Plunging Towards Gomorrah
Posts tagged Oil Spill
More on Mitch, Taxes, Hollywood
Aug 23rd
Brad Pitt is in the BP execution business, and business is booming.
The Right Stuff: The Economist picks up where I left off last week with a puff piece on Indiana governor Mitch Daniels. The article sheds some light on Daniels’ positions and challenges ahead if he wants to run for President.
More problematic, it is unclear that a clever, measured candidate stands a chance within the Republican Party. Neo-cons are allergic to talk of defence cuts. Social conservatives were rabid after Mr Daniels, anti-abortion himself, told the Weekly Standard that he favoured a temporary truce on social issues. “It just happens to be what I think,” he says, arguing that politicians need to unite on urgent matters of national security and debt. He is also unlikely to fire up tea-partiers. “Didn’t somebody say in a different context, ‘Anger is not a strategy’?” he asked your correspondent over a rare plate of steak and chips.
This attitude is refreshing, but I think The Economist is right.
Time to Raise Taxes: What’s the difference between institutional Democrats and Republicans? I’m not so sure, but both groups seem primed to raise taxes because they’re incapable of reducing the size of government. Veronique de Rugy at The Corner discusses this problem.
Even the Republicans, as a party, haven’t come out with a list of things, a list of agencies or programs, to cut. We shouldn’t consider raising taxes until we have cut spending, which shouldn’t be that hard with a $3.8 trillion budget (roughly $1.8 trillion larger than in FY 2000). Are we claiming that this $1.8 trillion increase since 2000 all went to indispensable programs that should never be cut?
Avatar: Special Edition: Didn’t catch Avatar the first time around? Well, James Cameron’s visually stunning but ultimately boring movie is being re-released. I can’t imagine sitting through it again. The special effects were amazing, but this movie will be largely forgotten in ten years. The story just isn’t compelling. Save your money and catch Pocahontas on the Disney Channel sometime instead.
The Breaking Point: You know a story has reached its full saturation point when a political science expert like Roger Ebert takes time to write about the Ground Zero Mosque. He takes time to rip Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Glenn Beck while at the same time citing Mein Kampf. Can Ebert just stick to reviewing movies? Oh, wait… he’s not even good at that either.
Capital Punishment: Typically, Hollywood liberals are opposed to the death penalty. The movie, The Life of David Gale is a fine example. Well, actually it’s not a good example. The idiots that put that film together were obviously anti-capital punishment, but the move actually made me wish David Gale was executed earlier in the movie. Anyway, I digress. It appears Brad Pitt is now in favor of capital punishment… for those responsible for the oil spill.
Actor Brad Pitt, whose Make it Right project has spearheaded efforts to build 150 affordable and sustainable homes in the Big Easy’s hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward, is prominently featured. Reflecting on those responsible for the oil spill, Pitt can barely contain his contempt.
“I was never for the death penalty before,” he says. “I am willing to look at it again.”
There simply isn’t enough intelligence in the world to cure Pitt’s idiocy. With all due respect, can we put Pitt to death for Legends of the Fall?
Semi-Daily Fizz: Wasting Crises and the Bumper Sticker Paradox
Jul 28th
The Crisis Lobby: The Obama administration’s mantra – never let a crisis go to waste – has turned the normal news cycle into an Orwellian nightmare. Now, whenever anything bad or seemingly bad happens, we’re faced with some new federal regulation, tax, bureaucratic agency, or all of the above, to respond to the “crisis” and prevent its ever happening again. Take the Gulf oil spill… Instead of putting every effort into capping and cleaning the spill, the Obama administration put most of its energy into denouncing the oil industry and placing a moratorium on future deep water offshore drilling. Why are we drilling so far offshore in the first place? It might just be all the environmental restrictions that don’t allow us to drill closer to shore, in other areas up and down America’s coast or in ANWAR. So it’s ironic that “saving the environment” actually destroyed it, but that’s how unintended consequences work. The Unintended Consequences Factor ratchets up exponentially when the federal government strays farther and farther from its limited Constitutional mission. So when you hear a lot of bad news about obesity, be afraid. Be very afraid.
