From Ike to Imhofe

Dwight Eisenhower defined an intellectual as "someone who takes more words than he needs to tell you more than he knows."

No one ever compared Sen. James Imhofe to Ike or, for that matter, Al Gore to Einstein, but the former President's definition will be at the heart of the debate in Washington this afternoon when Gore appears before the Senate's environmental committee after facing the House's counterpart this morning.

Gore, who wrote "An Incovenient Truth" and starred in the Academy Award-winning movie version, will face Sen. Imhofe, who is an author himself--of a recent pamphlet with the catchy title, "A Skeptic's Guide to Global Warming Alarmism."

"You gotta show the inconsistencies in his position," the Oklahoma Republican says, "that has to be done."

Meanwhile, in the House, former Speaker Dennis Hastert and Rep. Joe Barton sent Gore a letter yesterday asking him to explain his comment that "it is appropriate to have an over-representation of factual presentations" on global warming. Did he mean "Hollywood hyperbole ?"

Let the clash of ideas begin.