May 3, 2006--The Opera "Bush In China"
Permit me this fantasy.
Who would have thought that Richard Nixon, the most ferocious critic of how treasonous Democrats “lost” China to the “Reds” would, when president, have personally traveled to China to make a deal with those Commies? As improbable as that was, he was in fact the only one who could have gotten away with it. And as a result, the world shifted on its axis and became a safer place.
President Bush has been one of the leading skeptics about the causes and consequences of global warming. Some, including me, see this as part of the Evangelical stance against all of modern science and an expression of the belief that since the world will soon come to an end and Christ will then return, why bother.
Bush has said that “the evidence for global warming is not clear,” and so, under pressure and reluctantly, he commissioned a series of studies to get to the truth. Well, the first of these studies was just published and it concludes that “the lower atmosphere is indeed growing warmer and that there is clear evidence of human influences on the climate system” (reported in the NY Times today; linked below).
Thus my fantasy—Bush goes on TV and says something like the following:
My fellow Americans.
You have grown to know me well during these past five years. You know that I grew up in an oil family and lived much of my adult life in a Texas oil patch where I tried to make a living in that business. Though I wasn’t too successful at it, when I moved into politics, first as governor and now as president, I have always felt that the oil companies are good for America and that their products when consumed do not contribute to global warming. I also have told you on many occasions that our efforts in Iraq and the Middle East are not about securing our oil supply but rather about winning the War On Terror.
You know that I have been at my ranch these past ten days, biking, clearing brush, and thinking about my final 1,000 days as president. Thinking about what I want to accomplish. During this time I received and read a report that I commissioned about climate change.
Tonight, I need to tell you that I have been wrong about global warming and how burning gas and oil and coal have contributed to it. As a result I will ask Congress to pass urgent legislation to fund the development of new, renewable non-polluting fuels, make us less dependent on imported oil, and do a variety of things to heal the atmosphere. I hope to have grandchildren one day and I want them to live in a safer, healthier world.
I was wrong about the oil companies. They are a large part of why we are all needing to pay more than $3.00 a gallon for gas. They have stood in the way of auto manufacturers building more fuel efficient cars and trucks. They have contributed to the decline of the railroads and mass transit systems as well as to our dependence on imported oil. I will hold them to task for that. But since I know them well and they know me, they also know that I am their friend and so I think I have a good chance of convincing them that they need to do business in some new ways. For their benefit as well as for that of all Americans.
I will ask Congress to pass legislation as ambitious as the Manhattan Project to develop alternative sources of energy and fuel efficient cars. Though I believe in the market forces of capitalism, at times when we have faced a crisis, the government has needed to become involved in the economy in order to help companies do things in the national interest. We do this all the time with weapon systems, but now we also need to help with the development of other kinds of vital systems to protect us.
You are busy so I won’t keep you much longer. As you know I am a Born-Again Christian and that is evidence that I have the ability to learn from my mistakes and change. Well, you could say that I again feel born again. This time about issues that threaten not just me but all of us. I pledge to you that I will spend my remaining 1,000 days working on this.
God bless you and God bless America.
I know you think I have been smoking some controlled substance. But remember, Nixon did go to China.
Who would have thought that Richard Nixon, the most ferocious critic of how treasonous Democrats “lost” China to the “Reds” would, when president, have personally traveled to China to make a deal with those Commies? As improbable as that was, he was in fact the only one who could have gotten away with it. And as a result, the world shifted on its axis and became a safer place.
President Bush has been one of the leading skeptics about the causes and consequences of global warming. Some, including me, see this as part of the Evangelical stance against all of modern science and an expression of the belief that since the world will soon come to an end and Christ will then return, why bother.
Bush has said that “the evidence for global warming is not clear,” and so, under pressure and reluctantly, he commissioned a series of studies to get to the truth. Well, the first of these studies was just published and it concludes that “the lower atmosphere is indeed growing warmer and that there is clear evidence of human influences on the climate system” (reported in the NY Times today; linked below).
Thus my fantasy—Bush goes on TV and says something like the following:
My fellow Americans.
You have grown to know me well during these past five years. You know that I grew up in an oil family and lived much of my adult life in a Texas oil patch where I tried to make a living in that business. Though I wasn’t too successful at it, when I moved into politics, first as governor and now as president, I have always felt that the oil companies are good for America and that their products when consumed do not contribute to global warming. I also have told you on many occasions that our efforts in Iraq and the Middle East are not about securing our oil supply but rather about winning the War On Terror.
You know that I have been at my ranch these past ten days, biking, clearing brush, and thinking about my final 1,000 days as president. Thinking about what I want to accomplish. During this time I received and read a report that I commissioned about climate change.
Tonight, I need to tell you that I have been wrong about global warming and how burning gas and oil and coal have contributed to it. As a result I will ask Congress to pass urgent legislation to fund the development of new, renewable non-polluting fuels, make us less dependent on imported oil, and do a variety of things to heal the atmosphere. I hope to have grandchildren one day and I want them to live in a safer, healthier world.
I was wrong about the oil companies. They are a large part of why we are all needing to pay more than $3.00 a gallon for gas. They have stood in the way of auto manufacturers building more fuel efficient cars and trucks. They have contributed to the decline of the railroads and mass transit systems as well as to our dependence on imported oil. I will hold them to task for that. But since I know them well and they know me, they also know that I am their friend and so I think I have a good chance of convincing them that they need to do business in some new ways. For their benefit as well as for that of all Americans.
I will ask Congress to pass legislation as ambitious as the Manhattan Project to develop alternative sources of energy and fuel efficient cars. Though I believe in the market forces of capitalism, at times when we have faced a crisis, the government has needed to become involved in the economy in order to help companies do things in the national interest. We do this all the time with weapon systems, but now we also need to help with the development of other kinds of vital systems to protect us.
You are busy so I won’t keep you much longer. As you know I am a Born-Again Christian and that is evidence that I have the ability to learn from my mistakes and change. Well, you could say that I again feel born again. This time about issues that threaten not just me but all of us. I pledge to you that I will spend my remaining 1,000 days working on this.
God bless you and God bless America.
I know you think I have been smoking some controlled substance. But remember, Nixon did go to China.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
11:45 AM
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