Sometimes fate smiles on those of us toiling in the global warming fields. Like now, that chairman Henry Waxman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee is calling for a full investigation of forged letters to freshman Rep. Tom Periello asking him to oppose the Waxman-Markey carbon cap-and-trade energy rationing scheme.

What a great hook — the education of young Rep. Periello! — to remind everyone that this particular Virginia Gentleman needs all the mail he can get, forged or otherwise, as this sage of my own congressional district actually told a local radio interviewer here in Charlottesville that the U.S. is losing jobs to India and China precisely because they’ve already enacted such measures!

True story. I heard it live with my two ears.

The public are generally very forgiving, if less so at the moment. But some ignorance is beyond shrugging it off with a simple a wink and a nod, and some voters don’t think they should be the ones represented by those who apparently are the least able or willing to handle the issues independently, resisting the say-anything, talking points-obsessed attitude, to be satisfied then with a raging ignorance of facts. That is, the least likely to stand up for them against a Speaker highly unrepresentative of the young fellow’s district, let alone the president.

Let’s call this a teaching moment.