Quote of the Day: Al Gore

Al Gore returned to Capitol Hill today to a hero’s/ movie star’s welcome. He had a zinger for every Republican nay-sayer pushing the faith-based science view on global warming. Gore’s retort to Congressman Joe Barton (R-Texas):

The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, 'Well, I read a science fiction novel that tells me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame-retardant. You take action.

Update 032207: On NPR this morning Dana Milbank compared Gore’s performance to Inherit the Wind, the 1960 movie about the Scopes “monkey” trial. Spencer Tracy played Clarence Darrow in that one. Al Gore played Darrow yesterday, according to Milbank. Here’s how he put it in his Washington Sketchbook column:

It was, in many ways, a 21st-century version of the Scopes trial. Only this time, Gore, like William Jennings Bryan a failed Democratic presidential nominee, was playing Darrow, champion of scientific thought. Inhofe was playing the Bryan character, defending his beliefs against the encroachments of foes such as the National Academy of Sciences, the United Nations and the Oscar-hoisting former vice president.