MoveOn.org made its presence on Manasota Key last night with about 100 locals expressing the agenda of the progressive movement of MoveOn, to end America’s addiction to oil.
They met just yards from the pristine beach and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico as the sun set on Manasota Beach — they would love to keep their life the way it is rather than what it might be as BP’s blown oil rig continues to spew forth the crude oil that might very well drift this way.
It was a Cheney bashing night, some going as far to saying he and BP executives should be jailed, for criminal actions. Somehow Bush bashing was spared.
But there was a resounding theme, which was somewhat surprising from a progressive sponsored movement, that reflected sentiments of the Tea Party movement – dump the incumbents.
One lady noted that the ‘bums’ in Washington took the donations from the oil companies because ‘money talks’, but she said the oil industry ‘needs less permissiveness and more regulation.’
She blamed the bureaucracy in Washington for the cosy relationship with big oil and she didn’t dismiss President Obama from blame.
However, she was honest with herself and the people, “we have been poor citizens,” we have allowed our representatives to be “pals of oil.”
Another suggested seizing the assets of BP and have the Federal Government take it over, but this was countered by an attendee who accurately pointed out that we the taxpayer would be picking up the tab.
There was passion and emotion, especially for the loss of life, the damage to the ecosystem, the death of wildlife and the damage and loss of jobs to the fishing industy.
One noted that the waters of the world are all connected and this spill will affect the world.
Another attributed the disaster to “greed, arrogance and stupidity.”
However, in covering such grass roots events in my earlier reportorial days there is always little organization, without objectives, even though they are called for, and little end result other than people expressing their frustrations and venting their political opinions.
However, there was a thought that I felt was somewhat creative. A woman stood up and suggested that politicians and lobbyists should be required to wear NASCAR-type jump suits with patches on them so the public knows who their sponsors are and who they are beholden to.
Nevertheless, the group adjourned with out a sense of direction or next steps – but another meeting was scheduled. As they dispersed most of those I witnessed got into gas driven cars and went home. So much for our addiction to oil.
2 users commented in " Pols, Lobbyists Should Wear NASCAR-Like Jumpsuits With Patches Of Sponsors "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI guess you see what you want to see. Moveon.org is a national organizing group. There is no local chapter. The person who organized the meeting was doing this for the first time, acting in response to her own deeply held convictions.
So there should be no surprise that people with a variety of opinions came to this meeting. They were united only by their concern about the health of the Gulf. Some even attended who had other agendas, such as promoting their inventions, or promoting the candidacy of Vern Buchanon.
Other members of the audience were clearly tea party sympathizers. They recommended throwing all incumbents out. The majority, however, felt that Republicans were more responsible for the lack of regulation of safety and environmental regulations than were Democrats.
People who mock Moveon.org should recall that that organization helped engineer the election of Barack Obama, both in Florida and elsewhere. They base their success on the demonstrated fact that many citizens will vote if they feel their vote will make a difference in their lives.
That there should be Cheney bashing was inevitable. After all, it was his group’s Report of the National Energy Policy Development Group, released in 1981, that recommended increased offshore drilling and on the basis of their findings that
“Advanced, more energy efficient drilling and production methods: — reduce emissions; — practically eliminate spills from offshore platforms; and — enhance worker safety, lower risk of blowouts, and provide better protection of groundwater resources.” (Chapter 5, Section 5)
That people suggested that the officers of BP should be prosecuted and imprisoned for crimes is also not surprising, given that officers of corporations can be individually and collectively prosecuted for violations of law that resulted from their actions or negligence. In India this week, executives of Union Carbide were sentenced to prison terms for their part in the iso-cyanide leak in Bhopal that happened 28 years ago.
The US is completely addicted to oil, as President Bush told us. There is no alternative to costly and wasteful automobile travel in many places, especially rural places like Englewood. Criticizing people who want to change the system because they are trapped within it is absurd.
Those whose houses front the Gulf of Mexico should be looking for allies to help them protect the quality of the environment they enjoy. They should refrain from mocking those they disagree with, for they may need their votes before too long.
Allan:
Thank you for your comments.
I am fully aware of who MoveOn.org is.
Yes it is a national organization, but one that has a progressive agenda following a philosophy espoused by President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, who believes, “You never let a crisis go to waste.”
MoveOn will hold bake sales to deliver their underlining progressive agenda on a grass roots level, often under the disguise of a cause.
Now, my columns are identified for what they are, clearly opinion with a conservative point of view. Disclosure is the issue with the “Oil Spill Vigil.”
There was nothing in this report nor the opinions expressed that were inaccurate. In fact I protected the comments of attendees by not identifying the origin.
Many of the comments I supported; although, as I pointed out, such meetings can be very disjointed with little results.
And, that’s okay because that’s what we are about in America, freedom to vent our concerns and to express our opinions, as you have done in your comments to this column.
I don’t doubt the innocents of the organizers nor the spectrum of comments coming from those who are truly concerned, representing, perhaps a multitude of political viewpoints many with their own agendas, some even being commercial.
However, I do have some problems with a National progressive organization holding grass root events through innocent citizens who may not be informed of MoveOn’s agenda; which has been described as an arm of the Democratic party, and it is not disclosed.
I have problems with a National organization associated with dubious characters, some of which are self-proclaimed Communists, and it is not disclosed.
MoveOn.org has a political agenda and this was disguised under a grass roots meeting of concern to any one living on or near the Gulf of Mexico, labeled an “Oil Spill Vigil.”
Almost as innocent as a Bake Sale, with another undisclosed political agenda of MoveOn.
No, Allan I didn’t see what I wanted to see, I saw the same thing you did, only from a different perspective.
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