In the South, we like to call it a bubba thing.
It’s the arrogance that grows only from an extreme lack of knowledge serving as a cover for ignorance.
It’s a mentality best embodied in the redneck’s famous last words, “here, honey, hold my beer…watch’is,” as he guns his four-wheeler up the pile of manure in an attempt to jump the double-wide in a single bound.
It will not end well.
There’s a lot of bubba thing on Capitol Hill, these days.
Senator Graham to U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan: “Christmas Day bomber. Where you at on Christmas Day?”
Nominee Kagan: “I’m assuming you’re asking whether a person apprehended in the United States…”
Sen. Graham (interrupting): “No, I just asked you where you were at on Christmas.”
Nominee Kagan (after some laughter): “You know, like all Jews I was probably at a Chinese restaurant.”
Deflected with great wit to the back-hand of Bubba Graham’s stereotype, Kagan easily made fun of such nonsense without the bubba even realizing it.
Lotta bubbas runnin’ ‘round loose, these days.
If the terminally unconscious of the South can be termed, bubbas, the terminally unconscious of the North might be called, peacocks.
Lotta peacocks, too, struttin’ ‘round – proclaiming they know better how to limit carbon pollution & climate change than 90 percent of the world’s scientists.
Unlike nearly everyone else in the world, some peacocks refuse to accept the notion that carbon pollution won’t be curbed until a hefty price is attached to it. Simple, really: make polluters pay for their sins.
But, nooooooo, shout the climate peacocks. This is not a price on pollution! It’s an…wait for it…wait for it…”energy tax.” Yea, that’s the ticket.
As long as we take a national energy tax off the table, there’s no reason we can’t have clean energy legislation,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee…a bubba peacock.
“I wish the president would focus his attention on stopping the spill and cleaning it up instead of trying to use this crisis as an opportunity to push for a new national energy tax,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky…also a bubba peacock.
But it’s a flat out lie.
We can’t move forward on creating new forms of clean energy until we find money to pay for that advancement and the best way – so far – to pay for accelerating the drive for clean energy to make polluters pay for their pollution.
It’s not an energy tax. It’s a fine for destroying the climate. Bubbas and peacocks, the ignorant and the deceitful.
As a nation, we’re better than that.
Hey, y’all watch’is.
