The news out of Bali reads like this: the whole world has come together to collectively try to solve mankind's biggest looming problem while the most selfish, greedy power on the globe, the U.S., sabotages every effort. The hatred being generated towards America is unlike anything I have ever seen in my travels, which started in 1969 and have included 4 filled-up passports, almost 100 countries, and over 6 years of living abroad. I'm actually meeting people in India and Thailand who know who James Inhofe is and who identify him as an enemy of mankind's survival! I bet that outside of Oklahoma and the Beltway, there are very few Americans who have ever heard of him!
– from Down with Tyranny (Emphasis added)
Well, as one of Jim Inhofe's (reluctant and embarrassed) constituents, I have something vitally important to say to the world:
So, so, so, so sorry!
In November 2004, after it became clear that somehow Bush had managed to “win” reelection, a website cropped up that allowed many non-Kool-Aid drinkers to apologize to the world for the failure to stop the regime.
Sorry Everybody became an internet legend, was cathartic to many, including myself. It even spawned a CD and a book (which are still available from the site).
This morning, when I read the post at Down With Tyranny about the Bali conference, which describes how the event, and the global warming issue in general, is being covered by non-U.S. media and thought about by most of the world, the Sorry, Everybody phenomenon came immediately to mind.
It is painful to me, even as a relative newcomer to this state, that it is our cretinous Senator, Jim Inhofe, more than anyone in this country, even the horrendous President and Vice-President, who is the embodiment of, the poster image for, the selfish, destructive refusal of the US to deal with the most important issue facing the entire planet.
So, I just want to say “Sorry about Inhofe, Everybody” to the world, who must think Oklahomans are the most ignorant and gullible people in existence, to keep sending this man to Washington to represent them, and to shape their future, their children's future so poorly, and to sully their reputation so completely.
I personally have gotten behind the campaign of Andrew Rice, who is the Democrat challenging Inhofe in next year's election. I haven't identified as a Democrat in a long time (though unable to register Green in Oklahoma, but that's another story), and rarely actively support Democratic campaigns (while more often than not voting for them), and I even have some serious issues with some of Rice's other policy positions, but he's the guy that stepped up to try to stop Inhofe, and he will act to address global warming, so I'm stepping up behind him. It's one thing I can do — besides repeating, on behalf of a significant number of rational and concerned “Okies,” “Sorry about Inhofe, Everybody” incessantly, hoping that the famous Oklahoma winds will carry the message far.
Because, as Down With Tyranny concludes, in critical times strong messages echo across the globe and across time:
I've watched some of the Blue America-endorsed candidates (and, now, officeholders) use fear of environmental catastrophe successfully in their appeals to voters, including Hilda Solis (CA), John Hall (NY), Jerry McNerney (CA), and, this year, Andrew Rice. It cane be done and it can be done to clobber reactionaries. If Andrew Rice unseats James Inhofe (R-OK), America's #1 anti-environment politic extremist, the message will reverberate across the country– a message that not a single Republican elected official will fail to understand. All the worst Inside the Beltway pundits are writing Oklahoma off as a lost cause. They're wrong. And climate change could make the difference… yes, even in Oklahoma, where the dust bowl isn't just something from dusty history books.
[cross-posted at Daily Kos]