The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and the enterprising spirit of our citizens. We are grateful for the support we have received from across the nation for the ongoing recovery efforts. This spirit got Louisiana through the hurricanes and this spirit will get our nation through the storms we face today.So is Bobby boy now saying that Louisianans should sop up the oil with "compassionate hearts and the enterprising spirit of our citizens?" Not exactly.
To solve our current problems, Washington must lead. But the way to lead is not to raise taxes and not to just put more money and power in hands of Washington politicians. The way to lead is by empowering you, the American people. Because we believe that Americans can do anything.
“We need to make the federal government accountable,” Jindal said Monday in Louisiana, with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano at his side.(...)
“We have been frustrated with the disjointed effort to date that has too often meant too little, too late to stop the oil from hitting our coast,” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said during a Monday news conference at Port Fourchon with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.(Politico) Now don't get me wrong... I'm not suggesting we actually deliver the kind of gummint that Republicans are fond of claiming they want: "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub." What I am suggesting is that you can't have it both ways. If want a Libertarian paradise, move to Somalia. If you want a government that's robust and powerful enough to make a difference in the case of a disaster of this magnitude, you're going to have to pay for it. That means taxes. If you want to have disasters of this magnitude, by all means, keep fighting to end or minimize all oversight and regulation of corporations. If you'd prefer the only rational alternative to disasters like this one, you're going to want some pretty serious oversight and regulation.
“BP is the responsible party, but we need the federal government to make sure they are held accountable and that they are indeed responsible. Our way of life depends on it,” Jindal said.
There's plenty of room for disagreement about exactly how far we want the government's power to extend, but this sense that government shouldn't exist until you need it- until your "way of life" is threatened- is self-centered, juvenile, and blatantly stupid.
Not that I expect most of today's far-righties to comprehend that.
Posts
4 comments:
Indeed you are on the mark, Lockwood, and in this case it is the Konservative Repuglicans behaving badly. from your featured Bobbie Boy to Rushy Limpballs to our dearly beloved Caribou Barbie, the right has again taken the low road.
Please remember though, bad behavior isn't exclusive. Our side needs to view this aberrant behavior and learn not to follow suit in other circumstances.
Captcha = COINE. Now isn't that a coincidence?
Yeah, it's more difficult to separate sense from insanity when it comes from "your side." That said, I will never base a post on "news" from huffpo, I avoid Olberman's histrionics, and I regularly consider dropping my RSS feed from FireDogLake. At least the latter, in addition to what I often consider ridiculous positions (What? Me Compromise?), link to more considered news sources as the basis for their arguments. I agree that it's way too easy to have blinders that only filter out one end of the spectrum, but not dangerous nonsense on the side you prefer.
I dropped FDL some time back, and HuffPo's anti-vaccine/pro-woo stance keeps that site in quarantine. I view enough other blogs that will link to the quality stuff produced by either of those sites that I don't need to spend time filtering their BS.
Filtering is an interesting topic too. It is amusing to challenge folks to identify their own confirmation bias and strive to see around it.
Filer out the strident, certainly, but the path to the center is by viewing all sides of the issues, combined with a concerted effort avoid biased filtering.
For instance, I'm with you in your condemnation of BP in relation to the debacle in the GOM, but I find that I cannot take an anti-drilling stance. From my perspective, the process was flawed and that caused a blow-out, but the practice can be performed safely. In this case, it was a failure of regulation combined with the greed of a multi-national corporation. Increase regulation and leash the multi-nationals and the process can be beneficial.
Agree on drilling. An old high school classmate works for Chevron, and it's been very interesting to read his rants on the differences in culture between that company and BP. I don't think it's reasonable to suppose we can entirely wean ourselves off oil within a generation or two, ergo drilling must continue. I further believe it's morally reprehensible to "export" the mess elsewhere, and rely on foreign oil when we have known resources at home.
Post a Comment