Caught a glimpse of a news report today, in which Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney opined,
“Clearly Republicans are so afraid of their abysmal record they can’t offer one example of what they’ve done to keep America safe. Democrats offer Americans a real plan to keep us safe at home and around the world that starts with tracking down the terrorists, not just more fear and smear attack ads.” Quoted from www.democrats.org
This to me is worrisome and infuriating, depending on how you read it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of the current situation. We do need a real resolution to our problems, at home and worldwide.
But this quote is long on promise and short on details. I wouldn’t buy a loaf of bread on such terms, no less turn over the leadership of a nation.
If the Democrats have– if anybody has– a real plan leading to real resolution, and is withholding it for their own personal gain while Americans and allies and innocents fight and die– that to me is an obscenity, one that borders on an act of treason.
If there’s a new idea out there, now’s the time to share it. If not, it’s time to stop pretending that it’s politics as usual here at home.
That said, here’s my take on the big picture.
- We’re in this spot largely because of our dependence on petroleum. There are scores of other issues and history, I know, but at the core is our need for energy.
- We’ve puttered with ideas for using alternate energy sources (or suppressed successes, if you’re one of the tinfoil-hat-wearing crowd), but nothing’s really come of it. One reason is that we’re depending on economic forces to drive the creation of the infrastructure– which won’t happen until the price of crude really surges, say a couple hundred bucks a barrel. And at that point it’s too late.
- To resolve this vulnerability, the Federal government should immediately nationalize and develop a hydrogen-fueling infrastructure. We can’t wait for the big companies to decide that the profits are there (although the mere consideration of the plan might get them off their collective backsides).
Crazy? Dangerous? Maybe. But there’s a lot more detail in this plan that anything I’ve heard from the Democrats. I expect better work from both the right and the left.