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[pct-l] This is important! ;Battle resumes over drilling in Arctic refuge
I think what the man is trying to say is that opinions don't count because
Bush has made his mind up and plans to ignore any opinion which doesn't agree
wth his or have the force of law behind it. The National Parks are a great
example of this. They go through all the patronizing legal hoops of obtaining
opinion from the public on controversial issues. Then they issue
environmental impact statements with varying and sundry alternatives with
weighted "evidence" to support their original conclusions. It is a rare thing
indeed for them to change their minds because above all else they fear losing
credibility and thus their career advancement. The only successful way to
change perceived government injustice or wrong doing is civil disobedience
ala Ghandi and Martin Luther King (and oh how authority hated them in their
day because not only did they speak their opinion but they dared to act) not
endless rounds of meaningless opinion sessions with somebody whose mind is
already made up and won't budge. Earth First has got it right except for
their use of violence. That woman who sat up in that redwood got more
attention and sympathy for her cause than any amount of opinion ever could.
Ditto for Greenpeace members who interfered with whaling operations.
On another subject I just heard that Olympic National Park plans to
ban all campfires, require bear canisters and make you personally pick up a
backpacking permit at a ranger station. I can practically hear the sheepish,
legalist, control freaks falling all over themselves to get in the compliance
line with the attitude that whatever control freak authority proposes must be
a good thing. Time for a little civil disobedience of my own ala fake i.d.
and fake permits. May the cunningest person win! I look forward to the battle
with great relish and I have no intention of giving a useless opinion to them
other than a piece of my mind. Looks like just letting it go has suffered
another serious setback. Oh well.
On a positive note: Yes, thank you very very much, Bill Clinton, for putting
up legal roadblocks to those who would try to develop our wild lands. Despite
his personal flaws I have come to admire this man.