True Believers

My husband recently spent an evening with some old friends in Atlanta. They spent most of the night sitting outside in their bone dry backyard, surrounded by dead landscaping in the midst of a historic drought, trying to convince him that global warming is "junk science" and a big hoax. These are people who apparently don't understand irony.

I don't understand why people fight against the overwhelming evidence of global climate change. Is it because it's so frightening to consider? Is it because they're so invested in the Republicans they've elected (and these folks are very Republican and very religious) that they can't accept that they've been lied to and used by all those pious politicians?

I certainly understand why Republicans like Sen. James Inhofe, Dubya and so many others deny global climate change. Just follow the money. Inhofe and Bush have both received huge sums from the oil and gas industries. In fact, the bulk of Inhofe's campaign contributions have come from big oil, and the Bush family's close connections to the oil industry and the Saudi royal family have been well documented. Thus, even though scientists are ringing giant clanging alarm bells that the time to act is now and America, the world's largest carbon emitter, is stuck in reverse, it will remain that way for the next 13 months until Bush and Cheney are dragged kicking and screaming out of the White House.

In fact, as we reach the bitter end of BushCo, who knows what fresh horrors they will inflict on America and the world. Executive orders to mow down the sequoias, drill for oil in the Everglades, and lop off all the mountaintops in Wild Wonderful West Virginia? Maybe stash spare nukes in a U-Stor-It in Vegas and throw in a recess appointment of Bob Jones as civil rights czar, with special assistant for gay rights James Dobson. It's really hard to parody these people.

Folks, we have got to elect a Democrat to the White House next year. It almost doesn't matter which one, just someone who can restore some dignity and sanity to the White House. It may be the world's best hope. It may be the world's last hope.