WHY I'M NOT ANGRY AT FRED HIATT

I'm supposed to be furious about the decision to publish Sarah Palin's op-ed on climate change on the editorial page of The Washington Post -- but I'm actually pleased that the extreme rhetoric of climate-change denialism is appearing under the byline of this polarizing superstar. I think the result could be that defenders of real science will finally want to stand up for what they know to be true in a vigorous and public way, and that (because it's Palin they're responding to) they'll be heard more than they have been of late. Already the op-ed is being rebutted and fisked everywhere from The Atlantic to Gawker -- much, much more like this, please. If the appearance of these arguments under Palin's byline in a prestige rag means that non-denialists will seek, and get, mainstream exposure to discuss her nonsense in among the Tiger Woods stories, that would be a welcome unintended consequence. Let's hope.