DAVID MENZIES ｜ Climate change hysteria has reached its jump the shark moment
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Summary
Have we reached the Jump the Shark moment when it comes to radical climate change activism? I say yes, and I think I have the evidence to prove it. It s Thursday, February 16th, 2023.
Transcript
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Tonight, have we reached the jump the shark moment when it comes to radical climate change
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activism? I say yes, and I think I have the evidence to prove it. It's Thursday, February
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16th, 2023. I'm David Menzies, and this is The Ezra Levent Show.
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Have we reached the jump the shark moment when it comes to climate change alarmism? I truly think
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so, and I believe I have the evidence to prove my premise. Now, first things first, the phrase
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jump the shark means to reach a point where something stops becoming more popular or starts
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to decrease in quality. This idiom usually refers to TV shows as it traces its origin back to a long
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gone sitcom. But jump the shark can be applied to anything really, ranging from restaurants to
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automobiles. For example, a while back, automotive writer Dan Neal used this phrase in his review of
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the Mini Countryman, a supersized and somewhat jarring version of the beloved Mini. Neal adroitly pointed
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out that the bigger vehicle abandoned the company's design ethos and that, quote, with the Countryman,
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tiny sharks have been jumped, end quote. Neal nailed it. Now, as I alluded to, the genesis of jump the shark
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goes back to a 1977 episode of Happy Days. It was a bizarre episode, no doubt inspired by the shark
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mania that followed the release of Jaws two years earlier. The climax features the beloved Fonzie donning a
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pair of water skis, and he goes on to, well, you guessed it, jump over a shark that was being held
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captive in a holding pen. Check out the preposterous video evidence.
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Hey, it's the Fonz. I mean, was there ever any doubt that the uber cool Arthur Fonzarelli was going
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to end up as fish food? Even so, what was more ridiculous, the very premise of the stunt, or the
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fact that Fonzie was still wearing his trademark black leather motorcycle jacket while taking part
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in water sports, so weird and cheesier than a bucket full of Bulgarian feta. The point is, many argue that
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in the aftermath of this particular episode, Happy Days went into decline as a TV series, hence Jump the
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Shark lives on decades later as a cheeky pejorative term for a sudden and steep dip in quality. As I said
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from the get-go, I believe that just recently we hit the Jump the Shark moment in terms of climate
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change hysteria. Have patience, folks. I'll get to that eventually. But first, how about a postmortem in
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terms of the various prescribed policies of those climate change alarmists who demand that we change
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our lifestyles so that we can collectively save the planet from supposed man-made doom, which is to say
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we are all supposed to give up all the creature comforts that make living in the 21st century so enjoyable?
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To paraphrase that Prince song, the Grettas and the Gores want us to party like it's 1699. In fact, to quote the
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Gilligan's Island closing credits theme verbatim, it seems that the climate alarmists subscribe to this set of lyrics.
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Not a single luxury, like Robinson Crusoe, it's primitive as can be.
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Yep, not a single luxury, because so-called luxury items are killing the planet, you see. Indeed, instead of
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improving the livelihoods for those who live in the third world, the climate change cultists would rather
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we lower our own benchmarks and standards and make life miserable for those residing in the developed
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world. They essentially want to undevelop the developed world. Their mantra seems to be
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misery loves company. Indeed, that's the whole idea behind Earth Hour. After all, you know how on the
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fourth Saturday in March, we are all supposed to turn off our lights and all of our electrical devices
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from 8.30 to 9.30 p.m. and basically reflect on how good we had it just 60 minutes ago as we
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collectively and anxiously wait for this grotesque virtue signaling exercise to end, you know, so that
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we can go back to watching the hockey game or playing Super Mario Brothers. Now, the last time I tried to
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take part in Earth Hour was some three years ago. It was about as fun as a Joe Biden speech played in
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slow motion. Check it out. Oh, my goodness gracious, folks. Let me tell you, I am deep, deep into the
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woods, far from civilization. And you wouldn't even be seeing this image of me if it wasn't for my
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trusty flashlight, which, of course, by the rules of Earth Hour, I've got to extinguish so I can light up
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my candle. But I'm telling you, this is like something out of the Blair Witch Project. It's so
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dark. I'm all alone. It's like when I lost my virginity. Anyway, let's light up the candle.
