|
Hornswaggle is an alternate spelling of hornswoggle, an archaic word that means to bamboozle or hoodwink. I take my pronunciation from the late Harvey Korman in "Blazing Saddles" -- "I want rustlers, cutthroats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, conmen, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswagglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass kickers, shit kickers and Methodists!" |
|
|
Thursday, June 04, 2009George Will looking forward to ruined planetThat's sort of the gist, as far as I can tell, from his various articles pooh-poohing global warming and environmentalism. In his latest effort, he uses the new Mike Judge show about the excesses of eco-consciousness and political correctness to say, in effect, that everything consumers do to reduce their footprint is meaningless other than as a balm for a guilty conscience. Doing things like "bringing reusable grocery bags to the store, purchasing a $4 heirloom tomato, inflating tires (and) weatherizing windows" are mere gestures in Will's view. Sure, there is an odd, reflexive, religious quality to the way Americans of all persuasians take their cans and bottles to the curb, but there really can be no question that the choices of individual consumers -- to conserve, to use fewer resources that are dependent on fossil fuels, to buy local or organic -- are a critical element of a necessary movement to preserve the health of the environment and make America a less bloated, more energy-secure nation. My wife and I have been using resuable grocery bags for a handful of months now and, as a result, have avoided coming home with hundreds of plastic bags. When tens, hundreds and thousands of people do the same thing, it makes a huge difference. George Will is aware there's a huge island of trash floating in the Pacific Ocean, made up primarily of plastic waste, right? Purchasing organic tomatoes is expensive now, but for those who can afford to do so, it's significant, because increased demand for organic products will ultimately bring prices down and make them available to more people, meaning a decrease in wasteful, chemical-laden agribusiness methods. Inflating tires and weatherizing windows can actually save people money and conserve energy. Perhaps Will is so wealthy that these sorts of things are inconceivable to him, but for many Americans they are simple ways to bring down gas and home-heating bills. There's a lot more to criticize, but I'll leave it there. George Will just doesn't give a shit about the environment, and everything he writes is merely the rhetorical justification for that impulse, which explains in part why he's so often caught being wrong. He's trying to make the evidence fit a preconceived notion. I'm afraid the only way he could ever be made to care about the environment would be if whatever animal supplies the fur for that comically fake rug on his head becomes endangered. Ironic, too, that Will, who puts the "eel" in genteel, is seeking support for his view of environmentalism from the creator of "Beavis and Butthead." .: posted by hornswaggler 5:19 PM| |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
| Contact |
