Iwo Jima Veterans Blast Time's 'Special Environmental Issue' Cover

Time editor tells MSNBC 'there needs to be a real effort along the lines of World War II to combat global warming and climate change.'

By Jeff Poor Business & Media Institute 4/17/2008 5:24:05 PM

For only the second time in 85 years, Time magazine abandoned the traditional red border it uses on its cover. The occasion – to push more global warming alarmism.

The cover of the April 21 issue of Time took the famous Iwo Jima photograph by Joe Rosenthal of the Marines raising the American flag and replaced the flag with a tree. The cover story by Bryan Walsh calls green “the new red, white and blue.”

Donald Mates, an Iwo Jima veteran, told the Business & Media Institute on April 17 that using that photograph for that cause was a “disgrace.”

“It’s an absolute disgrace,” Mates said. “Whoever did it is going to hell. That’s a mortal sin. God forbid he runs into a Marine that was an Iwo Jima survivor.”

Mates also said making the comparison of World War II to global warming was erroneous and disrespectful.

“The second world war we knew was there,” Mates said. “There’s a big discussion. Some say there is global warming, some say there isn’t. And to stick a tree in place of a flag on the Iwo Jima picture is just sacrilegious.”

According to the American Veterans Center (AVC), Mates served in the 3rd Marine Division and fought in the battle of Iwo Jima, landing on Feb. 24, 1945

“A few days later, Mates’ eight-man patrol came under heavy assault from Japanese forces,” Tim Holbert, a spokesman for the AVC, said. “During fierce-hand-to-hand combat, Mates watched as his friend and fellow Marine, Jimmy Trimble, was killed in front of his eyes. Mates was severely wounded, and underwent repeated operations for shrapnel removal for over 30 years.”

Lt. John Keith Wells, the leader of the platoon that raised the flags on Mt. Suribachi and co-author of “Give Me Fifty Marines Not Afraid to Die: Iwo Jima” wasn’t impressed with Time’s efforts.

“That global warming is the biggest joke I’ve ever known,” Wells told the Business & Media Institute. “[W]e’ll stick a dadgum tree up somebody’s rear if they want that and think that’s going to cure something.”

Time managing editor Richard Stengel appeared on MSNBC April 17 and said the United States needed to make a major effort to fight climate change, and that the cover’s purpose was to liken global warming to World War II.

“[O]ne of the things we do in the story is we say there needs to be an effort along the lines of preparing for World War II to combat global warming and climate change,” Stengel said. “It seems to me that this is an issue that is very popular with the voters, makes a lot of sense to them and a candidate who can actually bundle it up in some grand way and say, ‘Look, we need a national and international Manhattan Project to solve this problem and my candidacy involves that.’ I don't understand why they don’t do that.”

Holbert, a speaking on behalf of the American Veterans Center, said the editorial decision by Time to use the photograph for the cover trivialized the cause the veterans fought for.

“Global warming may or may not be a significant threat to the United States,” Holbert said. “The Japanese Empire in February of 1945, however, certainly was, and this photo trivializes the most recognizable moment of one of the bloodiest battles in U.S. history. War analogies should be used sparingly by political advocates of all bents.”

Stengel also appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on April 17 and had no difficulty admitting the magazine needed to have a “point of view.”

“I think since I’ve been back at the magazine, I have felt that one of the things that’s needed in journalism is that you have to have a point of view about things,” Stengel said. “You can’t always just say ‘on the one hand, on the other’ and you decide. People trust us to make decisions. We’re experts in what we do. So I thought, you know what, if we really feel strongly about something let's just say so.”

Time has been banging the global warming drum for some time now. In April 2007, Time offered 51 ways to “save the planet,” which included more taxes and regulation.

'GMA' Celebrates Anniversary Bragging about Carbon-Belching Travels

By Jeff Poor Business & Media Institute 9/5/2007 5:43:33 PM

Supposedly environmentally-conscious crew fails to realize the enormous hypocrisy of the carbon footprint they left behind.

The “Good Morning America” gang of Diane Sawyer, Robin Roberts, Sam Champion and Chris Cuomo are celebrating their first anniversary together at ABC and they took time on their September 5 show to look back at the previous year.

“A lot of time has been spent on the road, whether it is here in the U.S. or spanning the globe – wherever it is to bring you the day’s most important stories,” said anchor Roberts.

During the year, the show has featured countless segments about everyone doing his or her part to curb the threat of global warming, but apparently they didn’t get the memo in time to apply their logic to their broadcast.

“I tallied it up and we have circled the globe 12 times, 12 times in one year, 315,688 miles,” Roberts said.

The inconvenient truth of the matter is that among the four of them, they have emitted 61.45 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere far exceeding the amount that Al Gore’s ClimateCrisis.Net allots.

That should be enough to make even weatherman-turned-global warming crusader Sam Champion cringe in disgust.

LIVE EARTH JOHANNESBURG OFFICIALS BLAME CLIMATE CHANGE FOR POOR TURN-OUT Officials at Live Earth Johannesburg have blamed the effects of climate change for poor audience attendance at Saturday's (07Jul07)

South African event. Organiser John Langford believes extremely cold weather in the region - it snowed last week (ends06Jul07) for the first time in a quarter of a century - kept people away from the concert, which starred Joss Stone, UB40, Angelique Kidjo and Baaba Maal. Speaking before the event, Langford said, "We're expecting 10,000 here tonight. It's a bit chilly, and we've had a strange winter... is it climate change? We had snow in Jo'burg last week for the first time in 25 years." But critics have blamed poor publicity for the weak turn-out.

It was Livid Earth in Sydney Joel Gibson July 9, 2007

Out front, Crowded House were getting reacquainted, Missy Higgins made a cameo with Paul Kelly, and a beamed message from the "former next president of the United States", Al Gore, told the 45,000-strong throng they had the power to halt climate change.

But out back, where revellers go to buy their fluids and to get rid of them, and where big events often live or die, there was a different kind of drought. Faced with record beer queues, thirsty fans at Saturday's Live Earth concert at Sydney's Aussie Stadium were seen by the Herald offering others $50 for their beer rather than wait an hour to buy refreshments.

Thousands, deprived of the traditional rock 'n' roll accompaniment, went to a Coca-Cola stand, forgetting that its manufacturers had been under fire in India for allegedly creating water shortages and pollution around their bottling facilities.

Scores were seen leaving within the first two hours of the nine-hour festival, fed up with the lack of basic services, cutting their losses on a $99 ticket. Gate attendants were heard telling the human tide that they should complain to the promoter.

It was "unAustralian", one spectator protested. "This is what happens when you let hippies organise a big event," another said.