Last Tuesday, an article in the UK’s Independent detailed how the US has censored a recent scientific report and assessment of natural gas and oil reserves in the Chukchi Sea (off the coast of Alaska, in the Northern Arctic).
The report, long-awaited as the eight countries with property in the area seek to potentially tap the as-yet unutilized energy stores, was instead blocked from full release, and the scientists who worked on the extensive report have no executive summary to release as a result. (Story Here)
The blatant silencing of these findings becomes less shocking when one realizes that the United States is currently in the process of auctioning off 30 million acres of the aforementioned Chukchi Sea to oil and gas companies, and they are seeking to do so swiftly (meaning without the intervention of Congress, research, public discourse or common sense).
Also unsurprising is the news that the report calls for more extensive research on potential environmental impacts that may result from oil exploration and reclamation in the area. Reason number 2 why the US would have censored the report; it would have halted the administration’s efforts to unload this property quickly and provide a rapid flush of capital to the sinking American economy.
The discrediting of pertinent and valuable information is nothing new to the Bush administration, however. (See Hans Blix, Valerie Plame and Joseph C. Wilson, Robert Mueller, etc.) And so it comes as infuriating, but nothing more than another feather in the cap of Bush, Cheney and the petroleum-addicted guild who line their pockets.
The same pattern goes for ignoring potentially useful information (Example Here). Whatever the administration’s bias against taking even a few moments to listen to facts may be, it is undoubtedly directly related to our current economic crisis, the wasted military efforts in Iraq, and numerous other flubs too plentiful to mention here.
Spending even just a few brief moments clicking around online will undoubtedly lead you to a number of insidious and heinous conspiracy theories, ranging from Skull and Bones running the worldwide government, to Freemasons, to any number of additional speculations, tall tales and theories.
And while I for one love a good conspiracy theory, I can’t help but wonder if this administration’s seemingly evil behavior isn’t the result of simple ignorance, self-righteousness and growing infatuation with their own power.
Plus, on their way out of office after this year is up, they’ve got nothing left to lose.
That is perhaps the most alarming of all facts surrounding the administration’s present (and coming) actions this year. They’ve got nothing left to lose, no election to plan for, and therefore no reason to do anything other than attempt to pass every policy faux-pas they can in the limited time they have left. Numerous other articles have detailed Cheney’s obsession with (and single-minded pursuit of) unlimited executive power, and this year we can expect that this will no doubt continue, but potentially grow in fervor and in frequency.
It is unfortunate then that in respect to all of these potential problems, our Democrat-led congress is undoubtedly too weak to do anything about much of it.
Both parties are to blame for the present lack of backbone in and respect for the checks-and-balances system that this country was founded on, allowing Cheney’s dream of a Presidential Monarchy to come one step closer to fruition with each and every classified document. And, although it sounds tremendously pessimistic, I have little faith that anyone other than Dennis Kucinich is willing to stand up in Congress and call for some action. Clinton and Obama are busy on the campaign trail, and Ted Kennedy, with as much respect as he may garner among his fellow congressmen and women, will be unable to singlehandedly put the kibosh on any or all of the detrimental policies that will cross the desks in D.C. this year. And with McCain firmly entrenched in the dark side, getting some bi-partisan support to stand up against any of the administration’s bad moves will take more than a little effort.
Will a new administration next year be able to repair some of the damage done in the last 7+ years? That remains to be seen. It remains to be seen if the Republicans and Democrats can actually agree on their own candidates, for that matter, so things may get a little hairy down the stretch.
The solution will obviously not be easy, no quick, if we get a solution at all. I have the sincerest hope that something good will come out of the next 11 months, and that we can begin looking forward to some new and different policy changes in the coming years. For now, however, it will be important for all of us to stay at least moderately informed about what’s going on in the here and now (which usually means having to get your news outside the U.S.), and hope that our elected representatives will start doing their jobs. Maybe if they don’t, we should stop paying them. Good for the economy, good for motivation. Sounds like a win-win all around.
