I have to agree with Andrew that there is also a lot of laziness. I have to cop to it as well. I don’t take the time to delve deeply into all the political issues (too busy searching for funny videos and Buddhist rap songs on youtube). People satisfy themselves with sound-bites instead of really trying to understand all the complexities of the issues that they are reducing to bumper-sticker slogans.

I found it fascinating.

Here’s why. John Adams, who believed that a strong central government was required to financially provide for the common welfare, and Thomas Jefferson, who believed that federal government should be limited so as not to infringe upon the independence of states, were close friends. They competed politically. Adams even lost the Presidency after a single term to Jefferson, but they remained cordial and, in a way, remained allies.

The two had common ground, a belief that individual freedoms should be upheld at all costs, lest the revolution be a vain pursuit, and the United States become just another tyrannical monarchy.

Today, the root of their two opposing beliefs remain, but the common ground has all but vanished. Instead of demanding our freedom to write, interpret and enforce our own law, we have lost interest in the governance of the United States and are content to rely on our elected officials to “know better” than we do. So, when our legislators and executives take actions that are contrary to the wishes of the citizens they govern, we sit back and allow them to be re-elected, or worse, we begrudgingly pull the lever for one of a handful of pre-selected individuals that a group in Washington, over which we have no control, has selected for us. Democrats may recall that sentiment in 1984, when Mondale was their only option. For Republicans, it was McCain in 2008.

The truth is, I’m losing sympathy for my fellow Americans (myself included), who won’t bother to truly engage in the freedoms for which people like Adams and Jefferson risked their lives. Instead we take Rush’s word for it. We take Matt Damon’s word for it. We take anyone’s word for it except our own, and we choose from our pre-selected reality-show-esque candidates based upon surface-level impressions and sheer laziness.

I think it goes too far to say that going after BP for money is the same as declaring war on big business, an argument I’ve heard, by the way. I also think that calling the spill an “accident” is laughable. If a 300 pound man sits on a tricycle and it breaks. You don’t call it an “accident”. You call it inevitable and shortsighted.

Even if the issue boils down to economics, an event that destroys so many people’s ability to provide for their families is just as horrifying as taxing them into economic ruin. In fact, it’s worse. If you feel like you’re overtaxed, ideally, you can vote to change that, or to rebel, in the case of our forefathers. Yet, if someone clumsily dumps hundreds of metric tons of crude oil on your lemonade stand, you have no choice but to relocate, start squeezing out more lemony deliciousness, and say goodbye to your profits.

Speaking of profit, like I said, it should be game-over time for BP. Reparations must be made. This fat oaf just pooped on our petunias and they’re going to have to clean it up. If the taxpayers shell out for this, we’ll essentially be letting BP off the hook. “It’s okay BP. I’ll take care of these dead petunias. You just go on being a fat clumsy oaf.”

If I’m saying this, a free-market capitalist, I’m thinking this spill may be the most unifying issue in American political history since pearl harbor. Which begs the question why there’s even a debate in Washington about who’s going to pay for this mess.

Unfortunately I think it does boil down to politics and our “oil addiction” (hate to quote GW on this but I think he was right).

I feel terrible for all those families and businesses destroyed by the spill. What is the worst of all is that government agencies knew BP was cutting corners but chose to look the other way.

At least we don’t have to watch Tony Hayward on BP commercials anymore – I really hope they fire him.

No one is holding a telethon for the hundreds of thousands of middle-aged workers laid off during the banksters’ recession who will never work again and whose unemployment benefits the Republican senators just refused to extend.

Sounds like you and Caroline had fun.