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Wednesday, November 20 oil,oil and trouble
I took a cab ride to the gym yesterday. Hey I’m a woman! I’m entitled to be confusing. So anyway, my driver DAMN IT, turned out to be one of the few NYC cabbies who like to talk. Worse yet, he spoke English. Anyway, he felt compelled to tell me in detail, his conspiracy theory, (hmm shades of a Mel Gibson movie) that the US only wants to fight Saddam because we want Iraq’s oil. I was like, well ummm..there is the matter of the weapons of mass destruction. He was un-daunted. “The US control all the oil except Iraq’s!” he shouted. I didn’t take the time to delve into this new line of dialogue, because we got to my stop, and. ..well…because he was starting to spit. So I gave him a half tip, (I feel strongly that spitting should cut the tip in half) and went to the gym. So here’s the thing. I get that controlling oil in Iraq would be good or great or terrible depending on who you talk to. I get that the higher-ups in this country (and in every other) probably have hidden agenda stamped on their foreheads. I even get that the %$#^&*^ US government might have murdered Marilyn Monroe!! But after all is said is done…I’m left with…this thought. So. This still doesn’t make it any better that Saddam may be building an arsenal of nasty toys. I was never against taking out Saddam. My problem was that I thought the baby Bush was speaking out of his penis not his brain when he starting making war threats without UN support. He also kinda blew the whole international good will thing we had going after September 11th. Since then, he’s obviously been listening to his elders and he took a deep breath and started playing the game. So guess what?? The baby Bush got what he wanted; total UN support, not to mention kicking our (the Democrats) asses in the elections. As a woman, a lesbian, a humanist and a triple minority I’m way bummed about the Republican take-over, but as a Jew who loves the homeland of my heart; Israel, I’m feeling a tad conflicted. Then comes this little curve-ball. Last night I watched Al Gore being interviewed on the Charlie Rose show. Al obviously got back a lot of the alpha male stuff he lost playing the smaller guy to Clinton. I’m not sure if he would win an election today, (although I do believe he may have won the last one) but I liked him more than I have. Al brought up a side issue that’s been fairly stream-rolled in all this chat about oil, oil, who’s got the oil??! His issue is oil, oil, how long before our planet is destroyed by oil? Shit! The planet! I forgot all about the %$#&@* planet! Wouldn’t it be just the perfect holy irony, if we took out Saddam, 86’d the terrorists, got all the oil under our control and all the Islamic fundamentalists in jail (or in hell) and then this planet was made un-livable by global warming? God would surely be laughing then, or crying. I’m not saying we should slow down in our fight against terror. Not saying that at all. I’m just saying we shouldn’t’ let all our war cries and anti-war cries drown out the fact that drilling will destroy a huge and gorgeous part of Alaska and a freighter just went down off Spain with enough oil on board to make Exxon Valdez seem like a kiddy ride. The news is filled with pictures of birds covered in oil, a look of terror and agony in their eyes. They’re too messed up to mind being picked up human hands. Hey I’m always the one in the movies who doesn’t shed a tear when people get shot, but kick the dog and man.. I’m bawling like crazy. All those millions of gallons of oil, oil, oil, killing everything under the sea and above it for miles…how do we ever get that back? So here’s what I’m thinking, while we’re policing the world, and protecting liberty and all that, don’t you think we could also be perfecting the electric car, and solar heating and any other energy alternative.. so that after all is said and done, we can turn around to Saudi Arabia and say, “Oh you want to raise the price of oil..that’s fine..but you know we really don’t need it anymore. Why don’t you try to find another use for it, like..hmm perhaps a camel laxative?”
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