The Sierra Club, The Register, etc...

I had my annual visit from the Sierra Club yesterday afternoon. I gave them the brush last year. They must not have updated their solicitation list.

I used to be a member. I love the outdoors. I go on a wilderness canoe trip every year with my two sons.

But, like so many non-profits, The Sierra Club has become a front for left-wing politics. Add to that the fact that they need to promote their own institutional survival and you have a group that cries "DISASTER!!!" over every issue. Progress on the environment is anathema to them. How would they fundraise?

Anyway, there they are: two earnest, tattooed and pierced young men. One (who I took to be the leader) was short, thin and intense. The other was large and had a jovial and friendly expression on his face.

Before they start their spiel, I started mine. "...used to be a member, but you're too political."

Intense-boy replies with the utterly original phrase "... but the political is personal".

I cut him short with "When the Sierra Club again becomes a non-partisan conservation group, like Ducks Unlimited, you will again get my money. Thank you."

This was followed by a glare from intense-boy and a smile, nod and "thank you" from jovial-kid. And off they went to save the planet by leveraging middle class guilt.

I'm sure that these two young men would have been shocked and appalled to know that I believe that economic growth, increased affluence and globalization are they keys to improving the natural environment. Concern for the natural world is an upper middle class artifact... like Volvos and white wine. When your survival depends on slash and burn agriculture, you don't give a rat's ass for rainforest biodiversity. If you live in rural China and you just traded in your bicycle for an automobile so that you can more easily commute to your job at a steel mill, you're probably not angsting about global warming.

Speaking of global warming, the Register attained a new level of incipidness today. The Day After Tomorrow is a good summer flick because it may "... spur serious conversation." Oh yeah... a junk movie based on junk science will promote serious debate on the issue. More tax revenues to promote alternative fuels… NOW!

War of Attrition

Ralph Peters persuasively argues that we're in one... and it's a GOOD thing. As long as the Islamo-Fascists are doing the... attriting.

Hat tip - Vodka Pundit.

John "Flipflop" Kerry...?

No... John "Flexible and able to recognise flawed thinking" Kerry. says the Register Editorial Board. Okay, they don't mention him by name, but you get the idea. Here's the whole thing:

It seems the worst insult a political candidate can hurl during a campaign is that the opponent has "waffled." Wavered. Changed his or her mind. It's a simplistic insult that implies changing views is a weakness that can't be tolerated in leaders.

As anyone who is human knows, that's a ridiculous assertion.
Someone once said the only people who do not change their minds are those who can't -- because they're in cemeteries.

Life, after all, is constantly changing. It requires people to change with it.

Perhaps the best leader is the one who has the ability to change a view, change directions, see something anew, accept new information, recognize flawed thinking and chart a new course.

Someone who changes views is not nearly so frightening a leader as one who can't or won't.

Yep, every vice a virtue and opportunistic political posturing transformed by editorial magic into wisdom and flexibility. Steadfastness and resolution in time of war morphed into scary, Neanderthal stupidity.

I especially love the "Life... is constantly changing." angle. A true knee slapper, given how the REB fears the dynamism of the marketplace.

By October, those huge-brained editorialists are going to be foaming at the mouth. I can hardly wait.

Memorial Day

Take a moment today to pause and remember the men and women who gave their lives so that we can enjoy three day weekends... and the other mundane and beautiful things that we take for granted in this country.