Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Your Civic Duty

Most of us live in societies where we get to vote for our government. Some countries have a Green Party, whose principal goal is environmental protection. It's negligible in the U.S. Americans don't know how to react to a party named after the tint of chloroplasts. There are a limited number of green things to chew at McDonald's.

On Earth Day, local environmentalists erected this sign asking us to vote for green candidates . They didn't tell us how to do it. I have strong personal opinions about this (my blog banner does advertise the occasional rant). The easiest answer is not
to vote for Republicans. I, myself, and all my close relations would just as soon vote for a Republican as to eat a Peruvian deep-fried whole gopher. The attitude is like the Chinese government's: if there is a choice between getting rich now and leaving our grandchildren an overheated dump, the way to go is big bucks, yuan or currency of your choice. I will not recite the long list of offenses of the Bush administration in this area. It is absolutely ******* insane that my country promotes putting ethanol made from corn into gasoline while riots are breaking out across the world over sharp increases in food prices. One of the chief crazy people in American politics is Senator James Inhofe (R. Oklahoma), who has declared on the Senate floor that global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. Not to paint every member of the party with the same brush, but the problem does seem to run in the family.

I would like my grandchildren (should my children ever get around to producing any) to live in a world no worse than mine. It may or may not be possible. Vote Green.

TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series

6 comments:

Jilly said...

Super photo. Great post!

You asked the other day about the classic cars with flowers in Menton. Once a year there is a parade of these cars, with flowers and also owners dressed up in the year appropriate to their car. They are then judged on the whole caboodle. Don't know how it started but this is the third year it's taken place.

Ineke said...

Great rant!
Is Obama the greenest one?

Bob Crowe said...

Thanks for your comments. Ineke, I don't think Obama or Clinton is particularly more green than the other. My wife and I have supported Clinton because we do think experience is important and we think Obama's health care proposals are unacceptably weak. We just wish there were a way that they could stop driving a wedge into the party.

U "R" Us AKA Captain Crowe said...

Heh. I think that may be the first sort of direct jibe at me from you for my failure to as of yet reproduce. That's E's job! Um, in the foreseeable future y'know.

Anonymous said...

Great post - well said! I voted Green in 2000, for Al Gore, as did over half of our country (maybe more but we'll never know), yet my vote was ignored when our justices implanted Bush in office, a manufactured-by-the-GOP candidate if I've ever seen one. Ralph Nadar has done more for this country in terms of consumer protections than anyone, but let's support our Democratic candidate (Hillary or Obama) in 2008 so that another self-entitled Republican does not end up doing further damage to this country and the world.

R&R said...

I do enjoy the occasional rant. As an expat it's been interesting to watch the elections from afar. It's clear that the rest of the world thinks the US government is #1 -- at sticking their heads into the sand. The environment is just one example. Too many more to list. Go green!