Your Country on Democrats...

[JesusA (imported)]

Your Country on Republicans is an editorial cartoon that you may enjoy:

http://www.greenberg-art.com/.Illustrat ... untry.html

I sent a scanned copy from the newspaper to friends this afternoon and then received the link above this evening from the person who originally commissioned the artwork.

[Riverwind (imported)]

I loved it in the email and just again.

River

[transward (imported)]

Very nice.

Transward

[Arab Nights (imported)]

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Where can I even begin?

How about first proposing this for the Democratic national song (seconded by River and passed):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRDOrCFIY4c

This reminds me of a poster I saw in Peru put out by a German green group which showed the world without mining as full of smiling, happy cattle and Summitville, Colorado as an completely dead landscape with cattle skulls and all of that because of mining. Never mind that that picture is an absolute bald-assed lie. Obviously an absolute bald-assed lie should never get in the way of saving the world.

The cartoon reminds me of my point when I address classes. It is well and good to want a reasonable, but as we are in the schoolroom I point out all the stuff that is a production of mines and oil-gas fields. Foundation - check. Framing components - check. Windows - check. Dry wall - check. Light bulbs - check. A roof that doesn't leak - check. Electricity - check. Computers - check. Climate control - check. Desks - check. Pencils and pens - check. Makeup - check. And on and on. The point I try to make to the kids is that there is a reason for mines and oil fields. Do they really want to go to school sitting on the ground in a buffalo hide tent? Do they really want to do without all of that or would they rather that it be regulated with some thought and planning to be sure problems of sloppiness do not get out of hand?

Since there are no cars around the guy dumpster diving behind the Republican liquor store, I bet he is a Democrat who has hoofed it across the street for some re-cycling of what is not on the Democratic side. Nice touch.

[Slammr (imported)]

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Where can I even begin?

How about first proposing this for the Democratic national song (seconded by River and passed):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRDOrCFIY4c

This reminds me of a poster I saw in Peru put out by a German green group which showed the world without mining as full of smiling, happy cattle and Summitville, Colorado as an completely dead landscape with cattle skulls and all of that because of mining. Never mind that that picture is an absolute bald-assed lie. Obviously an absolute bald-assed lie should never get in the way of saving the world...

Of course this cartoon exaggerates the comparison, but there is a hell of a lot of truth to it. I've seen streams in Alaska and in the Northwest Territory of Canada that to this day, a hundred years later, are rivulets of water winding through mounds of gravel with little or nothing growing beside them. They were subjected to hydraulic mining with no thought about the long term environmental damage it would cause. The BP oil spill is another example of putting profit before the environment.

Of course, we have to mine and drill for oil, but we need to do it responsibly. In West Virginia, they are doing mountain top mining, taking off the tops of mountains to get at the coal underneath, destroying the environment. Do we need coal that badly? It's a filthy energy source, anyway.

Show me one instance that the Republicans have put the environment first. They always choose profit. As long as they, the rich, are making money, nothing else matters.

I think this cartoon accurately points out the difference between the two parties.

[Arab Nights (imported)]

I agree with you about Republicans vs. Democrats on regulation. There is a basic difference and thank God for that. We have a choice. But I think regulation can also be overdone, as Paolo's post on permitting for mushrooms shows.

I agree with you on Republicans and the environment. I have told my kids about the good old days in Idaho where we went to snap carp in the Boise River and more often caught used toilet paper. Or Los Angeles of 1970 where you could not see more than a few blocks for the smog. That is the world we would return to without the EPA (not that it is without its excesses also).

I also agree on coal. As my posts in here show, I would like to see the country move from coal to cleaner energy sources. Personally, I think mountain top mining is absolutely ridiculous. But if you are going to be balanced you also have to talk about reclamation at many Wyoming coal mines which is nothing short of exemplary.

Where I disagree with you is that this cartoon is accurate. It is as big an exaggeration as FOX News and Rush in my opinion. It presents the life choices of Democrats as all blue sky and rainbows. Even given the exaggeration in the cartoon, the Democratic side shows all kinds of life choices that make negative environmental impacts. Why not be realistic and show at least one oil well pumping away and one smaller open pit on the Democratic side? It would help keep them from being too self-righteous. I agree with you on the above points. How about agreeing with me on that point?

[Slammr (imported)]

How about agreeing with me on that point?

I've agreed that the cartoon is an exaggeration; I said that in my post. As an editorial cartoon, it's supposed to be that way, pointing out in the starkest possible way the differences between the two. You are taking a cartoon too literally. Show me an editorial cartoon that doesn't make similar exaggerations.

While I agree that neither side of the cartoon accurately depicts the Democrat's or the Republican's worlds, it accurately depicts each side's core philosophy.

[Danya (imported)]

Yes, it is an exaggeration. One that had me really laughing.

When I was dating my ex, 'X', boyfriend in Chicago I learned a few things about politics. I mistakenly called him a radical conservative on another thread. He's not that far to the right. He's probably right of right. I tend to be a liberal. For a time, this difference in outlook caused major strains in our relationship. Particularly since he is very into talking politics and I rarely want to. I finally figured out that if I turned our politcal discussions into a repartee, with me jokingly letting the air out of his arguments, we got along much, much better. He laughed at what I said and then we both laughed. A much better result than my sulking while he spoke politics.

Richard Nixon proposed creating the EPA.

[Riverwind (imported)]

I guess it comes down to would you rather have an oil well pumping in your back yard or a wind mill?

In West Virgina they not only take off the tops of mountains but they leave it in a mess when they are done. Even though laws are in place, it just does not happen.

In Alaska they are talking about this new mine, the developers have all their ducks in a row, they have done all the environmental studies and the project is a go because everybody knows how safe open pit mining is and they assured everybody there will never be an accident. Just look at the mining records over the last couple hundred years.

Well the native peoples are fighting this, because one spill will ruin their world forever. So they have the EPA looking into it, its a new move because up until now every mining/oil drilling project as been approved, the EPA is putting on the breaks.

I am sure we will hear more about this, will the environment and people win or will big business win.

Its all about the money.

River

[Sweetpickle (imported)]

The guy who started the EPA, a republican, died recently.