Very thoughtful piece (as expected). Learned 10-times more about Garfield than I ever knew/remembered. Good questions posed by Steyn: where is our push for energy independence? A real solid advance there, and we're no longer held hostage to threats by Islamic mullahs, stealth Commies like Putin, two-bit thugs like Chavez. We need a leader to rally us on to that Strategic Vision.
The talent search American Idol is another proof of how old fogies are clogging up the ability of the systems to respond to contemporary audiences. Is it any wonder when you have men like Mike Wallace holding on?
Steyn doesn't say anything about energy independence.
"We need a leader to rally us on to that Strategic Vision."
Why? Why do the solutions to our problems have to be introduced from the top down? If anything, that's a recipe for failure. We all saw on 9-11 how the carefully crafted leadership initiatives for airline safety kept us "safe."
Energy independence is an area in particular where top down leadership is largely unnecessary. The technology for biofuels is widely available. Heck, you can make biodiesel in your own garage using waste cooking oil should you wish. The kits and equipment are routinely advertised in magazines like Mother Earth News. Same goes for solar technology, alternative heating systems using corn and wood, wind power, etc.
The problem here is that the leadership has made it economically disadvantageous for us to achieve energy independence. Our tax structure benefits the status quo. Those who develop and implement alternative energy technologies are at a disadvantage. What amazes me is that there is a hard core of individuals who still persist in spite of it. For example, those who purchase hybrid vehicles. The dirty little secret about hybrids is that they really don't make economic sense at this point. If you run the numbers, you'll find that the economic breakeven point of purchasing a hybrid vice a non hybrid of comparable size is late in the expected service life of the vehicle. If you ever reach that point. Yet hybrids continue to sell and are actually becoming more popular.
I think a lot of the reason energy independence isn't taken as more of a positive is that it seems to exact a huge price - we give up our interesting cars for ones that can barely accelerate to 30mph, we start eating bean sprouts instead of steaks, and so on.
That's why I love these guys. They say 'The future doesn't need to be so bad. In fact, it can be great - it can be better than what we have now!"
http://www.teslamotors.com
I know their product, a $100,000 car, isn't for everyone thanks to its price alone, but neither were the first motor cars. They were made by highly elitist companies, and eventually their technology got cheap enough to sell to the masses.
So be of good cheer and take a look at their site. It's a great place to spend a few hours checking out the real future of transportation.
D
"We need a leader to rally us on to that Strategic Vision."
No, we need God. We have become a godless, self serving people.
The Bush team utterly failed to:
1. Drill in ANWR.
2. Start nuke plants in the US.
3. Close the borders.
4. Pursue the terrorists into Syria, Iran.
They had the momentum and lost it.
We have a great military. They have had worse leaders.