Letter: His agenda insults her intelligence

I’m not surprised that Mr. Tatreau is amazed by what he refers to as “the liberal Democrat mind” (Letters, Bulletin, Aug. 20) as I am always puzzled by his mind as well. But possibly he, too, has always been that way.

So far as I can tell, we don't have a shortage of oil. Nobody’s mad because they went to buy gas and couldn't find any. All the howling is over the price. We have deluded ourselves for so long that we as Americans “deserve” to consume cheap gas/oil in whatever increasing quantities we want.

Many in this year of election posturing are demanding we drill everywhere, right now.

“Democrats have denied us access to our own supplies of ... oil,” Mr. Tatreau declares. However, John McCain said recently, “Our dangerous dependence on foreign oil has been 30 years in the making,” which effectively blames everyone.

The federal Energy Information Administration tells us that if all bans on offshore drilling were lifted today, the impact on production or prices wouldn't be seen until 2030.

There can be honest differences about which direction to now take, but it is dishonest to try to make this a partisan, or vote-getting, issue.

Mr. Tatreau, however, warns that (because of those Democrats) calamity is about to fall on our grandchildren, i.e., they “are going to be Third World citizens living in shacks and riding bicycles.”

Never mind that many grandchildren in our country already live in shacks, or have no roof over their heads at all. (Or never mind that what's really troubling is the national debt this administration has run up which will be pawned off on our grandchildren.)

But probably Mr. Tatreau’s concern is for the grandkids lucky enough to be handed keys to their own cars at 16, who live in homes sometimes large enough to house a small village.

Yes, some lifestyle changes are likely in their future. But his claim that his agenda is the only alternative to living in shacks insults our intelligence.

Fortunately, we have many creative thinkers who don't believe, as he does, that renewable energy is just “whimsy.”

Then I see that oh, woe is me, our grandkids might even have to bike.

It seems that with the alarming explosion of juvenile obesity and diabetes, and the hours that we're told kids spend on TV and video games, some mandatory biking might be the very best thing to happen to the little sweeties, might it not?

So please, vote for those Democrats who are going to (according to Mr. Tatreau) get our grandkids on those bikes. And while they’re at it, maybe they could get some grandparents on them as well.

Carol Turnbull

Woodbury

Tags: opinion, letter, turnbull, woodbury, tatreau