Hoosier jackboots won't brook any climate view deviations

Here's an example of the kind of mob intimidation that, in a human-sexuality context, ruined Brandon Eich's tech career.  In this case, the area of politicization (and what in post-American life isn't politicized?) is "climate change," and those greenies are every bit as thuggish as the "gay rights" crowd.

Keith Baugues of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management tossed off a quip that ignited a firestorm:

Keith Baugues is not a scientist, but that didn't stop him on a recent wintry day from expressing skepticism about global warming — something that is broadly accepted in the scientific community.

After weeks of heavy snow and freezing air, he had had enough. He took to a governmnent message board one day in February, complaining that his normal 45-minute commute had turned into a painful three-hour slog. "Anyone who says global warming is obviously suffering from frostbite," he wrote.

Baugues would later say he was only joking. But he wasn't just any government bureaucrat. Baugues is assistant commissioner in the Office of Air Quality in the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the man in charge of cleaning up Indiana's air.

The Freedom-Haters and junk-science Kool-Aid swallowers went right to work:

Reaction was swift, according to remarks posted to the message board reviewed by The Indianapolis Star. Several IDEM staff members wrote that the comment flew in the face of nearly unanimous scientific consensus and offended and embarrassed them.

"Either support consensus science or please keep your opinions to yourself. The rest of us are embarrassed by your unwillingness to accept what is happening," one worker wrote.

Another said that Baugues "should not speak on such matters until he is better informed." Then that person, who was not named, took pains to point out that recent extremes of cold weather were caused by warming global temperatures. That resulted in more water being absorbed into the atmosphere, pushing the arctic jet stream farther south.

"The fact that [Baugues] disparages the exact kind of science that disproves his statement only further illustrates how out of touch this administration is with the current environmental crisis facing not only Hoosiers, but the entire world," the person wrote.

It's encouraging to see that, as of now, Baugues isn't caving:

"It seems silly to be talking about global warming at a time when we were having extremely cold unseasonable weather," he wrote.

He said if staff members thought they had "important facts about global warming," he would be willing to discuss it during lunch hours.

Baugues declined to talk to The Indianapolis Star. A spokesman said Thursday that the initial comments were meant "to add levity and spur discussion of global warming." He said that under Baugues the state has attained compliance with federal mandates for air quality.

One is reminded of the joke, "How many feminists does it take to change a light bulb?  Answer: That's not funny."

But he's by no means out of the woods.  Some FHers are calling for his head.  The Hoosier Environmental Council has, of course chimed in, calling his quip "disgusting."

By the way, the Indianapolis Star is sure a different kind of organ than it was during the Pulliam era.  This article was written by someone whose eyeballs are clearly floating in Kool-Aid.