Oh, Shut Up

Ah, Yes, How’s that Drill Baby, Drill thingee working out fer ya, wink-wink? Well, America, not so good, but stop whining. Thirty years ago, President Carter told you you’d have to grow up and get off the oil teat but you went with Party Time Reagan and went on a 20 years-long SUV-Hummer binge. Sure there was a tiny blip when gas prices shot up past $4 a gallon and you collectively started re-thinking your driving/car habits, but that didn’t last long. And powerful corporate interests own a sufficient number of politicians that they can ensure that nothing meaningful regarding gas taxes and alternative energy policies won’t go into effect until the last dollar can be rung out of the last gallon of burned oil or the last mountain is ripped down and its coal removed and burned and if that damages the world, well, the hell with the world.

And we Americans like it that way, so when you’re watching pictures of the Gulf oil spill and you feel tempted to feel sick to your stomach, suck it up. It’s exactly what you wanted, so shut up.

That includes you two, too.

Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman, shut up and go away. Watching your awful ads chewing on each others ankles is nothing but pots and kettles. You don’t have any new ideas and what warmed over gruel you’re tossing up won’t work anyway, not with the CA legislature that the good people of California have elected and keep electing. This state might have a shot if we can reorganize districts so we can avoid left and right wing zealots of all stripes and maybe get districts that will turn out sane legislators. But so long as Californians want nice pudding for themselves while refusing to tax themselves for that nice pudding, we’ll stay stuck in gridlock. And running ads with sheep crawling around with glowing red eyes isn’t going to do the trick. So shut up and go away.

You, too, Sam.

I know, I know, you’re running for State Senator under your usual banner of “Blakeslee—the Get ‘r Done, reach-across-the-aisle Guy.” You blew that cover during the hideous Budget Wars when, given a choice between voting for a budget that included some minor, targeted tax raises or letting the State (and your constituent, i.e. me) fall into the sea, you took a no-tax-ever blood oath to Grover Norquist and his band of Right Wing Republican Crazies. The good of the state or Norquist and your ambition to move up within the increasingly crazy Republican Party, and you chose Norquist.

O.K., fair enough. But now you’re back asking for my vote? You chose and it wasn’t for the good of the state. It was your career. So, Nuh-huh. Sorry buddy.

And damning with faint- to- no praise, ya gotta laugh

This from the Santa Lucian, the newsletter of the local Sierra Club, ( http://www.santalucia.sierraclub.org/) on their picks for various June 8 election races, comments regarding their endorsement of Bruce Gibson, County Supervisor, District 2 candidate: “And to our friends in Los Osos who have managed to read this far but are struggling with their blood pressure: In politics, as in life, making a decision with widespread, multiple ramifications on the basis of a single issue is never a good idea. As is well known, we have disagreed sharply with Gibson over the Los Osos wastewater project. But there are too many other pressing environmental issues in the country for anyone in Gibson’s district to cast their vote on that issue alone. . . . "

Then goes on to note, “And if District 2 voters need further incentive to resist single-issue impulse: from the available evidence, Gibson’s opponent, Marshall Ochylski, was recruited to run by COLAB, the local alliance of developer-funded “property rights” extremists that is suing to overturn the County’s smart growth principles.” . . . “As pro-sprawl and anti-environment as it gets, COLAB has one goal: tip the Board back to its previous majority and return to the pave-it-all days of Ryan, Ovitt, Lenthall and Achadjian. Mr. Ochylski is their man.”

Well, as regards the Hideous Los Osos Sewer is concerned, that’s pretty much in the hands of the Coastal Commission and will be until they vote, then the BOS has two choices: accept the project or not. As an incumbent, Gibson will win – incumbents do. (In 24 years, I can’t think of a single term Supervisor, can you?) So this race is either moot or one of those None of the Above, depending on your point of view.

On the other hand, the Santa Lucian endorses Pedro Nava for Attorney General (since AG Jerry Brown will be running for Gov.) Pedro Nava? Gee, if he gets elected, maybe HE will pay attention to the Los Osos 45 and do something about the AG-supported efforts to “prosecute” them. I know, wishful thinking. Even Nava couldn’t buck the powerful state agencies that want those 45 dead and buried so nobody will start asking too many questions.

Meanwhile, Nobody Learned Anything.

Again, in the Santa Lucian, a recap of the sadly obvious: Morro Bay/Cayucos had a chance to actually learn something from the Hideous Los Osos Sewer Wars and chose to learn nothing. In updating their wastewater treatment facilities, they will be moving to tertiary treatment but refused to take the only real, sensible next step: Recharging the aquifers with that expensively treated water and/or ag exchange of some sort. Instead, they’ll treat the water ($$$) THEN DUMP IT INTO THE SEA.

A hint to the good people of Morro Bay and Cayucos. Believe it or not, gobal warming is a reality and the first evidence of it will come in the form of changing rain/snow patterns which will most likely result in undependable availability of water for Morro Bay’s nice state water project pipe. They paid for all that nice imported water, and paid for the pipe, but they did so with no guarantee that there would be water to put into the pipe. Hence, it is beyond comprehension the City Council would vote to charge Morro Bay and Cayucos citizens big bucks to upgrade a wasteWATER project, then throw the WATER away. And why on earth would the Regional WATER Quality Control Board vote to give them a permit to do that?? Duh?

But on a happier (?) note

Sunday, May 23, from 10 a.m. – 1 pm at the Morro Rock parking lot, there’ll be a Save the Whales (Again) rally. The international Whaling Commission (IWC) created a draft package of proposals that will lift the moratorium on commercial whaling for 10 years, and has no provision for reducing or phasing out whale killing. In short the draft proposal is an awful step backward.

So, time for another rally. And if you want to volunteer to help out, contact Mandy Davis at wildheartcomm@hotmail.com

Or contact your local representative and tell them you want MORE drilling platforms which can blow out and maybe kill the whales with oil slicks. That’ll get the job done!