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Okay, folks, I hope you can see me. The candle's lit. And it's very, very quiet in here. But as long
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as I have this candle lit, I can see, well, a few inches in front of me, and it'll keep me warm.
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By the way, do you know anyone who takes Earth Hour seriously? I mean, anyone who isn't currently
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confined to an insane asylum? Now, aside from being deprived of power for an hour every year,
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the elitists don't like other things that make life pleasurable and convenient on a full-time basis.
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For example, they hate the very idea of the ultimate freedom machine. That would be the car,
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or more specifically, a fossil fuel-powered car. Yeah, the climate Karens would prefer you take out
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a second mortgage and purchase an electric vehicle. Oh, not a Tesla anymore, by the way, folks. Elon Musk has
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fallen into their bad books now that he has thankfully reinvented himself as a crusader for
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freedom. Alas, the climate change movement much prefers the feeble-minded who think in lockstep
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with their logic-starved policies. So EVs aside, many in the climate change movement would really,
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really rather you give up your automobile altogether. They want us to walk or ride a bicycle or take public
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transit. By the way, if you're taking public transit in Toronto these days, you might want to drop by
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Bass Pro and pick up some bear spray. Yeah, I know the release of red pepper oil in aerosol form will
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certainly increase your carbon footprint a tad, but it sure beats being randomly stabbed to death by some
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deranged thug. It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway, when it comes to the enviral elites
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preaching this kind of narrative of giving up our beloved stuff from Klaus Schwab and Bill Gates to Al
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Gore and Greta Thunberg and David Suzuki, this is yet again another case of do as I say, not as I do.
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I mean, do you really think his Royal Excellency, her Schwab, would ever be found dead or alive on a
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public transit bus? Oh no, he absolutely loves supersized carbon spewing automobiles, especially
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those that are equipped with that pricey option known as a chauffeur. And hey, if you happen to be a
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climate change activist residing in Ontario, are you serious about cheering on the extinction of
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the automobile? By volume, Ontario is the third largest automobile producing jurisdiction in North
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America. What industry would replace the auto sector and all of the good jobs that go with it if it were
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put out to pasture? Mining for dilithium crystals, perhaps? Of course, if you identify as a carnivore and
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like to chow down on the occasional burger, well, that's almost as sinful as driving a Made in Brampton
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Dodge Challenger Hellcat when it comes to the climate change catastrophe cheerleaders. You see,
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all those cows that are destined to be reincarnated as Big Macs and Whoppers, they tend to burp and fart a
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lot and this too causes global warming or something. Funny thing is, long before the
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first Canada Packers plant was constructed, an estimated 30 to 60 million bison roamed the prairies in North
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America. I guess there were no emissions coming out of those supersized critters in yester century.
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Nevertheless, the climate change alarmist would very much appreciate it if you were to consider
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changing your eating habits, which is to say, would you like fries with that cricket and mealworm
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sandwich? But beyond internal combustion engines and beef, oh, glorious beef. As they used to say on
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those Ronco ads, but wait, there's more. More things to give up, that is, in order to save the planet. I recently
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came across an online magazine that's called bestlife.com. Clearly, that title does not
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represent truth in advertising. Consider the article entitled, 21 Habits That Are Bad for the Environment,
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and subtitled, Ditch These Habits If You Want to Help Save the Planet and Reduce Your Carbon Footprint.
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Folks, the so-called advice found in this article left my jaw residing on the linoleum. Indeed,
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one so-called tip made the, thank God I'm a biological man who identifies as a biological man.
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That's because bestlife.com urges females to give up using tampons and pads. Apparently,
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these products are killing Mother Earth too. Quote, over half of the population is made up of women,
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and most of those women will have their period almost every month for about 40 years. Meaning we use
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a ton of feminine hygiene products that create non-recyclable byproducts. How much, you may be
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wondering? According to Julie Weigard-Kajar, CEO and co-founder of Ruby Cup, the average
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person who has periods will use up to 12,000 disposable period products over the course of a
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lifetime. A menstrual pad contains the same amount of plastic as four carrier bags. A tampon takes 500
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years to decompose. Swapping pads and tampons for reusable menstrual cups like Ruby Cup or period
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underwear from brands like Thinks and Knicks can drastically minimize your negative impact on the
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environment. End quote. By the way, did you catch that line from the Ruby Cup CEO? Quote,
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the average person who has periods? End quote. Person? You mean woman, don't you?
