Joe Romm at Climate Progress does a wonderful job here of deconstructing the insensible blathering of AccuWeather long-range forecaster Joe Bastardi, a man who dismisses climate change as “this red herring of an issue.”

Amid his ravings, Bastardi complains that “many of the high circles out there with alphabet soup in front of their names” consider him “stupid,” a contention that Romm generously refutes, saying:

“For the record, I don’t think he’s stupid.  Stupid people rarely rise to a position of influence necessary to cause as much damage as Bastardi does.”

Romm is right about so much, it seems churlish to argue with him on so trivial a point. But read Romm’s post and ask yourself: If Bastardi doesn’t suffer from terminal stupidity, what other pathology could explain his twisted position on climate science?