home
about
archives
|
DRILL, BABY, DRILL; SPILL, BABY, SPILL; KILL, BABY, KILL
04/30/2010
The explosion and sinking of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and the resulting disastrous oil spill, should teach us one thing: there should be no drilling in coastal waters until there are foolproof plans in place to prevent, or at least severely limit, the damage from such a spill. The extent of the destruction from the oil spill is still uncalculated, but we know this: eleven men are resting at the bottom of the gulf, their families devastated by their loss. We also know that oil from the spill is coming ashore, just now hitting the environmentally important wetlands that protect New Orleans from hurricanes. We anticipate the deaths of many birds and fish. There is already a food chain catastrophe in the normally busy fishing waters as the plankton eaten by many of the fish has been destroyed by the oil, or the fires that are being set to control the oil. When the plankton die, so do the fish that eat them, so do the fish that eat the fish, etc. And then, the entire fishing industry in the Gulf waters may die, and many families will be left with no income.
And yet the tea party’s favorite airhead, Sarah Palin reacted harshly several weeks ago when President Obama proposed opening up more coastal waters to drilling, but only after studies had been conducted to make sure it was safe, and plans were in place to handle potentially catastrophic spills such as the one in the Gulf. Addressing one of her adoring crowds, she said she wanted the president to “drill, baby, drill,” not “stall, baby, stall.” She might as well have been saying “kill, baby, kill,” because eleven men are dead, and many thousands of animals will soon die because the types of studies Obama ordered were not done previously.
Sarah Palin represents to me that segment of the population that a) thinks they know everything about everything when they actually know nothing, and b) despises those who dare to think, to educate themselves for the benefit of society, and actually become experts in a chosen field. This no-nothing crowd disparages scientists and other learned men and women by calling them “elites,” and does very little to gain for themselves any kind of sophisticated knowledge of anything. They tend to condemn public schools and universities, preferring to home school their own children, thus keeping the complexity of science, research, and the benefits of learning from multiple teachers away from many members of the next generation. They must hate the idea of progress. They must have no respect for the human brain.
Many of them rely on what they consider their own common sense and the Bible, and see those two things as preferable to actual facts. Most of the time, however, their common sense isn’t sense at all. It’s bias, prejudice, political posturing, or simple belief with no facts to back any of it up. I would love to know what they think the Bible says about drilling for oil, or destroying coastlines, or polluting the air, or killing people and animals for profit. Last time I looked, it said nothing. That’s why those of us who live in the reality based world, believe in learning and studying and developing expertise about so many of the things we contend with every day, things that were not even imagined by the writers of the Bible.
One wonders where Sarah got her expertise about drilling. How was it that so many who listen to her applaud when she condemns Obama for wanting better safety precautions surrounding the building of oil platforms in our waters? When are we going to stop letting ignoramuses like that woman dictate or even suggest any kind of public policy. The woman knows nothing. We should send her back to some primitive outback in Alaska, along with all those who condemn education and expertise, and let them live with the level of knowledge - or perhaps I should say the lack of knowledge - that existed in the eighteenth century, a time they admire so much. Maybe they’d enjoy riding in wagons to travel hundreds of miles. Maybe they’d prefer no air conditioning or central heat. Maybe they’d like to cook over an open fire, and do their business in a cold outhouse in the back forty.
And maybe they could benefit from a little blood-letting the next time they contract a catastrophic infection or cancer.
All content © 2005 outragedcitizen.com
|
