What Causes Problems, 101.

I like the editorialist Thomas L. Friedman in the N.Y.Times. He usually has some smart observations. He's usually right on. And he often points out problems with politics and politicians, which makes it easy for him to be right on. Now, sometimes politicians find ways to solve problems. But the problems they solve are usually problems they caused in the first place. Of course, that's quickly forgotten by them and usually blamed on someone else, by them. To be sure, not all problems are caused by politicians. Many are caused by greedy people who pay politicians to overlook the problems until they've made a killing or lots of people get hurt. That's usually when the politicians swing into action by commissioning studies by blue ribbon panels or commissions to find out what the politicians already know. Namely that the problem was caused by politicians or greedy people who paid the politicians to overlook what they were doing. Come on, you already know that. I just told you that. The point of appointing blue ribbon commissions is to get to the bottom of the problem and then writing a two million page report that no one will read, so no one will know who caused the problem. But we know. Don't we? Now, I tell you all of this so you'll understand that we're still not out of the woods on the economic front and we're just beginning to feel the full brunt of the damage done by this oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Before this one is solved, there'll be more loss of jobs and increased prices and lost wildlife and it's habitat, then we've likely ever seen. And the Republicans will blame the Democrats and the Democrats will blame the Republicans and what's really needed will not get done. What really is needed is to stop, once and for all, the idea of "Drill Baby Drill" and regulate the daylights out of the oil industry and get on with the work of building an alternative energy policy with teeth in it that will provide jobs for now and into the future. That's what we need. But ya know who's in charge of this operation? The Politicians. Ya know what'll get done? I just said the politicians are in charge.