I had planned a piece about Congressman John Sullivan (R-Tulsa/QuickTrip).
But, here in the heartland there is never a shortage of right-wing-bootlicking-bozo-lackeys.
I’ll take up Sullivan’s tobacco and alcohol contributions while courting
the Southern Baptist
Convention at a later date.
Instead, how about Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Looney tune), republican extraordinaire
and one
of the great buffoons of this administration. You may remember SenJim upon
observing the
Apocalyptic Horseman galloping across Bosnia declared that there was no
real problem.
He deduced that the Muslims being slaughtered weren’t in that bad of shape
because many
wore Adidas tennis shoes and therefore weren’t really downtrodden farmers.
Of course they
weren't, idiot, they were urban dwellers being flushed from their homes
by Serbian inflicted genocide.
While the heartland is accustomed to SenJim’s wild-eyed ramblings the rest
of the republic
only rarely gets feted to his palaver. However, his latest Bush like statement
on the environment
needs some examination.
Disbelieving or disregarding all reason SenJim, Chairman of the Senate
Committee on the
Environment and Public Works, has announced that 1) There is no such thing
as global warming
2) Even if there were global warming it would be good for you and 3) It’s
all Hans Blix’s fault for
not supporting President Junior (all respects to Gene Lyons). Using
terms such as “environmental
extremists”, he called “Global Warming” just a buzzword used by the EPA
to issued “Gestapolike”
letters to businesses not complying with national standards, many of which
fall short of international
standards observed by other nations.
Making use of his time on the Senate floor SenJim praised Bush saying he
would carry the
administration’s program forward. Good for Jimmy, he has now exemplified
the Bush position that
“two plus two really is four point one, if I want it to be….if only because,
I want it that way.”
What got missed by SenJim and his cadre that believes business the one
true god is that while
he was speaking the head of Britain’s Meteorological Office and former
co-chair of the respected
United Nations Intergovernmental panel on climate change was saying global
warming was a larger
issue and would kill more people that terrorism.
Writing in the Guardian Sir John Houghton said, “…Our long-term security
is threatened by a
problem at least as dangerous as chemical, nuclear or biological weapons,
or indeed international
terrorism: human induced climate change…the impacts of global warming are
such that I have no
hesitation in describing it as a weapon of mass destruction.”
Sir John went on, “The World Meteorological Organization warned this month
that extreme
weather events already seem to be becoming more frequent as a result.”
Then he said, SenJim
should have known this but obviously didn’t because he resides in Bushie
land, “The US mainland
was struck by 562 tornados in May (which incidentally saw the highest land
temperatures globally
since records began in 1880) killing 41 people.” Oklahoma---Tornados,
ring a bell Jimmy,
wake up now, Tornados-Oklahoma!!!!
“Nowadays,” he continued,” everyone knows that the US is the world’s biggest
polluter, and
that with only 1/20th of the world’s population it produces a quarter of
its greenhouse emissions.”
Well, not everyone knows this; SenJim et al seem to have, without any confirmable
data, missed
the point completely.
Sir John paints a rather grim picture of what’s in store for the planet.
Of course SenJim and
his industrial masters don’t have to worry, they’ll have all died off when
the full impact hits.
These “Family Values” guys apparently do not include their grandchildren
and great-grandchildren
in the term “family.” Perhaps they figure the little buggers will just
mutate and all will be well.
SenJim is in the mold of the President, not bright and willing to believe
anything an oil company
tells him and he really really isn’t concerned if it’s a lie, after all
the President lies all the time and
he gets away with it. If the dead don’t bother the President, why should
the future dead bother a
Republican Senator from Oklahoma. After all, he’s got his…..too bad about
yours.
Richard L. Fricker can be reached at rlfricker@hotmail.com