Dueling bumper stickers: I was driving to Target the other day to partake in some rampant consumerism. Before I did my little part in destroying the planet, I noticed a car with two bumper stickers. One read, “Obama ’08,” the other, “I love my country but fear my government.” This puzzled me, because if one fears their government, is it prudent vote for the candidate who promises more of it? The problem with voting for more government is that, eventually, some right-wing fascist will be in power and abuse the hell out of the behemoth you helped create in the first place by voting for big-government guy (or gal). George W. Bush, for instance, would have been less likely to constantly violate our rights had the federal government been limited to begin with. It’s not a good idea to create an infrastructure that allows the next Hitler unfettered access to almost unlimited power.
The Queen of Apologies: Jemele Hill
Jun 19th
Jemele Hill ponders using the race card in her back pocket.
To be perfectly honest I have no clue who Joe Barton is or what he said about the oil spill. My guess is that he’s a Republican and he said something stupid about the oil spill. The press and the Left is all over him because President Obama is receiving too much bad PR and they can’t beat up Bush anymore. Personally, I don’t even care. The only reason I bring this up is because of the World Cup.
The United States got jobbed yesterday against Slovenia. The referee had a really bad day. He yellow carded one of our players for a hand ball when he was hit in the face. The last Slovenia defender brought down Jozy Altidore when he had a clear goal scoring chance. That’s supposed to be a red card, but it only earned a yellow. Plus, there was a terrible offside call at the end that cost the United States a goal and the win. An ESPN blog about the game is a little puzzling. Jemele Hill may cover sports for ESPN, but there’s no doubt she’s wants to be a political pundit.
The horrific call that forced Team USA to settle for a 2-2 tie with Slovenia was so bad that I’m surprised Texas Rep. Joe Barton hasn’t already called Malian referee Koman Coulibaly to apologize for the harsh criticism the official undoubtedly deserves.
The real question I have for ESPN is: Why is Jemele Hill still allowed to write for them? By Hill’s standards this is the least offensive thing she’s ever written. In the past she said that the Green Bay Packers should give Brett Farvre the “Duracell treatment” when he returns to play. Another favorite Hill quote is, “Rooting for the Celtics is like saying Hitler was a victim. It’s like hoping Gorbachev would get to the blinking red button before Reagan. Deserving or not, I still hate the Celtics.” For both of those idiotic remarks Hill has had to make an apology.
Which brings me to this point: she has the wrong person apologizing in her World Cup article. Instead of picking on Rep. Joe Barton, perhaps Jemele Hill should call Malian referee Koman Coulibaly and apologize. It’s been a great week to be a progressive sportswriter. First Dave Zirin, and now Jemele Hill.
Katrina vs. Gulf Oil Spill
Jun 7th
The new symbol of government ineptitude?
I know I’m starting to beat a dead horse here, but American’s reaction to the oil spill is puzzling. The Democrats and the press made hay during Katrina and it appears they’re paying a political price now that they’re in power. The President has spent his entire time in office blaming Bush for everything. Well, if all the problems (real or imagined) occurred because Bush was a moron why isn’t Obama solving these problems?
A month and a half after the spill began, 69 percent in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll rate the federal response negatively. That compares with a 62 negative rating for the response to Katrina two weeks after the August 2005 hurricane.
The answer to my question above is simple. However, progressives have boxed themselves into a corner on this one. They believe in government. They’re more worried about the God people than government ineptitude. I believe in the separation of Church and State. What about the separation of Utopian belief in government and state?
Summoning Greatness
Jun 2nd
I’m not sure when it will happen. Maybe it will never happen, but somewhere a smart politician is reading the tea leaves. In order to rally the American people our next great leader will have to call on us all to step up and conquer our problems. I think it’s too late for Obama. He just doesn’t grasp it. He may end up being a two-term president, but he’s not prepared to tackle our problems.
All of America’s great leaders have summoned the courage of the American people to solve the nation’s problems. The government was an ally, not the sole solution. That’s why the government looks so bad after Katrina and the Oil spill. The government will never be prepared for these kinds of crises. It is the challenge of our citizens. That is the American spirit. The government didn’t solve the Great Depression. Slavery didn’t end until the blood of thousands of Americans was spilled. Segregation lasted until Americans took to the streets to protest the injustice.
These colors don't... apologize?
Calvin Coolidge once said that “Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion.” Today the occasion is upon us and it’s time we call upon the heroism of the American people. Let’s quit apologizing for being the nation that invented the telephone, air travel, and the light bulb. We have never been a nation of apologists. No nation is free from sin and it’s only those who are too weak to lead that wish to wallow in our imperfection. We’re a nation of inventors, entrepreneurs, and hard workers. That’s the spirit of the American people, and it’s the spirit our leaders fail to grasp.
