They have no clue. They do not want people to back load the numbers to backtrack the model because the result is absolute spaghetti. These mathematicians did a job on Mann and made him look like a fool. If the press was honest about it they would have admitted it. But, this, like everything else, is covered from a political angle rather than a factual one.
The most arrogant lie from the mouth of Al Gore is ‘the Science is Done’, because they means they have a 100% predictable scientific model that encompasses every cosmic particle, and photon from space, and every molecule of gases in the atmosphere to predict precisely what our climate will be. If they had that, then the IPCC would not have to redo its climate model 17 times.
They are doing brain surgery in the dark using gardening tools, and it’s not really a brain surgeon, it’s a plumber who is a socialist doing it, and the patient is the US taxpayer.
You are spot on in your observations and comments. As an aside, the majority of university-based science these days is inaccurate and meaningless, and those who publish the most are generally those who are least restricted by scientific ethics. It’s a sick game, and the only way to reform it is to get rid of the current leadership in science at the government level.