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How woefully woke can you go, Julie? You are the chief executive officer of a feminine hygiene
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product company, and you're concerned that you might offend some transvestite out there who thinks he
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experiences menstruation? Incredible. But more to the point, I googled Ruby Cup. Let's put it this way,
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if I was a biological woman identifying as a biological woman, there's no way I'd be using the Ruby Cup
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on a monthly basis. It's gross. This same bestlife.com article then goes on to tie itself into a Gordian
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knot of e-logic. The author wants you to reduce meat consumption. That's due rigueur these days.
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But at the same time, the article warns people against importing stuff. Um, hello, I live in Canada.
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If I want to embrace a vegan diet a la Greta Thunberg, where do I get my bananas and pineapples and oranges?
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Or any number of fruits and vegetables that don't tend to flourish here, especially in the wintertime.
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And don't you dare suggest growing these edibles in greenhouses? You know, that whole greenhouse gas
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thingy. So maybe importing things that are unattainable domestically? Maybe that isn't such a bad idea
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after all? How dare you? Now, I would tell these climate change cultists to wake up and smell the coffee.
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But, well, you guessed it, folks. You're killing the planet when you kick back with that glorious morning
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cup of joe. You see, last month, researchers at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi published a study
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calling for consumers to embrace an adapted diet in order to combat the effects of coffee preparation.
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Quote, limiting your contribution to climate change requires an adapted diet and coffee is no exception.
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Choosing a mode of coffee preparation that emits less greenhouse gases and moderating your consumption
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are part of the solution the four researchers wrote. End quote.
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Folks, my love for coffee is surely right up there with how an alcoholic looks upon beer, wine and spirits,
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which is to say it's an addiction. I cannot function without it.
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Now, I could prepare a concise intellectual response to these crackpot researchers in Chicoutimi,
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who I'd bet you anything were drinking copious quantities of coffee as they toiled over their research paper.
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But I'm a wee bit caffeine deprived today, so I'll let the late, great Martin Landau deliver a response
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Now, folks, this crackpot give up your coffee demand was going to be my suggestion
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But just days after the coffee study emerged, along came something even more insane.
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And it was crafted by a medical doctor, no less.
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Here goes, quote, Dr. Mohamed Fayyad, an anesthesia resident physician at the Henry Ford Health System
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in Detroit, presented a study he recently authored that analyzed how doctors could reduce
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anesthetics during surgery to reduce the carbon footprint of operating rooms worldwide
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during ASA's annual conference last week. End quote.
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So, folks, how would you like to go under the knife with this quack at your bedside?
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And what is the doc trying to fix here when it comes to carbon footprints?
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Because, get this, inhaled anesthetics used during general anesthesia are estimated to
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be responsible for 0.01% to 0.10% of the total worldwide carbon dioxide equivalent emission.
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That's right. Not even one half of 1%. Basically, Dr. Fayyad wants you to suffer
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so that carbon dioxide goes down by an amount that doesn't even represent a rounding error.
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But you know something? Don't take my word for it that this lunatic suggestion is the jump
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the shark moment for climate change idiocy. Rather, consider what the American Society
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of anesthesiologists did earlier this month. Namely, they wiped Dr. Fayyad's study from its website.
