A problem solving method that is not -- and is popular

By Donald Hank

Despite the affirmations of petroleum experts that BP's wildcat well in the Gulf may not be cappable, numerous pundits are now complaining that BP is tapping the oil spill and not capping it. Some of them are obviously sore that these capitalists are making money on oil that should by rights be contaminating the Gulf, as if capturing the oil and selling it is somehow exacerbating the problem, when in fact the most efficient way to get the oil out of the water is to tap it off and sell it, if for no other reason than that this provides an incentive to continue the cleanup and will provide the cash needed to pay for those minor parts of the cleanup effort that cannot be accomplished by this tapping. It is a much more viable alternative than, say, fining BP and hence reducing its stock value (which in turn would devalue the portfolios of the elderly, among others).

This lament, heard from both the Left and the right as well as from the ostensibly politically neutral, reflects the Left's perverted definition of petroleum as a waste product and not a valuable product fit for sale.

Note the new approach to problem solving:

We can't solve the problem we have at hand but we can change our policies to prevent them in the future.

In the case of BP, this implies rejecting the idea of recovering the oil but trying to stop the flow — as if BP had invested all that money in a rig designed to make sure the oil stays in place?

Applied to the illegal immigration problem, this way of thinking is expressed by the following formula:

Secure the border first.

Applied to the oil spill, it is written:

Stop the leak first.

Both ideas are expressions of a subtle new perversion whose universal expression as follows:

Once a problem exists, it is too late to solve it, but you can make new policies.

This is right in line with the Far-Left's idea never to let a crisis go to waste.

Implicit in the formula "secure the border first," is the suggestion to do absolutely nothing to send back illegal aliens while haggling interminably in a tied congress to stop the flow of immigration. When you look at the politicians who keep mouthing this inanity, we find that most on the Republican side of the aisle are the old pro-amnesty suspects ("immigration reform"). On the Democrat side, the picture is even more grim: they turn out to be Democrats.

Implicit in "stop the leak first" is the suggestion to dedicate all efforts toward changing the policies that supposedly caused the spill while doing nothing to clean up the spill and mitigate the effects on nature.

As insane as these policies sound — and really are — they are both being pushed as hard as possible, one by the Left and run-along RINOs like John McCain and the other by Obama and his allies in congress.

This is why we not only can't afford to re-elect Democrats. We also can't afford to elect any more RINOs.

They both think alike. And their way of thinking is spreading to the grassroots.

Let's do our level best to keep them out of congress and out of our national psyche.

© Donald Hank