The planet burns while George Bush fiddles

But if we can't replace the fiddler, we must replace the orchestra

We've heard it over and over again:

1. Not all scientists agree that global warming is taking place.
2. Thus, without unanimous agreement, there is reasonable doubt that global warming is fact.
3. And even if global warming is fact, not all scientists agree that human behavior is the cause.
4. Thus, without unanimous agreement, there is reasonable doubt that human behavior causes global warming.
5. Doing something about global warming will endanger the economy.
6. Thus, taking steps to change human nature to offset the possibility of global warming is both unnecessary and bad economic policy.

This line of reasoning is fraught with so much error and has been covered by so many reputable and expert sources that it's silly even to debate it here. In sum, none of this reasoning would hold up in a court of law or in a peer-reviewed science or economics journal.

Politicians are not known for their logic or scientific expertise. Unfortunately, they are known for denying reality and for stretching or altering the truth. In fact, that's how many of them get elected.

This summer the planet is again burning. When record heat waves occur both in California and France simultaneously, could that be coincidence? Maybe, but the heat is on in many spots around the globe from as far afield as Canada and Kansas to England and Estonia. This would not be such a big deal, except that it's just more of the same after the hottest decade in recent history, as indicated by NASA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In fact, only a few large corporations, their paid mouthpieces, and the politicians who hold their offices courtesy of campaign donations from those corporations argue otherwise.

Meanwhile, the Middle East is burning up in another sense as well. Whether the heat is in Lebanon, Iraq or the West Bank, it all means the same thing: Lives and property destroyed and millions of dollars spent. And for what purpose?

Surely, no rational person can say that the planet is appreciably better off now than it was six years ago. Blame can be attributed to many sources, most visibly the principal fiddler, Mr. Bush. But blame is not where we should be putting our energies, especially when that fiddler has another two and a half years on his contract. Instead, our energies should be spent working for positive change — change that can be manifest in the November elections.

Right now Mr. Bush and his orchestra are badly out of tune. If the screeching of misplayed notes were merely harmful to our ears, that would be bad enough. But this orchestra and its conductor are harmful to lives not only in the U.S. but around the planet.

There is only one solution: It's time for all Americans to tear up this orchestra's contract, select better, more accomplished musicians, and call for a newer, sweeter tune.

— LP