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That study is now akin to that season of Dallas that never took place. It was all a dream, you see,
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or more like a nightmare, really. The official reason for the scrubbing of this nonsensical study is
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that it was inaccurate. But me being the cynic that I am, I think there was something more at play here
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when it came to deep-sixing this pathetic paper. Namely, isn't an anesthesiologist
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slamming anesthesia kind of like a dairy farmer denouncing milk? Which is to say, I bet there were
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more than a few anesthesiologists who came to the conclusion that if anesthesia becomes this decade's
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version of DDT and is eventually done away with, well, connect the dots. Is there any future left
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for those pursuing a career as an anesthesiologist? So there you have it, my friends. That is your jump
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the shark moment when it comes to the inherent insanity that is being promoted by the climate change
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activists. A collection of loons, Marxists, and hypocrites. Those who live in our civilization of milk
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and honey, who want you to give up your milk and honey, and for that matter, cars, meat, coffee, and
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You know, friends, I can't really tell if Jagmeet Singh is in charge of the Liberal Party of Canada,
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or if he's simply just a sycophant propping up Justin Trudeau. But I guess at the end of the day,
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it really doesn't matter because it's his job as one of the opposition parties to hold the
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government of the day to account. And he's definitely not doing that. And I don't think
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it needed to be said, but somebody did say it. In fact, he wrote it. Joining me now is Loren Gunter
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of the Edmonton Sun. And he wrote a recent article called The NDP Leader Should Be Holding Trudeau to
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account. But he's not, Loren. Why not? He's not. And it's kind of like a
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two-faced act for Jagmeet Singh. As I wrote in my column, during the day, during parliamentary time,
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he's Jagmeet. And he's, you know, he's falling, fawning all over the Liberals. And, you know,
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oh, no, we're not going to pull the government down. That would be bad. So we're going to prop
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them up, do whatever they need us to do to keep them in power. And then at night,
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he goes home and he cracks open and takes out his phone, cracks open his Twitter app. And he's
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Jaggernaut. Oh, the Liberals, they're terrible. They're awful. They're in bed with the grocery
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store chains to increase prices for you. They don't care about the little guy. They're all for big
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profit. You know, and so which of these two acts is the real Jagmeet Singh? And you know what?
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I'm surprised, first of all, that he has any shred of self-respect left because he's done
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so many things that are against NDP principles in order just to keep the Liberals in power.
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But I also am surprised that his caucus and his membership aren't holding him to more account.
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Like, where are ordinary New Democrats in all of this saying, you know, we need a new leader or we
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need our leader to get a backbone? It just puzzles me so much. How are they so afraid of another
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election that they're prepared to push down all of the things that they believe in in order to keep
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the Liberals in power? You know, that's a question I often ask myself when I look at the NDP. I think
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there are people who are, you know, I would fundamentally disagree with them on almost
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everything, but they are NDP voters because they care about socialist principles. And yet,
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their own leader is disenfranchising them. If they wanted to vote for the Liberals,
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they would vote for the Liberals. So at what point, I guess, does he have a membership revolt on his hand
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or a caucus revolt on his hand? When does this happen?
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I'm so surprised by that. And it can't possibly be that their party finances are in such dire
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straits because we've had one election after another after another. That does wear on a party
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that has some trouble raising money. But they all have the same trouble now, right? There are no more
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big individual donations. There are no more corporate donations. There are no more union donations
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either, which is what really bothers the NDP, what makes it difficult for them. But all the
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parties have that problem. So it can't be the finances that are that bad. And they must start
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to look at the electoral equation and say, gee, you know, if we always are mimicking the Liberals,
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then people who aren't our committed voters, but our swing voters who might come to us
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when they get disgusted with Justin Trudeau. And there are an awful lot of leftist voters who are
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disgusted with Justin Trudeau. If we are always mimicking the Liberals, then those people aren't
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going to come to us. They're going to say, well, what's the point? I might as well vote for the
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Liberals. And that way, then, you know, they're also voting for the party in power. The calculations
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just don't make any sense to me at all. Wouldn't you really rather leave? Maybe you only get that,
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you know, they only have a couple dozen seats in the Commons. Maybe you only get three dozen
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in the next election. But at least you fight it with some self-respect and dignity. Where they're
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at now is they have neither. And the thing that I think is really telling is that so you had Trudeau
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and the premiers over a week ago have this summit on health care spending. And one of the things that
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wasn't said but was certainly rumored around the corners was that in health care spending now the
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the feds will not go after the provinces if the provinces allow private delivery of publicly funded
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health care. So the governments will pay for the health care. But as often happens now in Quebec,
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and is increasingly looking like it's going to happen in Ontario, then there might be private
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hospitals or private clinics or private groups of doctors that provide the service. And this just
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drives the NDP wild. And there is no other issue, I think, that's more of a core for the NDP
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than publicly administered, publicly delivered health care. The founder of their party, Tommy Douglas,
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was the first premier to bring in socialized health care in Canada when he became the national
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leader. That was one of his big pushes. Probably nothing defines the NDP more than publicly delivered
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health care, delivered by government unions, delivered by government bureaucrats,
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administered by politicians. You know, the last people I would want to go to for medical health
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would be politicians and bureaucrats. But that's the NDP fundamentally believes that you cannot deliver
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equitable health care without bureaucrats and politicians being in charge. And here's Trudeau with
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the premiers undermining that. And even that doesn't get Jagmeet Singh to go after the Liberals. So I just
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don't understand when this what when this cozying up this, this kissing up to the Liberals ends.
