The title quote, mostly attributed to Jon Stewart and the Daily Show, has been stinging my ears each of the last few nights as I've switched between the televised Minneapolis convention and the online stream of his show. Let's just say I can't wait to bear witness to Stewart's acute interpretation of McCain's speech tonight.
Tonight I also read Thomas Friedman's piece in the Times, "And Then There Was One". Here's my attempt to balance his criticism of the two candidates. The following is an email written to my father who suggested I read the article.
I enjoyed that, although I submit that if Friedman did less sugar-coating of Obama and put more pressure on him, he would earn full journalist marks. The way he writes, he's not exactly making him a tougher candidate or holding him to any standard that Obama is certainly capable of. Instead he continues the pandering political hackery (Dem v. Rep) that we see everywhere. Here was his chance to say omnipotently, "The Democratic candidate is willing to cede a portion of our pristine wilderness in exchange for extending and expanding renewable tax credits AND THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH! He has so much potential..."
Friedman has a great point about McCain's energy record and the future of our economy under his reins. He writes,
"Given the fact that Senator McCain deliberately avoided voting on all eight attempts to pass a bill extending the vital tax credits and production subsidies to expand our wind and solar industries, and given his support for lowering the gasoline tax in a reckless giveaway that would only promote more gasoline consumption and intensify our addiction to oil, and given his desire to make more oil-drilling, not innovation around renewable energy, the centerpiece of his energy policy — in an effort to mislead voters that support for drilling today would translate into lower prices at the pump today — McCain has forfeited any claim to be a green candidate."
It is more or less black and white. McCain, the Maverick, the straight-talking express and oh, how he doesn't pander to special interests. He once gave a speech about how he wouldn't lose a war to win an election. If that's his opinion of standing up to the public (for the public's good), the public which vehemently favored ending the war, why does he pander to the majority of Americans who suddenly want to drill. Obviously that's not in the public's interest, as Friedman noted, for the short or long term. I'd love to hear him say, "I won't lose a wilderness to win an election." Eh?
This is the sort of hypocrisy Jon Stewart has been eating for breakfast on rye. (You'll know what I mean if you follow that link). It's almost like he finds these clips lying in neat, little rows in the forest like Hansel and Gretel's crumbs. Love It!
I agree, and while increased drilling may (and "may" is the key word here) decrease America's dependence on foreign oil, that's not good enough. We need clean, renewable energy. Although, I don't think McCain's support of more oil drilling is the only pillar of his energy plan. He has also greatly advocated emission-less nuclear energy, but we've already had that discussion...
I'm not so sure that McCain's pick of Sarah Palin will have any effect on the nation's energy policies (if they are elected), because the vice president holds little power whatsoever (well, perhaps with the exception of Cheney). Maybe, however, his choice of Palin reveals his own tacit support for her energy views.
I most agreed with Friedman's predicted importance of "ET" (energy technologies) industry in the future. We will run out of oil. We will run out of coal (though that will probably take much longer). And when we do run out, the nation with the most highly developed ET industries will make itself powerful and wealthy. Let's make America that nation, despite what Exxon or OPEC wants.
And yes, Jon Stewart is awesome. Though I very much enjoy Colbert as well. They're both idiots (as Huckabee once said on Colbert’s own show), but they're hilarious idiots.
Well said. Actually ol' Huck was on the Daily Show last night. Stewart is such an idiot that he convinced Huckabee to say that only the Republicans could fix the mess they made.
That's a great point about the Palin pick. Any policy expertise that a vice president can wield has gone out the window with the decision to nominate her. It's an insult, I think, to the collective intelligence of Republicans to say, yeah, she was the best we could do...vote for her because she is a hockey mom.
I don't quite know how the pick changes the dynamics of Western politics where I live. For public lands enthusiasts like me they don't impress. But to some, the GOP ticket consists of two Westerners whereas Biden and Obama are two Easterners. That could send shockwaves through closely contested states like Montana, Colorado, etc. that thought the perfect storm for Red State resistance was possible.
But I digress. Thanks fer yer comment.
my documentary...
Wanna smile on the spot?