Since temperatures have increased from 0.22- 0.40 F per DECADE since 1979?

Because it's all they've got. They can't argue the physics, they can't argue the long-term trends, so all they've got left are physically incorrect (i.e. blaming the sun), irrelevant (i.e. short-term weather), or flat-out false (i.e. the temperature record is unreliable...unless it shows cooling) arguments.