Getting the attention of the masses has been historically difficult. But, when special opportunities have presented themselves, (Moses down from Sinai, Jesus on the Mount, Hitler in Berlin, Rev. King on the Mall), the potential for mobilizing good or evil has resulted in a very high success rate. Tragedy, especially in the age of unending media saturation, has always gotten the attention of the populous, and when that tragedy has a culpable villain, (Adolf, Osama, BP), it is our civilized responsibility to rise up and bring the villain down. Right?
It took us a while to accept Hitler’s uncompromising venal nature, and perhaps an earlier commando-like response could have saved millions of lives and acres of European soil, but we did rise up. Contrarily, we have completely missed the boat, (and the point), in pursuit of the cowards that brought down the World Trade Center, and instead, have done their bidding by chasing a faceless enemy at an unfathomable cost in lives, cash and credibility. And now, an old, too-long tolerated enemy threatening our very existence, belches its poisonous goo in uncontrolled waves of destruction, and we have, as yet, (Mr. O), made no outraged overture to SHUT IT DOWN!
I’m not just talking about capping a leaky well. Oil and coal based energy is killing our planet. That it provides jobs and wealth, (and fuel and power), to people who don’t give a crap is not a legitimate argument for continuing the madness of drilling and digging for one more drop or lump. The transition to saner, cleaner, more sustainable alternatives has to start NOW with an unbridled commitment to those technologies that we know, research into those that we don’t and jobs for everyone in these more responsible industries as well as in retrofitting and retooling the old ones. This should be our new Manhattan Project funded by suing BP for every one of their billions and billions, (I miss Carl), of dollars, ending our military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and placing high use taxes on fossil fuels during the transition to insure the pain that will quicken the result. Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, (and anyone else who even whines about this…like the morons from New Orleans that think that a moratorium on drilling is too harsh), have to shut the fuck up! This is not partisan politics. This is life and death…for us, the pelicans, those yummy shrimp, the white sands of Florida and…oh yeah, all the oceans, land and air that sustain life on Earth.
W., (who this week admitted to being a war criminal with no regrets), missed the tragic opportunity to unify the world in peace, by stupidly responding with war. Can a smart guy like Obama really miss his tragic opportunity to save the world? tick…tick…tick