"Kill, Baby, Kill" would have been more appropriate.
Apparently, it's not enough that we've killed 4100+ and maimed 30000+ of our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters in Iraq, a war for oil that was predicated on lies, prosecuted by morons, and defended by our corporate press.
It also appears to not be enough that we've killed 100000+ Iraqi sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters in Iraq, a war for oil that was predicated on lies, prosecuted by morons, and defended by our corporate press.
That's what I was thinking while I watched what sounded remarkably like a bloodthirsty (oil) war chant during Michael Steele's forgettable 10 minutes last Wednesday, the run-up to the Palin Pimping that would come a day later.
"Drill, Baby, Drill"?
More like kill, baby, kill...
An article in this afternoon's AP Impact, titled US Oilfield Deaths Rise Sharply, brought the whole thing full circle for me: as long as we insist on feeding America's insatiable addiction to oil with more unnecessary drilling, more wars for oil, and more deals with dictators and despots for oil rights, the more killing we'll do abroad and here:
Less than two months into the job in the oilfields of West Texas, Brandon Garrett was sliced in half by a motorized spool of steel cable as he and other roughnecks struggled to get a drilling rig up and running.
Garrett's grisly end illustrates yet another soaring cost of America's unquenchable thirst for energy: Deaths among those working the nation's oil and gas fields have risen at an alarming rate, The Associated Press has found.
You and I probably won't hear much about Garrett or his fellow roughnecks on the corporate news, as they are obsessed with lipsticks, pigs, and political horse races, but we Kossacks are better informed than that!
Think about that: cut in half as part of the "soaring cost America's unquenchable cost for energy"? That's acceptable "human capital," (collateral damage, if you're a wingnut) to keep us warmed, fed, wasting, and guzzling?
It might be written off as the hazards of a dangerous job were it not for this little tidbit from the article:
Experts blame several factors for pushing the toll ever higher in an industry long considered one of the most dangerous in the nation. Among them (emphasis mine):
• A dramatic increase in drilling, spurred by record-breaking oil and natural gas prices. The number of workers in oil and gas jobs shot up from 290,000 in 2002 to 428,000 in 2007. In July 2002, 740 land-based oil and gas rigs were operating in the United States; today, there are about 2,000.
• An influx of new workers hired to operate all those rigs. Many of the newcomers are young, inexperienced and speak little English.
• A high-pressure environment where workplace safety lapses are common. Government agencies responsible for enforcing the rules rarely dole out tough penalties.
See the similarities?
As an absolutely shitty Sec. of Defense once declared, "It isn't a matter of money. It isn't a matter on the part of the army of desire. It's a matter of production and capability of doing it. As you know, ah, you go to war with the army you have—not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time. You can have all the armor in the world on a tank and it can (still) be blown up...."
Y'know, so you go to war without armored Humvees, without vests, without the right weapons, without sufficient planning, without the right kind of troops, to fight a war of choice, not necessity, right?
And now, some of our citizens are being asked to "fight for American energy independence" by working for increased drilling, as they work without proper training, oversight, supervision, or equipment...to fight a war of choice, not necessity!
My point?
I really don't want us to get so caught up with GILFs (I really wouldn't want to: smarmy frauds aren't my type), lipstick, "honor," POWPOWPOWPOW, and all the rest of the bullshit that we forget that our oil addiction is costing us a heluva lot more than 43.85/gallon at the pump.
It's costing us $1.2 billion a month, thousands of lives, and untold damage to our planet and health.
It cost Darlene Murrell, Garrett's mother, her son.
Remember these good people when you're out canvassing, registering voters, or persuading family members to vote for an actual change agent: Obama. What we're doing is much bigger and much more worthwhile than the scandal du jour...we're deploying Kossack Alternative Energy, and it works to bring change: to energy policy, foreign policy, domestic policy...we're by no means finished!
We've been distracted by a lot of Roveshit since Labor Day, and I miss the passionate focus on change we all proclaimed on these pages for 19 months. Let's get it back!
Carpe Diem!