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I don't even know what to say? Bush admits that global warming is real "Uh, yeah, listen I guess there weren't really no mass destructional weapons o'er there in Iraq, and also the uh, warming thing, yeah, it's real, but you know, we got to stay the course." but says that doing what we need to do about it might not allow us to be competitive with countries that aren't doing what they need to do about it.
WHAT! Is this the kind of logic that got him out of going to jail (and Nam) and into sorority girl's dorm rooms? This is just crazy.
It's time to look to the greatest generation and their rations and victory gardens. For once the enemy is not other humans. We can all work together and make future generations proud of how we made do. Ration the driving, outlaw the incandescent bulbs, be willing to take drastic measures, it's time. Losing some competitiveness hardly seems the concern compared to losing the ability to go outside. And haven't the Japanese automakers proved that it increases global competitiveness when you do it right? Our crappy car companies, afraid of having to meet stricter new standards are getting their asses kicked.
This last week is the week when even the Bush administration had to admit that global warming is real. It's the top subject in the news every day for the past three days. Let's hope this is a turning point. Let's hope we can now wake up to the fact that we've been losing the big war while fighting our petty little battle with each other. We're racing toward a cliff at full speed and it's too late to stop. Let's hope we manage to invent a working pair of wings before it's too late.
8 comments:
We can hope all we want, but this administration has shown an unusually strong ability to be self-delusional on any issue that does not fit their neo-con agenda. Sigh. I remember telling people back in 2000 that Shrub would go down as one of the all-time worst Presidents and I am none to happy to see that prediction coming true. All I can say is, Obama in 2008!
A few points:
1. Before anyone gets persnickety with my comment I am a registered independent and don't like this administration any more than I did the last one.
2. The only market that Japanese efficieny is really competitive in is ours. The europeans drive almost exclusively european cars, because despite income taxes that run north of 50% their governments feel the need to impose tariffs greater than the actual value of the car. Go to south America where Japanese vehicles are also huge and you will find completely different vehicles, they may still be efficient but you won't find any ulev accords driving around Sao Paulo.
3. Our car companies most certainly do need to step up, but before they can be fiscally competitive, the unions are gonna have to get a grip on reality. $40/hr with a comprehensive benefits package is nice, but not really justifiable for putting screw A in hole B when some doctors don't even take home that much after paying malpractice (thanks to frivolous lawsuits and unjustified settlements) and giving non-emergeny medical care to uninsured illegals. Don't take this the wrong way, executive golden parachutes and such silliness gotta go too.
3. As far as our economy being competitive, it doesn't do much to inspire the world towards change if we fall below certain communist and dictatorial governments in terms of financial or military (yes, I know we are already behind here) power. The rationing of WWII was to make us militarily competetive and hopefully win a war, not inspire other countries to ration as well.
3. At this point I have forgotten what else I wanted to remark about so I'll leave it with this.
4. Why do you want Obama cary? He has no real established track record as a public official, by the same token he hasn't been in Congress long enough to have had his morality completely corrupted (I hope). But I would submit to you that any person that would seriously want the job of president is either a complete idiot (see current pres.), certifiably insane (see that weird guy that smells like pee and always trys to get his name on the local ballot), or wants the job for all the wrong reasons (see Hillary, our last pres., John Kerry, etc.). The only person that would make a decent pres. is someone smart enough and moral enough to not want anything to do with the job, but who is lifted to it by the masses, not focus groups and polling to see what positions one should take to appeal to the masses in New Hampshire and Ohio, then reevaluate their position to appeal to everyone else for the general election.
of course, if you take the ability to count to 5 as a serious measure of intelligence you may want to just ignore the last comment (yes, I am the same guy, not somebody else who used the same name, gotta be able to laugh at yourself)
The rationing of WWII as you say, was to win a war, and my point is that rationing now would go far toward again achieving a victory that will not be easily won. We, as Americans, play such a major role in the problem that even if others didn't follow any example we choose to set, we would have a big impact, but the fact is we are the consumers and we could not only set an example but could also create incentives for other players in the global market to tend to the climate change problem.
Thanks for your comments (and Cary also). I'll have to look into your claims regarding the auto markets, but I do still hold that we can't use the competitive market as our excuse for not being as innovative as we we're once were and as the Japanese automakers now are.
As for Obama, you're right, we don't know much about him yet, but I like a-lot of what we do know. I'll keep an eye on him, maybe in 2012. For now I'll vote for some third party wacko since CA goes democrat pretty much no matter what.
Uh, can I just ask one thing? Was the analogy of rushing-towards-a-cliff-lets-hope-we-make-some-wings an Ishmael reference?
Tyler,
Nope. It wasn't.
If you haven't read it, read it.I think you would enjoy it. Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. One of the greatest books, ever.
And here I thought you meant Ishmael of the old testament. Ha ha.
I'll look into it, thanks.
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