Money Over Matter (and Mind for that Matter. . )

My analytical skills (much less much any predilection to use 'em) are pert much in the basement for the nonce. That's a big chunk of why so much music and emo lately.

Arianna can be a flighty, immature socialite at times, but I read HuffPo cuz she's more spot-on then many o' teh wonks in our world when it comes to discussing the cultural roots of our political insanities.

To whit:
"The way I would like to proceed (in rectifying the oil lease snafu)," said (Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico), "is to find something that the administration thinks will pass muster."

Really? If what passes muster with the administration is what passes muster with the American people, Bingaman would still be in the minority in the Senate.

Feinstein, meanwhile, has endorsed the version favored by the Bush administration, which is to ask the companies to renegotiate, and, in exchange, extend their current leases without bids.

Does anybody really believe that no-bid contracts for oil companies were what the American people voted for in November? If they wanted a Senate that opened the Treasury to the oil companies and pled helplessness when asked to exercise real oversight, the voters could have left the Republicans in charge.

This story offers us a glimpse into the other side of political money. The media often treat the money race like a contest in which the total raised is the end of the story. But it's only the beginning, and until more light is shone on the paybacks, the real loser will continue to be the American people.
Not to mention our species as a whole and the planet we just may change beyond are ability to survive upon.

Good luck, eh..

Comments

  1. If only we cold follow Mark Twain's advice and hang a politician each day until they catch on that we don't like what they are doing.

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  2. Excellent advice! But with today's tech capabilities, I think we should Freeze Dry the rats so we can shove the success we have without them in their faces somewhere down the line.

    [/SF Solutions Off]

    {-;

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  3. Not to mention our species as a whole and the planet we just may change beyond are ability to survive upon.

    Well said, though I'm a bit worried that that the game now is to learn how to cope with a planet that is already changing, not that may change.

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  4. Hmm, while we are focused on the planet, they are focused on the oil.

    Sadly, I doubt either will change.

    We do not do prevention or even reasonable maintenance, it seems, only crisis intervention.

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  5. Wow, Mary usually is very peaceful. AG is impressed with the haning idea!

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  6. Hangin's too good fer em...they need to suffah! Walk the plank into a tank of hungry sharks. I don't care how they go...they just need to go.

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  7. I've got about $3 in my pocket. How much influence does that buy me?

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  8. The forecast for the species does look gloomy lately. It's hard to imagine polticians around the world uniting to do something about global warming. Would it be the intelligent, sane, reasonable and really really obvious thing to do? I'm pretty sure...

    But then you could say the same thing for letting the general public in on the deal with global warming ten or fifteen years ago, when most credible scientists already thought it was probably happening and that the earlier we put on the brakes the better.

    Instead the money motive lead the polluters via their influence with the politicians to distort the facts.

    We're supposed to be an intelligent life form so it would be a real bummer if it turns out we're too stupid live. Maybe that's why the SETI project, if I'm remembering the name right, isn't picking up any signals yet from intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. They're adopting a wait and see attitude, not quite sure if we're right for joining their club...

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  9. At this point I can only pin my hopes on the next generation. Population=2 at my house, so I'm workin' on 'em.

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  10. $3 gets y'all a hearty RAmen!

    and probably a SETI bumper sticker t' boot.

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