…and what else is new for me, but to tempt Admins’ fingers to push the “move” button….but I’m going to try my best to type this as clearly as I can at this moment to appeal to everyone who may read it in a way that really isn’t about politics at all at its core.  Because it is actually the ultimate anti-political post.  Here goes….

Can anyone on this Earth set aside politics or political gains/losses, or even political consequences for one second of their lives?  It took the last two days for me to realize such a simple, yet obvious thought is not within the capacity of the hearts of basic humanity. 

You should probably guess I’m talking about the oil spill as it begins to wash up here in earnest.    I’ve watched about 20 straight hours of coverage (along with all the other watching from the last few weeks).  I’ve watched ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, yes even MSNBC, Weather Channel, etc.  in that period of time.  I’ve watched their headline shows, their morning shows, their talk shows, etc.  Here is the problem (one that I imagine unfortunately dominates everyone here’s main thoughts as we’ve all been conditioned to do this):  99.5% of the coverage is about politics.  Who is winning?  Who is losing?  What is the effective message?  Who is stumbling?  Who had dumb ideas before the spill we can exploit?  Who is dumb now?  How is this going to affect voters?  Who visited then?  Who visited now?  Who shapes the next policy?

While my physical life probably isn’t threatened, I can now see how a true Katrina victim feels exploited by a system long before politicians are involved (and by the way, remember Katrina destroyed more than just New Orleans…aka…the former Mississippi coast no one remembers).   All we are doing in the U.S. and likely on this board is playing the typical game we play with every little thing.   “Which leaders acted best in the icy road situation today in Green Bay?  Icy roads are expected to last a week and many will die in collisions.  Someone has to pay!  Governor Smith has gained lots of votes with his ‘don’t ice, don’t tell’ plan, meanwhile Green Bay rep Freddy McGillicutty is in trouble in our polls for saying ‘icy roads are an inevitability…don’t you know?’ ”  Errrr……can we say fu** that reporting for just a few days please?  Who gives a sh** if governor Smith is winning points and city councilman McGillicutty is falling apart?  Really?  That is what matters? 

I’m not at all suggesting that our federal government (and state officials for that matter) should be given a free pass.  Not at all.  Just the opposite.  Bust their ass for having incompetent officials.  Clobber them for conspiring to hide deep sea oil cams for weeks.  Destroy them for not reacting fast enough.  Revolt against them for having musical concerts if it bothers you, etc, etc, etc.  I’m not alarmed at all about criticism.  Rail on the Repubs who said “drill, baby, drill” and didn’t ask for it to be done competently.  Blast anything and everything no matter your beliefs, ideology or affiliations.  I’m not asking for a Kum Ba Ya moment where the lion lays with the lamb.  Criticism is not only ok, it is critical to forcing government to respond. 

Here is what is so totally evident and disappointing about humanity:  All we apparently really give a damned about is political consequence.  As is displayed by the news coverage we demand.  Birds covered in oil?  Hard to watch.  But the point is…well obviously the debate about who sucks and who is awesome in this disaster.  Shrimpers and fishermen losing their boats?  Hard to watch.  But the point is…who is gaining votes and who is losing votes...and who sucks more.  Empty hotels and small business people flopping with nowhere to turn?  Hard to watch.  But what really matters is how does this affect Obama and how does it hurt pro-drilling candidates?  That’s what really matters.  Swamps and sands filled with oil?  Hard to watch.  But what we care about is…has so-and-so responded well and such and such and this and that?  What are the political fallouts? 

This is what we are as a human race now.  The paragraph above sums it up.  A world of ideology above actual humans or our actual heart.  We’ve buried our heart so far down that we actually watch these reports for hours, on whatever channel we pretend is “most fair”, or whatever lie we tell ourselves (in every political spectrum)….that we actually find ourselves sitting around worried about this political positioning crap.  As if that is the news.  Well can I beg you to come to the same realization I have!  This subterfuge isn’t the news.  The political fallout will be what it will be.  My ideals will get a big hurt from this politically and so will the people opposite of me, I’d guess.  Great!  Wonderful!  Throw a party!  Have the first political BBQ not affiliated with fund raising.  Congrats.  Good for ya.

Now, could we ask (or maybe demand) our supposed news speak for more than 2% of their time in non-political contexts?  Could someone just give the facts of a disaster?  Eff "public relations" and such!  Could someone look into the effects?  I hate to say it, but I trust the Weather Channel to do that type of reporting far better than any of the other supposed news outlets.  And that is telling.  It takes an hour of watching oil spill news to get 1 minute of actual info and not political maneuvering bullcrap!  And it sucks ass!  I had lots of suspicions in the past about the problem but I never realized how sorry our entire news reporting system was until now that it is on my shore.  I apologise for not empathising enough with the rest of the world to grasp it all until now.  The news nothing more than a political mouthpiece.  For both sides.  It is an awakening for me.  I guess I’m late to the party (and I’m sure someone will respond with a political one-upsman reason…completely missing my point and totally falling in line with what how they have been trained to react to everything).  But how can I blame them for doing it?  That is all they have ever seen on the news in their lifetime.  How else can they be expected to think?

BTW, on August 5th, Rick Reilly (sic) from ESPN will have a special on Emmitt Smith from my his and my old high school gym at EHS here in Pensacola.  It was filmed Wednesday night and, although I couldn't go, I heard it was pretty special.  Hope you watch it.  A little positive news from 'Cola.