Today, during a House subcommittee meeting on the BP oil spill,
Representative Charlie Melancon, a Democrat from Louisiana
representing much of the coastal area being directly affected by the spill,
broke down in tears while delivering his remarks.
He started to quiver, and was unable to finish.
He asked that his remarks be submitted for the record,
and walked out of the hearing.
His tears belong to all of us.
right around 1:50...
"I'd like to remind my colleagues ... that the recovery phase is just as critical as the response phase," he read. "Everything that I know and love is at risk."
then...you could almost feel his broken heart
as he struggled with his statement.
watch for yourself.
when he started choking on his words...I broke down, the tears are flowing.
the images of the birds and wildlife,
the images that are more than my heart can bear, the tears are flowing.
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
h/t to Agathena for the link.
listening to the families of the workers killed...the tears are flowing.
as I realize, more and more, that we have systematically
taken our majestic and precious land, and turned it into a profit-making machine
one that exists to serve our insatiable addictions...
to oil...to money...to power.
the tears started to turn to anger...and confusion.
how did we get here...can we ever fix it?
yesterday, Kossack Little posted a comment that is still resonating with me
right this very moment.
This is an American moment, Obama just happens to be president for it, unfortunately. It could have happened to Clinton, Bush - anyone. The moment is that a simple ugly truth is being revealed: Corporations are more powerful than the government. We've "known" this for some time, but this makes it very plain. the government is sitting around like fifth-graders while the school burns down. They can't do anything - because they're not in charge.
Obama doesn't win this by stopping the oil flow alone, he wins it by taking power away from corporations. It's actually an opportunity to fundamentally change this country.
In fact, it prompted me to sit down and write the president today.
perhaps, I'm naive...but now I see:
Business is more powerful than Government.
This scares me.