Category Archives: Political Rants

Political Rants

Drill this.

Still under it, so I’ll make this brief.

The BP oil spill is shaping up to be one of the greatest environmental catastrophes in the age of greed. Comparisons have been made to the Exxon Valdez and the Santa Barbara spill, but this thing is potentially in a whole different category. For one thing, it isn’t a finite amount of oil leaking from a tanker. This thing is gushing straight from the well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of 5,000 barrels a day. Even if they deal with the enormous plume heading towards the coast now, there will be more right behind it.

Also… this is threatening some of the most sensitive, most biodiverse wetland areas in the United States. Perhaps 40% of the nation’s wetlands lie along that coastline, home to god knows how many species of birds, etc. Ecologically speaking it’s the soft underbelly of the nation – the fact that makes drilling in the gulf such a reckless choice. What the hell is this going to mean for this amazingly rich national environmental endowment? Disaster. Fucking disaster.

And this is one well. One bloody well! How many more are there in the Gulf? How many are they contemplating drilling? So much for the confident claims of the oil industry that they have this technology under control. BP has certainly been at the forefront of the spin machine, airing ads (like other oil companies and oil-dominated trade groups) that show typical Americans opining on the necessity for a diversity of energy sources (Ex-stoner college roommate talking about how we’ve got “lots of oil”; middle aged lady saying “we’ve got to find it here.”) You’ve seen ’em. Let me ask you this – did BP spend anywhere near as much on their wellhead safety technology as they did on their image-scrubbing ad campaigns? Doubt it. But even if they did, it evidently wasn’t enough.

For all their hype, they responded to this initially like any other corporation – minimize exposure; commence damage control. They suck just like rest of the oil giants.  

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

One or two things.

Same story. Beat to hell. Oh well….

Pulling a Boehner. Minority leader John Boehner appears to think that the Democratic congress is on the verge of a total government takeover of the private sector, including (gulp) tanning salons, presumably. A little over the top, perhaps? (Even for him?) HELL NO, IT’S NOT!

The triumph of Joe Arpaio. So now if you’re driving while dark in Arizona (or wearing the wrong limos), expect to be carded in a very serious way. Like… show me your birth certificate. (Note to Obama – don’t go there. Something tells me they won’t accept yours as valid.)

Drill, baby, w.t.f. That oil rig explosion in the Gulf last week underlines the hazards of off shore drilling. We should expect a lot more of this sort of thing, now that Obama has signed off on increased drilling. Or… we could push back and remind him that it’s a stupid idea. Never sure what the point is, exactly. There isn’t a real lot of oil in these patches, and what’s there is hard to recover. And in any case, are we going to get if for free or something? No… it’s going to be poured into the world oil market and we’ll have to buy it, just like the stuff from Saudi Arabia or Venezuela. We need to start using less, opting for alternatives, etc.

That’s all I’ve got. Time’s up. More later, friends.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Crazytown.

Okay… this really WILL be short takes, because I have zero time to think about this.

Tea Party Rallies. “We want our country back?” Seriously? When did you lose it, exactly? You who appear to be richer, whiter, and more well educated than the rest of us. Last I looked you were doing pretty well. You’ve got a timid Democratic president, a cowardly Democratic congress, and a conservative judiciary. So how does this differ from four years ago when you ran everything? As recently as two years ago, you had a split Senate, the presidency, and a narrow minority in the House. No one has raised your taxes. No one wants your guns. Obama’s going to drill baby drill. W.t.f., come back when you’ve got something to complain about.

Palintology. Speaking of tea parties, Sarah Palin strikes me like some annoying neighbor up the street who has a voice like a grammar school bugle (as well as an upcoming show on Animal Planet that I encourage you to join Defenders of Wildlife in protesting.) I would say she annoys me, but I know that’s the whole point of her – annoying leftists – so I refuse to cooperate. So instead I’ll just say…. HOWDY, NEIGHBOR! Or should I give a nod to Jello Biafra and just say, “SIEG HOWDY!”? 

Help yourself. Looks like ACORN got punked. Big surprise there. A group that works with poor people, helping them register to vote and make ends meet in some of the most impoverished communities in America. What a perfect target for right-wing screwballs! Of course, the famed videos were creatively edited (that jerk-ass pseudo journalist wasn’t wearing his pimp getup and exculpatory footage was deliberately excised). But no matter – success was had, mainly because the useless thing that passes for a party of the left (with a handful of honorable exceptions) would not rise in their defense (since they mostly represent bankers). Lesson: The right wins when the left folds. Want to win? Stop folding.

That’s all I’ve got. I’m freaking tired.

luv u,

jp