00:25:40.740
I'm not sure why it's happening. I think maybe it's because the NDP are getting some of the things
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they want. And that's good enough for them. You know, they sort of got their national dental care
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policy done. And that was, you know, their brainchild, if you can call anything that comes out of the NDP
00:25:56.100
that and launched by the Liberals. But as a Conservative,
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I cheer for the NDP sometimes because a strong NDP is what creates the the vote split on the
00:26:09.380
progressive side. When the NDP offers something different than the Liberals, Conservatives do well.
00:26:15.140
I'm old enough to remember Thomas Mulcair again, fundamentally opposed to him on just about
00:26:20.340
everything. But at least I didn't think he was crazy. And I think he offered something different.
00:26:26.420
But we don't have any of that. And Mulcair is a very intelligent guy. I mean, I remember when
00:26:32.740
he was cross examining, he was using his lawyer skills to cross examine Stephen Harper in the House of
00:26:38.340
Commons on the prisoner exchange in Afghanistan. And I was so impressed by his intelligence and his ability
00:26:46.660
to change his line of attack as the government said things he hadn't expected. And it was so
00:26:54.020
interesting. Jagmeet Singh couldn't do that. I'm quite convinced. I mean, I'd say bring back Jack
00:27:00.260
Leighton. You know, that that's the quickest way to get a Conservative government would be to have a
00:27:04.660
strong NDP leader like Leighton. I don't think the NDP will ever win power in my lifetime and federally.
00:27:12.340
But boy, if you could get an NDP leader who could win 60 seats, then I think you're going to have a
00:27:17.700
Pierre-Paulia majority. Yeah. And I don't think I don't think in Canada they could ever win power, but
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they might be able to form official opposition if Canadians are wise enough to punish the Liberals
00:27:30.980
for what they've done over the last several years, almost a decade. But what's the problem? Is it the lack of
00:27:38.900
talent on the NDP benches that is preventing a leadership change? Because when I look at that,
00:27:47.860
their talent pool, I think, well, maybe Jagmeet Singh is the best that they can do.
00:27:52.500
Yeah, you know, I think you're right there. And that for them is unfortunate. I don't know if there
00:28:00.980
are any, typically with, you know, in American politics, the new leaders, the next group of
00:28:08.660
leaders is groomed at the state level and you get governors and then senators who move up towards
00:28:15.860
becoming president. In Canada, we don't normally do that. We don't normally turn premiers into prime
00:28:22.820
minister. But we do look at people in the caucus and say, well, you know, there's a bright light
00:28:29.860
that could come forward in a few years to run for the leadership. And I just don't see that among
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anyone in the NDP caucus. Yeah, there are no real young up and comers. There's the old guard,
00:28:41.140
the Charlie Angus of the party, but no real, not completely insane young members of the party.
00:28:49.300
There's Nikki Ashton, but I think she falls into that completely insane category.
00:28:53.140
Yes. So, you know, she has a profile. She has run for the leadership. She has
00:29:00.180
stuck her head above ground and made a name for herself in certain circles in politics in Canada.
00:29:06.580
But she is as far to the left as anybody in all of parliament, not just the NDP caucus,
00:29:14.180
but in all of parliament. And so, yeah, I don't think that that she's ready for prime time as it
00:29:18.980
were. So that's it is part of the problem that they lack anybody who could take Singh's place.
00:29:24.580
Now, lastly, I guess one of the names I hear floated to replace Jagmeet Singh is Rachel Notley.
00:29:32.420
Is that just fantasy football from the NDP years or is that a real possibility?
