Loathsome People

From The BEAST 50 Most Loathsome People in America

19. Steven Milloy

Charges: It’s a pretty fucked up world in which a falsified memoir of drug addiction can spark widespread outrage, but a lawyer and registered lobbyist posing as a science expert can take money from Exxon Mobil and Phillip Morris to spread blatant lies without repercussion. Milloy, writing under the ironically accurate title of “junk science expert” for foxnews.com and at his own website, junkscience.com, is in the business of dismissing any and all alarming scientific studies about, well, anything–global warming, secondhand smoke, livestock diseases, pollution, insecticides, guns–employing statistical sleight of hand and relying on the ignorance of his readers. Like fictional “climate expert” Michael Crichton, Milloy warns us against evil “environmental extremists” who deliberately trick us into fearing global warming just to increase their funding. The theory seems a little shaky, considering that there’s a lot more to be made lying for oil, tobacco and chemical firms like Milloy.

Exhibit A: Three days after 9/11, Milloy took the opportunity to argue that the buildings collapsed because of asbestos regulation.

Sentence: Fed alive to emaciated polar bears.

If you are not familiar with Milloy, read these.

Via Josh Rosenau.

Comments

#1 Thom
January 22, 2007

Milloy may be detestable but he’s still popping up in the New York Times. WTF?

A Cultural Gulf That You Can Invest In
New York Times, NY – Jan 8, 2007
“The corporation has become an extension of the cultural battle in our society,” said Steven Milloy, co-manager of the fund. “Thirty or 40 years ago, …

[link into article]

FREE PREVIEW Sign In to E-Mail This
MUTUAL FUNDS REPORT; A Cultural Gulf That You Can Invest In

By J. ALEX TARQUINIO (NYT); Money and Business/Financial Desk
Late Edition – Final, Section 3, Page 24, Column 1, 945 words

DISPLAYING ABSTRACT – IN one election after another, American voters have shown that they are sharply divided along partisan lines. Now, Americans have a new way to demonstrate whether they lean red or blue: through their choice of a mutual fund. Two funds started recently by Blue Investment Management, a New York …
#2 the constant skeptic
January 22, 2007

very good post, I read that terrible Crichton novel, supposedly he did a lot of research, but way to one sided to be anything but propaganda.
#3 Bill O'Slatter
January 22, 2007

The BEAST 50 Most Loathsome People in America is a typically eccentric best of list. It comes from a particular perspective . How can Bush avoid no 1 spot ? Presiding over an idiotic war ? Second to No 50 must come the collection of sleazy billionaires who run the U.S. ( Scaife therefore deservedly gets No 2) , but he is not the only one besides Raymond Trumpa and Gates. What about Murdoch for starters ?
#4 Thom
January 22, 2007

I realize that this post is completely off topic, but I think it’s worth noting. Via Mr. Rabbet, we find that Kevin Vranes just go his cherry busted in the Houston Chronicle.

http://tinyurl.com/2kmk3d

That’s right. Playing Robin to Roger Pielke Jr.’s Batman, Kevin has managed to break out of the science ghetto to become a full-fledged, mainstream pundit on….climate change!

Without botherin with any details, Vranes makes a couple of glib comments that basically state what everyone already knows, yet position himself as a guy “firmly in the middle” who is not one of those “extremists” on the edges of the debate. There are uncertainties. Who would have guessed???

Well, Vranes doesn’t appear to have published anything in the peer-reviewed literature on the topic, but that hasn’t stopped others in the past. So welcome, Dr. Vranes.

Now that you’ve got one clip under your belt, you’re certain to get calls from other journalists, who get their education on climate change by…reading other journalists, of course.

You’re now on the media merry-go-round.
#5 Scott
January 23, 2007

Ah the Loathsome People,
Where do they all come from?
Ah the Loathsome People,
Where DOOO they all belong?
#6 ben
January 23, 2007

What’s wrong with Gates?
#7 dopey
January 23, 2007

It’s just two guys’ list ben, Gates wouldn’t be on mine either. Milloy, Coulter, Cheney and plenty of the others sure would but it’s perhaps not the noblest of exercises (compiling such lists).
#8 Eli Rabett
January 23, 2007

Thom’s simile might be a bit crude for a mild bunny, but he gets the point about policy studies. You have to be on people’s Electronic Roladex, and one of the ways you get there is representing yourself as the voice of reason. Bomb throwing is also a successful strategy.
#9 Thom
January 23, 2007

Mr. Rabett: “Bomb throwing is also a successful strategy.”

Ah, you must have just read Pielke Jr.’s latest post where he claims to have “debunked” an article that appeared in Science and was written by Evan Mills of the Department of Energy.

But when you click on Pielke’s “debunked” link it goes to a posting on his blog. So you see, another way to get journalist’s attention is to make wild, speculative claims that upon closer inspection appear to be little more air guitar solos.
#10 nanny_govt_sucks
January 23, 2007

Cindy Sheehan and Nanci Pelosi are also on that list.

Do you all agree that they are “loathsome”?
#11 Geoff
January 23, 2007

Some of us agree there is a loathsome quality to Sheehan and Pelosi. So yes.
#12 Geoff
January 23, 2007

No where near as loathsome as Milloy though. It’s like they say, a whore screws everyone at the party, a bitch screws everyone but you.
#13 Dano
January 24, 2007

Suuuure, mothers grieving over the senseless loss of their sons are loathsome.

What a miserable c*cks*cking ideology it is that spreads that FUD and breeds people to believe it.

D
#14 JB
January 24, 2007

“when you click on Pielke’s “debunked” link it goes to a posting on his blog.”

Yes, he has a habit of “self-reference” (or is it self reverence?)

It’s the internet version of the circular argument (or is it “circular file”? I can never remember which is which.)
#15 nanny_govt_sucks
January 24, 2007

I agree Dano. So why is she on that list with Miloy? Perhaps the list makers have a “miserable cckscking ideology”.