Hey all. I'm sure you're like me - pissed off to no end about the oil "mega-disaster" as Maddow just called it. Her show just went to break so I figured I'd riff on what she just said, which was basically an indictment of the media.
I was at school earlier - I'm finishing up my doctorate in clinical psychology - and had a discussion about...this...wanton destruction of our planet.
My supervisor - who is a really good guy - was involved. One thing: he's a staunch conservative republican (kind of rare in the clinical psychology field) I don't agree with him politically on anything, and we have civil discussions that I always win, because of this simple fact: the places I get my information. Progressives attempt to deal in fact for the most part. Sure, we can get caught up in hyperbole sometimes, but all in all, we embrace science and castigate windbags on both sides of the aisle.
For weeks I've been telling him in our group supervision (after we've discussed cases) how awful this disaster was really going to be. I'm just like most of you: I've been gripped by this event and I've been endlessly pondering how our species will digest this most important of lessons. How did I know the images we're seeing were going to happen? DailyKos is one source. My father, who was a physicist helped a bit too. Blogs specifically come to mind. I've watched Maddow and listened to some Internet radio as well. Mike Malloy and Thom Hartmann come to mind. What's the common theme: progressive voices (my father's one too).
My supervisor is a Fox viewer I imagine. I don't know where he gets his information from, but it seems like it's the Fox meme. He's not a teabagger type or racist in any way. He's qualified and professional just has real conservative views about many issues.
Today, I walked into a discussion about the oil disaster. All were staff members and my supervisor was one of them. It appears his media took over 40 days to get him the message. He discussed how he saw the scope of the oil spill on the news that he just couldn't believe how big it was. I went on the ream BP and suggested nationalizing non-renewable resources. He remained silent.
I don't know if this is a good sign or not, but when I went on to add that we can still get oil (to make stuff with) but move our grid and vehicles off of it, he agreed. If we don't do something soon, we're pretty much done. I think it's starting to sink in. I don't think even Fox and Limbaugh and Hannity and their ilk can stop something meaningful and lasting coming out of this crisis. What do you think?