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| The BBHQ Boomer Essays: |
| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
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I have just about had it with all this hypocrisy and phony, pious political pandering. I know that a certain percentage of you are going to say, "Get over it; George Bush stole the election; the Democrats control the Senate. Forget it and move on." But this is too important, and somebody needs to call it for what it is. (If you disagree, don't just walk away angry; please join the debate.)
In the midst of his last-minute, midnight pardons for Mark Rich and assorted drug dealers, Bill Clinton issued an executive order requiring states to reduce the amount of arsenic in drinking water. It is just what the environmentalists love, and what would drive the pragmatists nuts. And Bill Clinton knew it. That is precisely why he did it. It was not about public safety; it was about politics. If it were about public safety, Bill Clinton would have done it in the first days of his presidency, not his last. Think about it.
Shortly after he took office, President Bush rescinded that order, and pushed it back for further consideration. I suspect that the fact that it would have cost New Mexico $200 million to comply with the order had some bearing on his decision.
| The wife of the man behind the original rules, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said it appears Bush is on a "harm offensive." |
Nonetheless, just as predictable as hurricanes in late summer, the environmentalists and the Democrats have come out pounding the president, claiming that he wants to poison the water. An outsider reading articles in the mainstream press would conclude that arsenic is a major threat to our health.
| April 21: David Bonior, "If the president and his allies have their way, the pollution of the past will become a part of our future." |
On the surface it does sound scary. We all know that arsenic is a poison; it is deadly. Nobody wants arsenic in our water or our food, not even in our gasoline. So anybody (or any president) who is not in favor of eliminating arsenic in our water must be a cold-blooded, ruthless murderer. If you are one of the eco-terrorists or a member of the loyal opposition, it is a golden issue on which to demagogue.
| March 21: "It is baffling - just baffling," says Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. "We're going to have to put warning labels on water bottles." |
There are just a few problems with that line of thinking... mostly facts. Granted, arsenic, at high levels, is deadly. But you should be aware that most of the arsenic in our water gets there compliments of Mother Nature, not as runoff from those ugly manufacturing plants that produce the computers, VCRs and SUVs that we can't buy fast enough.
But don't let the facts get in the way of the mindless babble.
You know what the biggest source of arsenic that you ingest is? Toothpaste. That's right: flouride. Arsenic is a component in that product that "has shown to be an effective decay preventive dentifrice that can be of significant value when used in a conscienciously applied program of oral hygene and regular professional care." According to the Democrats, it is a deadly killer.
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March 22: "A president who pledged compassionate conservatism has given
us environmental disasters, public health threats and special interest
favors," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "Ronald Reagan tried to tell us
ketchup was a vegetable, now George W. Bush is trying to tell us arsenic
is a flavor enhancer in our drinking water." "Public health threats"??? The guy is an idiot... a disgraceful idiot!! |
The most significant and most cost effective thing we could do to reduce the amount of arsenic we ingest is to stop using flouride toothpaste. And it does not even take a presidential order to do that.
But nope; that might require an ounce of personal responsibility and shift the burden away from the president and onto the individual. Oh, we can't have that! There is no political benefit in that. It is much more profitable to beat up on the bonehead president.
At what level does arsenic in our water become a health concern? How many people have died from drinking water laced with arsenic? How many people have had to have their stomach pumped as a result of injesting water containing... natural levels of arsenic? What are the costs to the consumer in a rural community likely to be if these rules are enforced? Could the money that we would spend to reduce the level of arsenic be spent in some other way that would reduce some other, more serious threat?
Aren't these questions relevant to the discussion? Is anybody in the press asking these questions? Shouldn't we at least consider the truth and the evidence before we brand the president as a heartless monster?
But no, the Democrats want no part of that. This is not about discovering the truth and debating the issue; this is about scoring points. They believe that if they can paint the president as someone who does not care about the environment they can score points on television and win votes at the ballot box. And what better issue on which to do that than one involving arsenic? Why, the very word is enough to make people quiver. That's exactly precisely their objective.
It is not the word arsenic that makes me quiver. It is any politician who, day after day, issue after issue, ignores the facts, appeals to people's irrational fears and preys on the ignorance of the public. This is what the Democrats do so well.
But then, why shouldn't they? They have had so much practice at it.
So the arsenic issue is a non-issue that the Democrats are waving in the air... because they are completely bankrupt of ideas and have no positive agenda of their own.
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Now... I know what you are thinking: this is just one issue; tomorrow it
will be gone. No; it is not one issue; it is a pattern. Take the Kyoto
treaty. They say that George Bush is in irresponsible cowboy who is
endangering the health of the entire world because he discarded the
treaty. What they don't tell you is that no industrialized country in the
world has ratified the treaty, and that the the U.S. Senate voted 95-0
against the treaty. It is not just one issue. It is a pattern... a disgraceful pattern. |
I am not a big fan of George W. Bush. But whatever weaknesses he may have are trivial compared to the shallowness of those use this issue for their own political gain. If you are concerned about poison in our society, look there first.
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If you like what we're doing here at BBHQ, please help us by buying stuff through our link to Amazon.com:
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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