“The next time you want to talk some trash about what a provincial city Houston is, or how we all deserve to get blown away by a hurricane, consider this. And then consider this: In 2000, Al Gore got more votes than George W. Bush in Houston. And in 2004, John Kerry got more votes than George W. Bush here. So there.” — Variety critic and author Joe Leydon, sent to yours truly this morning.

Wells to Leydon: I never called Houstonians provincial. I certainly wouldn’t in the wake of their having elected the openly gay Annise Parker their new mayor. I simply said that Hurricane Ike’s hitting Houston in September 2008 was a case of oil karma — i.e., a city living by the sword and suffering by the sword, that’s all. It’s Biblical.

As I wrote on 9.12.08, there are some situations in which you can’t be truthful because the viewers (or readers) simply won’t have it. Drawing a corollary between the oil industry, global warming and the Hurricane Ike devastation in the Galveston area was a no-brainer. Any climatologist would note the same thing if he/she were among friends and felt free to be honest. Anyone with a minimal understanding of the factors causing global warming would have quietly nodded if Al Gore had drawn this analogy, let’s say, on a radio talk show.