Fanning The Flames
Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, write an op-ed about the fires in California for the San Francisco Chronicle. Or, more properly, about how the California fires were just another excuse to fan the flames of political derangement.
If you found yourself mesmerized by California's terrible wildfires last week, you might have overlooked an even uglier conflagration that's engulfed the entire nation: the acid state of political discourse, and the abject failure of the left, the right and a supposedly neutral media to resist their darker natures and juvenile tendencies.
There are notable exceptions to this claim, with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger being the premier example. Throughout the week, he stayed optimistic, talked action and results, and resisted the media's bait to blame someone - anyone - for California's misfortunes. It's exactly what you look for in a leader.
Otherwise, this latest "crisis" was just one more round of partisan blood-sport, just as last August's bridge collapse in Minneapolis became more about Iraq than crumbling infrastructure. Far from dying down, as California's infernos will, America's shout-fest/blame-fest/hate-fest will continue at least until next year's presidential election - something fires, floods and famines seemingly can't change. It began on Tuesday, when Senate Majority Leader and erstwhile climatologist Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters, "One reason we have fires in California is global warming." It was Reid's way of sticking it to the Bush administration, which cares not for the Democrats' energy package. It's also Demspeak for: "If Al Gore were president, this never would have happened." That, of course, opens the door to the Florida recount controversy, the legitimacy of the Bush presidency and a whole army of Dubya-related phobias.
It is a good critique of both the left and the right, neither side being without some bad examples. The Orange County Register today has a collection of political cartoons about the fires, the first one illustrates perfectly how bad it has become. The California fires are being contained now, so the media and the pundits will search out the next big thing to fan the flames. Don't worry, there will be another fire soon enough, literally or figuratively.
Civilization, Politics | Gaius Sunday, 28 October , 2007
By Andrew X, Sunday, 28 October , 2007 @ 2:57 pm
Day of the Dove
Star Trek: The Original Series, episode 66 (3.11)
A U.S.S. Enterprise landing party beams to a human-colonized planet in answer to a distress call. A Klingon ship, apparently damaged, is detected and a group of Klingons accuse Kirk of having damaged their ship. Kang, their leader, claims the U.S.S. Enterprise as a prize and Kirk beams the Klingons on board, reluctantly. However, Spock is warned by Kirk and quickly takes the Klingons prisoner. Both ships seem to have received the same, false, distress call.
A malevolent entity has entered into the U.S.S. Enterprise computer and excites both sides to aggressive behavior. It forces the ship out of control, rushing toward the galactic rim, while isolating a number of Klingons and U.S.S. Enterprise crew, heightening their sense of paranoia and violence turning them against each other. Phasers become swords and the battle begins.
Spock finally realizes that the entity feeds off hatred and emotional excitation and has acted as a catalyst to provoke combat, keeping the numbers on both sides even. Kirk is able, in the end, to make a common-cause truce with the Klingons and they drive the creature out of the ship with their laughter.