Well, as in all good confrontations, it all depends on who you ask.

The players:

• Karl Rove, Deputy White House Chief of Staff
• Sheryl Crow, singer
• Laurie David, environmentalist and producer of An Inconvenient Truth

The place: The White House Correspondents Dinner

The bare bones:  David and Crow were introduced to Rove, and engaged him in an impromptu debate on Global Warming.

According to Crow and David, who blogged this at HuffPo, this is what happened:

Karl Rove Gets Thrown Under the Stop Global Warming Bus

The "highlight" of the evening had to be when we were introduced to Karl Rove. How excited were we to have our first opportunity ever to talk directly to the Bush Administration about global warming.

We asked Mr. Rove if he would consider taking a fresh look at the science of global warming. Much to our dismay, he immediately got combative. And it went downhill from there.

We reminded the senior White House advisor that the US leads the world in global warming pollution and we are doing the least about it. Anger flaring, Mr. Rove immediately regurgitated the official Administration position on global warming which is that the US spends more on researching the causes than any other country.

We felt compelled to remind him that the research is done and the results are in...

Well, no it isn't but never mind.  You get the gist of it.

Rive has not commented, but this witness has (via Bryon York):

The eyewitness says the person who introduced David to Rove was the New York Times' Maureen Dowd.  I want you to meet Laurie David, Dowd said to Rove.  (These are all approximate recollections, so no quotation marks.)  Dowd said David would like to say hello.

...Immediately after Dowd's introduction, the witness says, David began lecturing Rove about global warming.  This administration has done nothing on the issue, she told Rove.  We face a crisis.  The time to act is now.  This administration has done nothing…

At that point, Rove broke in to say, Well, actually we have done something.  Rove mentioned global climate research, at which point David broke in herself to say, You just don't understand. All these questions have been answered.  That's worthless.  That's useless.

The eyewitness says Rove asked David if she had read the IPCC report, referring to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which, while confirming a human role in climate change, substantially undermines some of the most catastrophic charges made in Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," which David produced. 

Doh! Talk about an inconvenient truth...

David said she had read the report.   

In the eyewitness' version, again, David and Crow are a bit more aggressive than their own story suggests. The eyewitness says David told Rove, You need to bring in new people to tell you the truth. Rove mentioned Dr. John Marburger, the White House science advisor.  At that point, according to the eyewitness, Crow began poking Rove's chest with her finger, demanding to know what corporations were underwriting Marburger's work.  Rove said Marburger had been in academia most of his career.

With Crow jabbing him in the chest, Rove turned to take his seat.  Then, the witness says, Crow grabbed his arm.  A few more words were exchanged, and it was over. 

OK, while I may insert a few quips, I don't really want to engage in a he said she said debate.  I wasn't there so this is all hearsay.

And frankly I don't care.

Instead I will say that Rove has his own trust issues in some respects, and is loyal to the Bush Administration, unsurprisingly.  I don't doubt that he refused to debate them or even to take them all that seriously.

David is the producer of the Oscar winning Lie Fest of a movie, and as such her credibility with me is about less then none.  She either knowingly allowed false info to be in her movie, or she was so dumb as to not fact check it.  Either way that is fairly inexcusable for a documentary producer.

Crow is a talented and passionate artist who suffers from the "do something" disease.  One of her latest ideas concerns Toilet Paper.

Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating. One of my favorites is in the area of forest conservation which we heavily rely on for oxygen. I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required.

Honestly you cannot make this sh.. err stuff up.  Her idea's idiocy was trumped only by her brother:

When presenting this idea to my younger brother, whose judgment I trust implicitly, he proposed taking it one step further. I believe his quote was, "how bout just washing the one square out."

Riiiiight.  Someone please pinch me and tell me this is either a bad dream, or a sick joke.  Is it possible that the Crow Siblings have never actually used the same wafer thin TP as the rest of  us?

Her next idea I admit is intriguing:

This next idea I have been saving but I will share it with you if you promise not to steal it.

Considering HuffPo is the #4 ranked blog, she just whispered her secret idea to a few million people...

It is my latest, very exciting idea for creating incentive for us all to minimize our own personal carbon footprints. It's a reality show. (I feel pretty certain NO ONE has thought of this yet!). Here is the premise: the contest consists of 10 people who are competing for the top spot as the person who lives the "greenest" life. This will be reflected in the contestant's home, his business, and his own personal living style. The winner of this challenging, prestigious, contest would receive what??.... a recording contract!!!!!

What a super idea.  Since it is her idea, she would not be able to compete obviously and a good thing for her.  She not only has the "Do Something" disease, she suffers from the #1 side effect, the "Do as I Say, Not As I Do" Syndrome (via Sister Toldjah):

I have a proposal all my own for Crow: How about she cancel her contract with Revlon Colorist, which not only makes advertisements for television but wasteful paper ads in  color in magazines all across the world. Shame on you, Sheryl, for not practicing what you preach. Then again, you wouldn’t be the first gw alarmist who demanded others make sacrifices while you raked in the cash in spite of being a hypocrite.

More: Here are some of the things Ms. Crow demands while she’s on tour? A pack of cigarettes and disposable lighter? More evidence that you’re not very enviro-conscious, Sheryl.

Nor is the fact that she travels in three tractor trailers, four buses, and six cars.  Even on Bio Diesel, they have a helluva footprint, as does some of the other requirements you can read about here.

I wonder if she has a private jet?

I noticed that it mentions her toilet facilities...but mysteriously....it doesn't specify what kind of toilet paper...

But, as I said, in the end (no pun intended), I really don't care.

UPDATE

She now claims it was just a joke to get the attention on global warming.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3071833&page=1

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