Dr. Forbush Thinks

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been writing as often as I have in the past. This is mainly because I have taken some time to think about what I have been writing and determine if I should continue down this same path, or look for other things to write about. I try to do this often, but on occasion I find myself looking at the minutia and forgetting about the point of my writing. As I normally do when I realize this is happening, I like to take a step back and look at the BIG PICTURE.

Of course this isn’t always easy to do. Sometimes I have my nose to the grindstone, trying to “get the job done.” However, it isn’t always clear what the job is until you take that step back and look at the Big Picture. Imagine yourself as an artist painting a mural on a huge building. Part of this mural depicts a tree with some birds in the tree. You begin to think about the birds and you realize that the heron doesn’t belong in the tree but by the pond. And, the owl should be asleep, or maybe it shouldn’t even be in the painting. And the hummingbird should be poised in front of more conical shaped flower. And, these little details that didn’t seem to be important begin to weigh on the truth of the painting. As the numerous problems begin to emerge you decide to walk across the street and look at the entire mural. You then realize that the little problems with the birds doesn’t seem to matter any more, because the picture is actually a picture of a bulldozer steaming forward to knock that tree down.

It is certainly true that some of those birds were not being shown in their true habitat. And, it was certainly true that some of those birds could be painted in better ways to show off their freedom and wildness. But, the point of the painting is to shown the damage man does to his environment in the name of progress. If the artist puts a heron in the tree, he doesn’t change the message of the destruction of our environment.

Similarly I have been writing about the destruction of our political environment. Each little entry that I have made is meant to be one little corner of the vast destruction that is taking place. Lately this destruction has been the responsibility of Bush administration and the Republican Party. They are the guys out there with their chain saws finding trees to cut down. They are out there with their kerosene pouring it on the grass and setting it on fire. But, the problem is that the Democrats are sitting in the corner of the field or hiding in their bedrooms hoping that after all the destruction is over they can come out and say they warned us all.

The media likes to shoot video of the guys causing the destruction, but they don’t usually spend much time talking about inactivity. “If it bleeds it leads,” is the media mantra, but those who sit there and watch someone burn a building are accomplices in the arson being done to our political environment. I feel that I too am guilty of spending more time to the detail of the destruction being done by the Republicans while I ignore the ambivalence of the Democrats who just watch the havoc.

Then again, when there is an emergency isn’t it my duty to take responsibility when no one else will? Maybe I don’t have the time to criticize those who stand around when I am busy putting out fires. Those who stand around and let this melee get out of control will eventually answer to their irresponsibility. My job here isn’t done and I will continue to comment on the destructive actions of the Republicans until our political environment is safe again.









Cross Posted @ Bring It On, tblog, Blogger and BlogSpirit



Politics