WASHINGTON D.C.—To drill or not to drill for oil? That is the question. With the latest catastrophe in the Gulf and politicians now clamoring for a criminal investigation, it seems before the problem is solved, many are prepared for what has become a Washington blood sport. Noticeably silent is the Republican Party, which took a collective cringe when former Governor Sarah Palin said last week, “I think the mainstream media needs to take a look at the Democratic Party and how big oil money donations to their party has affected the cleanup of this spill.” Yet another profound thought-provoking moment from the lightning rod of the Tea Party. Everyone who knows anything about campaign finance realizes the oil companies spend three to one in support of the Republican Party, but this woman—like always—manages to insert her foot just at a time when silence is golden. No one cares who takes more oil money at this time; we need to solve the problem.
Both parties have celebrated in the campaign funds of many major industries in our nation, and even worldwide corporations have great influence over our elected officials of both parties. However, the time has come to have a serious debate on whether off-shore drilling is a good idea or not. I won’t say where I stand on the matter, but it’s not a popular stance at the moment. It is hard to support drilling when a company that makes billions of dollars each quarter has no plans in mind for tragic incidents like this. You would think that by now BP would be more capable of handling oil cleanups and also stopping the flow of oil that is currently causing lifetime damage to the Gulf coast of the U.S.
It’s certainly no time for Mrs. Palin’s rhetoric, and this is what is so poisonous about our current political system. When we needed to come together and debate the challenges and the measures to clean up this disaster, a person who prides herself on being outside the Washington beltway behaved more like a seasoned Washington politician than all the Washington based politicians could have. Even the minority leader in the House has not put blame on his or the other political party. To his credit, he like most serious thinkers are more concerned with where we can go from here in the cleanup and the future of drilling for oil, which is still necessary in the U.S.
Americans are going to the polls in a few months and cast their votes for change. Change is desperately needed in our nation. However, don’t take the words of people who use an environmental disaster to score points on her Facebook page or the people who seem to have no answers, but to spew hatred at the time of tragedies and disasters. For those people are what is wrong in our nation. Those people include both political parties and the Tea Party as well.
The Administration’s response to this horrific disaster is also to be called to question. As the previous Administration seemed helpless and hopeless during the Hurricane Katrina situation, this White House filled with former Clinton insiders and staffers seem more stymied than capable at a time they need to be more hands on and need to be more forceful with a company that should have shown better preparedness for this disaster.
Please continue to pray for and support our troops who fight the terrorists in the Middle Eastern war theatres on a daily basis. Despite them not being in the news, they need to know that we still love and support their efforts to rid the world of terrorists and to fight for freedom for all.