00:29:36.660
No, but it's a problem for them, right? Because what they're doing on the national level and what
00:29:42.500
Trudeau is doing nationally is going to make it very difficult for Rachel Notley to win power again
00:29:49.300
in Alberta. And if Danielle Smith wins decisively, she doesn't have to win a huge landslide. She
00:29:56.100
doesn't have to win a Law Heed level or a Klein level landslide, but she wins 55 seats,
00:30:02.180
you know, a good, comfortable majority because Trudeau has pushed his just transition to a point
00:30:08.180
where even people who are a little disgusted with the UCP are prepared to swallow hard and vote for
00:30:14.100
them rather than the Liberal's friends in the NDP. That makes it difficult for Notley then to run.
00:30:22.180
But I know she has that ambition. She has that interest. I don't know how deep it runs.
00:30:27.220
You know, it's one thing to be flattered by being asked or being considered and your name floated.
00:30:35.380
It's quite another to have to put out the effort in order to run nationally.
00:30:40.500
You know, and frankly, when Rachel Notley loses, and that is my prediction,
00:30:45.860
people can write that down. I do hope she makes that transition to be the federal NDP leader. I think
00:30:51.540
she's probably the most successful NDP politician in the entire country in at least a decade.
00:30:56.980
And I think, you know, it might bode well for the Conservatives if she doesn't make that lateral
00:31:03.300
move. Would she win twice as many seats as Jagmeet Singh? Yes. And that would be good for the
00:31:09.140
Conservatives federally. From your lips to God's ears, Lauren. Thanks so much for coming on the show.
00:31:15.940
You bet, Sheila. We'll talk again very, very soon. You bet.
00:31:18.900
Your letters to Ezra, read by David Menzies, up after the break.
00:31:35.780
Say, folks, my colleague Sheila Gunn-Reed, she was filling in for Ezra last night and her monologue was on Alberta's
00:31:42.900
new drug addiction policies. Lots of feedback on that. Tasman5555 writes,
00:31:51.300
Vancouver gets most of Canada's drug addicts. They come from back east. Too cold there. Well,
00:31:58.740
you're right. There are sections of Vancouver I wouldn't dare to venture into. But why would
00:32:05.940
Canada's shame when it comes to drug addiction issues? That would be some of the areas in Vancouver.
00:32:11.380
Why would that be the template to embrace in the rest of Canada? Surely there are some better answers
00:32:18.420
that we can embrace. I still have hope, writes, I worked on the downtown east side as a first responder
00:32:25.780
on and off for nearly 20 years. I have come to the conclusion that those in power use addiction
00:32:32.260
and human suffering to steal tax dollars through non-profit societies. It all needs to be shut down.
00:32:41.300
Well, you know something I still have hope? I think you're on to something. I think there's a whole
00:32:46.500
industry concerned over homelessness and drug addiction. And really, do you want it to all go away?
00:32:55.220
Do you want to present that kind of solution? Kind of like the dog catcher. You certainly don't want
00:33:00.340
dogs running rampant all over the city, but you don't want any stray dogs not being around either,
00:33:06.180
because then why would we need a dog catcher? Jake Jakerson writes, just wondering, aren't the thugs
00:33:13.860
that are playing at being police officers in Calgary far too busy enforcing illegal COVID mandates
00:33:22.180
and arresting pastors and conservatives for doing what they've been doing forever? To hell with the
00:33:30.660
Calgary police non-service thugs. No better than bikers. Well, you know, I think the Calgary police
00:33:40.180
service, I bet there's good men and women in those uniforms, but the way they've treated Artur Pawlowski,
00:33:45.940
the way they've treated Freedom Convoy movement participants, it has been downright shameful.
00:33:54.180
I'm not sure what the solution is. Actually, I kind of am. It's all about political will. And given
00:34:00.180
who's at City Hall right now, do you have any hope that things in Calgary are going to get better
00:34:07.300
before they get worse? I sure don't. Well, folks, thank you so much for tuning in. I believe Sheila
00:34:13.220
Gunn-Reed will be co-hosting for Ezra tomorrow. Ezra is traveling right now on very urgent business.
00:34:20.500
In the meantime, thank you so much for tolerating me. And as always, stay sane.