It is rare that a news headline catches my attention these days. Most of them are simply variations on the same theme: “Isn’t it wonderful that Barack Obama descended from on high to become The Leader . . . blah . . . blah . . . blah!” However, I must admit that a recent BBC headline grabbed my attention while I was surfing the InterGoogle. In fact, I did a cyberspace double-take when the words, “Eco-sailors Rescued by Oil Tanker,” leaped from my laptop.
It turns out that three whale huggers set sail from Plymouth, England on a 5,000-mile carbon emission-free journey using solar, human and wind power. While the global warming cult they represent claims the ability to predict what will happen to our climate in 100 years, these three geniuses were apparently unable to predict that a 60 mph breeze might rip the solar panels and the wind generator off their vessel—which it did.
After their boat capsized three times, the ever-so-clever eco-sailors signaled S.O.S. and an oil tanker called the Overseas Yellowstone came to the rescue. I hope the Captain of that tanker planted a huge carbon footprint on their backsides for putting his ship at risk to save their hides.
What happened 400 miles off the west coast of Ireland could be viewed as a metaphor of sorts for the mindset of the leftists, eco-nannies and hardcore socialists who now run the federal government, dictate public policy and dominate the media in the good old USA.
In their heart of hearts, the Obamanistas may believe that if their grand experiment with Mussolini-style economics and radical environmentalism collapses under its own weight, businesses big and small will intervene to rescue the economy and save their butts from the pitchfork-toting mob that will surely congregate when the public discovers what these cretins have done to the country.
So, would the three self-anointed geniuses who run things on Capitol Hill and at the White House be right in thinking that they will be bailed out by businesses if their tax and spend, and cap and trade policies drive this country into an economic sinkhole? If history repeats itself, they may be right.
Business executives have often been conned into spending shareholder greenbacks on programs and projects that do nothing but advance the political agenda of the socialist con-artists. Today the con is named “Corporate Social Responsibility.” Why would an oil company CEO invest piles of corporate cash on inefficient technology that the radicals might impose on the rest of us to put big oil out of business? Why would a bank president lend money to people incapable of paying it back? Why would the leader of a huge multi-national corporation lend support to a U.S. President who spends much of his time bad-mouthing CEOs, free enterprise and risk-taking investors? The answer is quite simple. It is to demonstrate that their companies are “socially responsible” and to avoid conflict at all costs. In a nutshell, they want to be liked.
From the day they entered kindergarten, many of today’s business leaders were taught to turn the other cheek when the schoolyard bully delivers another sucker punch. When The Leader uses the bully pulpit (with teleprompters) to bully these private sector boys in pinstripe suits, it is reasonable to assume that many cheeks will be turned.
However, there may be no businesses left to do the bailing required to save the Ship of State if the Administration replicates with other companies the monumental success it has achieved with Chrysler and General Motors, and if the White House succeeds in creating a massive brain drain in the American financial sector. Smart people just do not appreciate salary limits. In short, The Leader, Pelosi and Reid may actually find themselves awash in their own socialist chum as the metaphorical oil tanker sails past toward a more capitalist-friendly port-of-call. If I were a gambler, I would bet that port-of-call regrettably will be located somewhere in the Peoples Republic of China.
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