The Political Blame Game
May 31st
Obama might be hopelessly in over his head, but he sure knows how to do a good photo op.
President Obama has been a terrible executive. His promises of “hope” and “change” have proven empty. He’s probably the most divisive President in my lifetime. However, that doesn’t mean every calamity is his fault.
Is the oil spill Obama’s fault? No. Is the administration’s handling of the spill’s political angle poor? Yes, but what are people expecting? The government isn’t the answer for every problem. The American people need to wake up. When a disaster strikes the solution isn’t always the government. The government has a role to play, but expecting it to bail us out is absurd.
Perhaps Obama deserves some criticism, but it should be for his his progressive view of government. Progressives don’t mind constant government involvement in our lives. Obama’s answer to every problem is more government. I guess that’s why some on the Left are blaming Bush for the oil spill. To a progressive a government failure can’t be laid at the feet of Obama. It has to Bush/Cheney and their love of deregulation. This is the Left’s only talking points on the financial crisis as well. The idea that government isn’t the solution, and in most cases is the problem, in unfathomable for the Left.
Leftists aren’t the only ones lost in political delusion. I’ve heard a lot about Obama’s plans for Memorial Day the past few days. The President is going to visit Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Illinois instead of Arlington National Cemetery. Some on the Right are up in arms about this and they’re wrong. Obama isn’t the first president to do this and it’s not that uncommon. John J. Miller over a The Corner sums it up well.
Some conservatives have criticized President Obama because he won’t pay homage to America’s fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery today. Instead, he will be at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Illinois. This is a silly controversy and has the potential to make the complainers look petty. Thousands of American veterans are buried at national cemeteries that aren’t as famous as the one at Arlington. These heroes are worthy of presidential visits on Memorial Day, too.
Conservatives should spend more time pointing out the flaws of Obama’s ideology and less time complaining about things that don’t matter. I know it won’t happen, but at least I can dream.
It’s Time for More Natural Gas
May 11th
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has many people wondering what to do about the United States’ energy policy. As gas prices have increased over the last decade many people have wanted the United States to drill for more oil. The idea of drilling on our own soil is a very populist one. The problem is that without any more refineries it doesn’t matter how much or where we drill. Over the past 30 years the United States has quit building refineries. These refineries are at maximum output and cannot produce enough gas to adequately meet demand. That’s where the bottleneck exists today.
At this stage it doesn’t make sense to build a wave of new refineries. It can take up to a decade to get a refinery built, and it’s over 15 years too late to do it now. Technological advances in battery technology and fuel efficiency should offset the need for more refineries. If necessary, higher taxes on gas could also discourage people from driving as much, but that doesn’t reduce the risk of disasters like the Gulf spill. Is it really time to find alternatives to crude oil?
What are the alternatives? There are no viable alternatives to fuel automobiles. Subsidized government research isn’t the solution. The nation is going bankrupt already. There’s a free market incentive to find alternatives. The government isn’t going to make the process go any faster. At this stage it would be foolish to change the way cars are fueled. The infrastructure costs alone to make such a change would be enormous. The risk of environmental damage doesn’t outweigh the economic advantages of oil. The other option for cars is natural gas, but natural gas is better suited for power plants. My ideas about nuclear power have shifted over the last few months. I no longer believe that nuclear power is a viable solution for power plants.
Cato Institute energy analyst Jerry Taylor set me straight. Yes, the waste is manageable, he says, but affordable nuclear power is a Republican energy myth: “Take a Republican speech on energy and cross out nuclear, replace with wind and solar…and you’ve got a Nancy Pelosi speech on energy. Exact same thing.”
Even if Greenpeace et al stopped their ignorant obstructionism, says Taylor, new nuclear plants are “ just too expensive. The lifetime cost of building and operating is about three times more than coal-fired.” The Government Accountability Office and the CBO both recognize this. They peg the chance of default on a nuclear investment at 50 percent. Likewise, investors recognize the risk. They refuse to invest in nuclear unless the government guarantees every penny of the loan.
Politicians love to talk about wind and solar, but there’s a lot of work to be done before these ideas are anything other than eco-fantasy. Renewable sources of energy do not exist. Wind and solar are too expensive for large-scale use and wouldn’t exist at all without state subsidies. Natural gas is abundant in the United States. We should be moving toward building more power plants that utilize the resource. Plus, it’s cleaner than coal, nuclear and oil. Natural gas is really the most practical solution. However, there’s nothing practical about government or people in general.
