Bubble Heads

There's no business in the world that could possible function with the level of ineptitude present not only in the White House, but in both branches of Congress. The Bush administration has been allowed to make one mistake after another, many of which were in violation of the Constitution, none of which have been prosecuted, investigated, or censured. History will not be kind to this administration, and indeed will show that Congress enabled these errors by not doing the job they were elected to do.

With the increasing violence in the middle east with seemingly no end in sight, I wonder what George Bush thinks of his war now. In Connecticut, Lamont will probably take Leiberman's seat on a single issue: opposition to the fiasco W created in Iraq. CNN reported this morning that he is ahead in the polls at this point, so there's a good chance Leiberman's constituents are going to use their vote to insure their views are represented rather than Leiberman's. Precisely, most Americans have come to see what some of us have known all along; violence and war are not the solution, they only create a new set of problems while rarely solving anything.

If this is any indication of the way the mid-terms will be decided, we should finally have congressional oversight for the first time since W took (translation - stole) office. I don't know what it's like to be a politician, but I see an increasing number of Americans refusing to back one party or the other, basing their vote on issues rather than political party, and declaring independence. C-SPAN recently added a third phone line for Independents, which should be a wake up call for every representitive on the Hill, that is if they're paying attention which I doubt.

We're tired of hearing about Democrat and Republican voting blocks banding together simply for the sake of towing the party line. We're not being represented, nothing of substance is getting accomplished, and if you are elected, your vote should be representive of those who chose you for the office. Voting with your party is not noble, it's just lazy. If you don't have the time or staffing resources to find out how your constituents want you to vote, you should resign and let someone else do the job.

Many Americans turn a blind eye to the daily business of the government, probably because when they do pay attention the blatent incompetence is so disturbing, they prefer to be blissfully unaware. That is until they pull up to the pump and pay sixty bucks for the same tank of gas that a relatively short time ago was half of that. It's time to start paying attention and taking responsibilty as global citizens.

There are many areas we as Americans could make an impact through conservation, recycling, and innovation. Drilling for fossil fuels is not the answer to the energy question, we need to focus on sustainable and renewable sources. By filling the Gulf of Mexico with drilling platforms, we are not only wasting time and money, we are creating a future energy disaster when a hurricane blows them down. Instead of repeating the same mistakes over and over, we need to demand our elected officials emphasize research and development of alternative fuel sources and stop incentivising oil companies.

The United States has become dependent, rather than strong. If our ports are compromised, Hurricane Katrina will look like a picnic. Without oil and gas imports alone our economy would grind to a halt. Remove all the Wal-Mart crap from cheap foreign labor markets and we've got a huge problem. Take away both and there's a recipe for disaster. The United States simply cannot sustain itself independently. The question is how long are we going to wait to become a global super power instead of a global super consumer? When are we going to pop the bubble around our collective heads and act like we care about more than the latest celebrity gossip? More importantly, when are we going to dispel the caricature of the Ugly American and start taking responsibility for ourselves, our posterity, and our future?

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