This And That

Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. An oil company sells gasoline, a product we all depend on for $3.00 a gallon. They’re evil, destroying the planet, and are guilty of making obscene profits. But let’s say a company out there, let’s call them General Electric develops a new kind of light bulb and is selling it for even more than those evil oil companies are getting for their gas. Currently we can buy a light bulb for about 20 cents apiece. This company plans to sell hundreds of millions of these new bulbs for almost $4.00 apiece. At some point wouldn’t that mean they’d also be guilty of making obscene profits? Just wondering.
If a coal fired, power plant that generates the electricity we all depend on emits a pollutant like mercury, and they do. They’re evil and are guilty of destroying the planet and the environmentalists want them shut down now. But the company that’s developed and is selling this new light bulb contains the same mercury and they’re considered heroes. Hmm.
General Electric and the environmentalists are doing their best to downplay the amount of mercury these light bulbs contain. They point out that there’s only a tiny amount in each bulb. But let’s multiply that tiny amount by the hundreds of millions of these bulbs they plan on selling that are sooner or later going to burn out and now we’ve got real pollution.
As of right now, there are almost no good options for disposing of these bulbs and they’ll most likely all end up in people’s trash cans. Which will end up in landfills all across the planet. Which will eventually, either run off into local creeks, which lead to bigger rivers that most of us depend on for our drinking water. Or it will eventually end up seeping into our underground water supplies. Either way, we’re screwed. How is it that General Electric is being hailed a Corporate hero? Oh yeah, they’re playing to the “global-warming” crowd and laughing all the way to the bank.
Hey, how about that State Of the Union speech Bush gave the other night. Pretty good stuff, huh? Yeah, he said all the things he was supposed to say. But did you notice how comfortable he was. In my opinion, this was the best speech he’s given. Looks like it makes a difference knowing it’s your last shot and knowing you don’t have to worry about getting re-elected. He pretty much said what was on his mind. It amazes me how all these power hungry politicians who hate each other can make nice long enough to get through it all. I thought for sure Nancy Pelosi might puke when she had to say, it was her privilege to introduce “The President of the United States.”
Then our very own Governor, Kathleen Sebelius, gave the world the Democrat response. Her message was one of unity. She did a good job of laying out her agenda. She talked about both parties coming together to fix common problems. Good idea. She pressed Bush on several issues and repeatedly urged him to join them for the common good. Won’t you join us Mr. President? At no time did she suggest the Democrats would consider joining him. It’s probably just me over-reacting again.
I did think it was a little pretentious of her to think she could give an American response though. Sorry Governor, but you don’t speak for all Americans. Believe it or not, there are a lot of Americans who don’t support your liberal agenda and don’t necessarily want you speaking for them. But hey, what do I know, I’m just an old guy.
Kevin McGinty can be reached at: kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net