:13Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > it’s ridiculous to go all the way to “False”. Well, the Scott op-ed states that the resolution “calls for rebuilding or retrofitting every building in America in the next 10 years, eliminating all fossil fuels in 10 years, eliminating nuclear power, and working towards ending air travel (to be replaced with high-speed rail).” PolitiFact states that the resolution says nothing about air travel and “makes no mention of airplanes at all”. I think that your level of indignation about the level of falsity assigned by PolitiFact to Scott’s statement is just another example of your endless capacity for pitching tempestuous fits over not much. If Scott’s claim had been that the resolution is “working towards cutting back on air travel”, I would agree that it would be incorrect to describe the claim as “false”. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/266 "2019-03-09T07:07:46Z")
If he said that, it would not be justified to call it anything but just plain True! What IYO is the purpose of “Mostly True”, “Half True”, and “Mostly False”? ETA: And this is even if we accept this idea that the FAQ officially attached to a nonbinding resolution that is just a statement of principles means absolutely nothing. And I believe you know in your heart that this is bullshit, but are engaged in your own kind of reflexive circling of wagons around your left wing “team”. You’re not that stupid, but you are certainly that disingenuous. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/267 "2019-03-09T07:07:58Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > NEITHER of them are binding, so the FAQ has just as much “weight” as the resolution! I think you’re mixing up “weight” as in importance with “weight” as in legal force. [“Non-binding resolution”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-binding_resolution) is a technical term for a motion that can’t become law but is still a formal expression of the legislative body’s opinion or support. Yes, of course critics of the resolution should direct their criticism to what the official text of the resolution says, since that is what would be officially voted on, not to a supplementary FAQ about it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/268 "2019-03-09T07:11:38Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > If he said that, it would not be justified to call it anything but just plain True! Agreed, but he did not say that. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/269 "2019-03-09T07:15:29Z")
Kimstu, I continue to believe that you are likely a lawyer (or at least have gone to law school, not necessarily the same thing). Do you realize that in tying yourself in knots this way, you are channelling Antonin fucking Scalia? :smack: > **[Divining Congress’s intent](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/divining-congresss-intent/2012/04/22/gIQAhBPhaT_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1c79d7af812e)** > > The Supreme Court spends a vast amount of time on one question. To paraphrase Freud: What does Congress want?... ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/270 "2019-03-09T07:37:37Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Kimstu, I continue to believe that you are likely a lawyer (or at least have gone to law school Well, like most of your expressed beliefs, that belief is founded on no actual evidentiary support and bears no relation to the truth. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/271 "2019-03-09T08:04:41Z")
Textualist. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/272 "2019-03-10T15:18:29Z")
Holy fuck, the gloves just came off! ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160/273 "2019-03-11T13:51:39Z")
> [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > Holy fuck, the gloves just came off! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aocs-green-new-deal-pipe-dream/829160.md?page=13)