The Candidates

Well, this entry is a long time coming! I’ve been too busy, too lazy and/or too angry to put anything out here. Something said on one of the endless news/commentary/biased opinion programs that are almost as common as reality shows motivated me today.

It was about the election. What else could you think I meant? And, no, I’m not talking about the election in Australia. I am relieved, though, that the people of that country finally figured it out and canned Howard. I just hope the people in the good ol’ U.S.A. finally get it, too. It’ll be more than a day late and a dollar short, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

I want to be up front about this, but please read my whole argument before dismissing it. If you’ve read the previous posts, you’ll know I’m a liberal. I am also a Clinton supporter. I won’t go into many of the reasons, but I feel they are valid. Barack Obama is my second choice. In another time, the line-up might have been reversed.

To get back to the topic, the bit of discussion I saw centered around Barack Obama being a force for change but inexperienced, and Hillary Clinton being experienced but not as much for change. Both of these are, in my humble opinion, accurate. My concern is that massive change for the country, the U.S.A., may not be the right thing to try to do at this moment in our history.

We are in a hole, a deep, dark and incredibly dangerous hole. I’m going to compare it to a black hole because it is threatening to suck in the rest of the world, too. We can like it or not, but the fate of the United States is tied to the fate of the entire planet and vice versa. It really isn’t “us” or “them”, it is “everyone”. We absolutely have to think in those terms. Our future depends on it.

Let me mention a few of the reasons I think this way. National debt, trade imbalance, the falling value of the dollar, non-Americans buying up property and companies like it’s a fire sale, a failing education system leaving us with an ever diminishing pool of engineers, scientists, doctors, are a few.

There’s global warming. It’s not just global warming, though. The oceans are rising. Forests are being cut or burned down faster than ever. Our children and the elderly are suffering from more respiratory illnesses than ever. That’s only going to get worse. There are no barriers that can keep airborne pollution in or out.

Terrorism belongs to all of us. We need to worry about the terrorists grown in our own back yards as well as those in extremist groups from other countries.

Oil is getting harder to find and more expensive for almost everyone. It’s going to run out sooner or later and we will all feel the pain.

We are in a war that is exacerbating all of the above. We are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars and, more importantly, the lives of our young men and women, into something that cannot end well. The military is stretched to the breaking point. President Bush is now talking about expansion and worse.

The U.S. has the worst possible image around the world and even at home, making it “them” and “us”. How far do we need to fall before we hit bottom? How long will it take to crawl back up from that hole? And, the most important question, will there be anything left to come back for?

Now, finally, to the point of this entry. I like Barack Obama. He is intelligent, charismatic and very earnest. I think if he had been running eight years ago, I would have been an enthusiastic supporter. He would have been great. But, now, right now, no.

We need someone who is very savvy and tough as nails, who has been around in national and international political circles for more than a couple of years. We need someone who can talk with the world’s leaders in their political language. We need someone who is more than a little calculating.

I know Hillary Clinton has been a senator for only three years longer than Obama, but she has been part of the scene for a lot longer. She is intelligent, tough and focused. She also does not need to be introduced to the world. She knows everyone and is known by everyone.

First, we need someone that has a greater possibility of winning the presidency. If I can point out his freshman status as a real concern, what will the Republicans do? Can he really fight the battle that will be needed next November?

Then, we need someone that can tackle the whole mess that we are in, and I mean the whole mess. Our recovery on the home front and the international scene is going to be a monumental task.

Right now, at this point in history, I believe we need someone like Hillary Clinton.

WWIII???

Oh my God! How did we get here? The president, yeah, the one other people voted for, is now dropping 'World War III' in press conferences. How did it come to this? Is he setting up the first step to broadening the war in Iraq by claiming that if we don't continue the war on terrorism we will get into WWIII? Is he so determined to justify his existence and legitimize his presidency by thinking in terms of another World War? I pray not.

As it is, we are going to be in a quagmire of global political unrest, suspicion and hatred for years and years to come. The world rightly views this country with glasses that are not colored rose because of the lunacy that has been coming out of the nation's capital over the last seven years.

Heaven help us!

