Yep, I know most folks think it goes the other way — defense is the best offense — but not our President.

After skipping Monday's U.N. summit on global warming, Bush played offense yesterday at the opening of the 62nd U.N. General Assembly — railing against countries he rates as the least democratic.

I can't/won't argue with W's point of view on human rights and freedom. At least not in this forum. The topic here is global warming, and I can/will criticize the President's lack of focus on that particular issue.

On Monday, I accused Bush of sleeping in when he skipped the U.N. summit. And, even though my friend Chris thought that was a bit of a rant, my point was this: our President has made a clear choice to downplay the risks and urgency of the climate crisis in favor of trumpeting other issues. To use a sports analogy, #43 is stalling until the clock runs out on his administration; he's really playing neither defense or offense when it comes to global warming.

Meanwhile, per the New York Times,  Bush puffs his chest as a warrior:

calling on countries to live up to freedoms and rights promised by the United Nations almost six decades ago,  announcing tighter sanctions on Myanmar and denouncing the governments of Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Zimbabwe as “brutal regimes” that should be confronted for their abuses.

Does anyone think the transcript of Bush's comments from his meetings with the world's worst CO2 emitters later this week will be as harsh?

Of course not.

Bush went on offense on Tuesday to grab headlines while he was still in control of the message. He'll be on his heels playing defense later in the week.

Stay tuned.

Carbon Neutral Journal's rants are brought to you by Vertical Media.

Popularity: 14%