The Observer, January 26, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 14
Free Speech Zone: New year not much better than last
Just in Case…you took advantage of your recent time off to enjoy a brief respite from the daily influx of overwhelmingly bad domestic and international news, here's an update: things aren't getting any better. I know it's the last thing anyone wants to hear or even care about with a new semester starting up, but look at it this way – your daily tribulations and annoyances should seem like small potatoes next to the problems our world is facing. Think of it as vicarious escapism.
Take global warming, for example. In case you missed the news, Europe was battered last week by what can only be described as a hurricane. Winds of up to 133 miles per hour, driving rains, and tidal waves disrupted the entire continent, killing upwards of 40 people and causing millions of dollars of damage. This is sadly ironic considering that the nations of the European Union have been the only industrialized countries which have shown interest in cutting emissions and curbing pollution.
Even after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina last year, the United States government has not taken significant action to reduce harmful emissions or develop alternative energy sources. I guess the U.S. government never misses a chance to stick it to the Europeans, or poor Americans for that matter.
Also last week, ice storms pelted the Midwest and the Southern United States as far south as Texas while Cleveland was enjoying unseasonable tepid and snow-free weather. While these bizarre weather conditions ought to be a cause for concern, the result will likely be continued inaction on the part of our government. Maybe our beloved politicians and bureaucrats will only feel compelled to act once a hurricane floods their expensive Georgetown townhouses.
Of course the big scoop in recent weeks has been the horrifyingly mindless antics of our president. Apparently George W. Bush's New Year's resolution was to be even more supercilious and unreasonable than he was last year; and he's off to a great start.
The president has convinced himself that at a time when our military is stretched to the breaking point, when National Guard and Reserve troops are seeing their third or fourth tour of duty in Iraq, when sectarian conflicts are killing dozens of civilians each day, that we should somehow continue to rely on strategically and morally bankrupt tactics and actually increase the American troop presence in Iraq. It is difficult to conceive of a more appropriate demonstration of adding fuel to an already raging fire.
In an interview conducted last week with 60 Minutes, the president openly defied the Constitution (and all logic) while stumbling through a justification for his planned troop increase. Said Bush, "Now, I fully understand they [Congress] could try to stop me from doing it. But I made my decision, and we're going forward."
Even if one were to interpret the presidential war powers to include the right to start a very costly and very messy aggressive war in Iraq, they should also allow for a caveat which allows for removal of an inept commander in chief. Are we actually okay with this man leading our military? It's like following Don Quixote into battle. It's completely irrational, ludicrous even. In fact, it's laughable. It's utterly absurd…and that's the news.
Pieragastini is a senior History and International Studies major involved with Catalyst: Students for Social Justice, Case-ACLU, and the Philosophy Society.