Use it one and throw it away

Have you watched any TV lately? Every other ad is for either a gas guzzling monster truck or SUV, some kind of use once and throw away cleaning product, or an air freshener that is guaranteed to make your home smell so good that everyone who lives there or visits will be instantly addicted and not want to leave the magic aura of the fragrance.

What the hell are we thinking? Are we a society that is so intent on our status symbols or making up for our own shortcomings and lack of self-esteem that we are willing to use up every drop of NON-RENEWABLE oil we can lay our hands on, throw away everything we use and fill up the air we breathe with artificial perfumes?

There is no magic way of creating oil, at least not in the quantities we need. One day, and maybe in our lifetimes, it will be ranked as an endangered species. When it’s gone, just think of everything that goes with it.

Plastic is but one example. Oh, yes, we are making plastics from corn, but how many of the myriad of plastics can really be replaced by the corn based variety? And, how much arable land will we need to convert from raising food to making plastics? My guess is a very, very large number of acres especially considering our taste for bottled everything, including water.

Oil or petrolatum based products, including hand and body lotions, cosmetics, paints, nylon and polyester will become scarce and eventually disappear. Can you do without your lip balm or Vaseline? I know that there are products in existence or coming onto the market that do not use mineral, but not quickly enough in sufficient quantities to sate the appetites of our ever expanding population.

In America’s automobile-centric mentality, what are we going to do when gasoline is rationed or not available to all who want or need it? Can you imagine lining up for a five gallon can once a month, or having to submit to a lottery for a chance at getting a tank-full? What about not being able to fly anywhere unless you can afford economy class tickets for the price of a full-fare first class ticket for a fraction the number of flights we have now?

Heating oil would go, too. Natural gas would become scare as well. Welcome to the world of our great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents.

But, wait! While this is all happening, the forests of the world are being cut down to supply the growing need for firewood, and to provide more farmland for corn to make oil to make plastics and bio-fuel for our cars. Now that we need the wood for fuel and the land for corn, we are cutting down the very thing that cleans the air for us. The trees. The carbon dioxide is being taken out of the atmosphere and replaced by oxygen at a slower and slower rate. The thawing permafrost will soon release its own store of carbon dioxide and methane, millions and millions of tons of it.

Add to all of that the fragrances of the myriad of air fresheners. The artificially scented candles and sprays that puff every fifteen to sixty seconds will swirl about us. Let’s not forget fabric softeners, either. Throw those little sheets in the dryer so that your clothes smell good and have no static cling. Every load must have one, covering our clothes and towels and bed sheets in a fine coating of oil and fragrance. Our air will be heavy with carbon dioxide and chemicals, but it, and we, will smell good. If we’re lucky.

I don’t even want to start on the use-it-once-and-throw-it-away products we have for everything from dusting the furniture to cleaning the toilet. We seem to think we have a never ending supply of everything we want. There is no need to open a window or wash a dust-cloth or mop a floor with a reusable mop. We can use it once and throw it away. It’s our God-given right! Isn’t it?

The TV tells us so. Doesn’t it?

First post for a newbie...

Well, I finally did it. I have a blog and can now share my thoughts with the world at large, at least with anyone who stumbles across it. Being such an opinionated person, I will no doubt do it frequently and with a large degree of passion. Oh, feel the power!

Some may question the pomposity of my blog title. No apologies. I am one human being on an increasingly small planet. I have a vested interested in the fate of this tiny, spinning, ball of rock and water. That interest is not only for myself, it is for a whole bunch of people. Therein lies the place where the passion lives.

Oh, my, you say! Is this person another one of those crazy individuals that regularly goes off on tangents about politics and the environment? Crazy, depends on who you ask. Individual, yes, did I not say so in my blog name? Regularly, maybe, we'll have to see what's going on in the world and my mood at the time. Politics and the environment? Oh, yes. The former definitely has a great deal to do with what happens to the latter.

I will, however, not just rant and rave. I need the good things, too. I like the little events in life that make me laugh, or smile, or feel good in any way. It's all important.

Oh, I am just so excited! This thing has spellcheck, too! WooHoo!