They need more hands-on help! Some of the things that I have heard in the last 24-48 hrs include the following:
- The clean-up of areas already being damaged
- Prepare for areas that oil is going to impact
- Lay and maintain the containment booms (more effective containment)
They need more effective clean-up methods as well as the equipment, tools, supplies and support required to implement a comprehensive disaster recovery plan.
I have heard some really excellent ideas discussed on Hardball with Chris Matthews and the folks that have these ideas are frustrated with the "suggestion box" mentality. I have seen some very promising technology including a type of containment boom that is designed for deeper water containment over longer periods of time. Chris Matthews is telling these people to go through the White House, he even gave out the White House Press Office direct phone number over the air, instead of wasting time trying to go through BP.
What is the problem with this picture? This is a national emergency, in progress daily right in front of our eyes, causing environmental and economic devastation to tens of thousands of families and businesses that depend on the Gulf of Mexico for their livelihood. So I had a thought, let's give our nation's youth something to do this summer that will help the Gulf and also will help them with future education costs. Here's a brief synopsis:
High School Graduates and College/University students/grads recruited to help in the Gulf during the summer (4-6 week 'tours', maybe). These students/grads would work in the Gulf as needed and be provided with transportation to/from, basic room & board (Flotels, yeah!), a reasonable per diem, and when each student completes their commitment they get an educational credit of, maybe, for example only $5,000 - $10,000 depending on the individual's school costs and need. Okay, it needs work on the details, but an idea is at least a place to start and this is only one idea that could work now and for the future, too.
When I was a young boy spending time with family in Scotland I was introduced to the concept of "Compulsory Service". It was during that period of American history when there was an active draft, the Vietnam War was still going on and the massacre at Kent State was still a fresh memory that I told my father that I would not go to Vietnam if I were to be drafted. In the interest of full-disclosure I will say that I was only 14 yrs old and as my dad gently reminded me at the time, I wouldn't have to make that decision for a while yet.
What my father told me next it what I have tried to remember and to practice whenever possible. He told me that he had always opposed US intervention in South East Asia and told me of the history and the rationale for his position. My father told me that if I wanted to go to the UK and sit out the Vietnam War, should that be necessary 4-5 yrs hence, he would support that decision with one, non-negotiable condition: That I serve my community in some capacity. He explained both in words and he demonstrated in his daily example his belief that freedom isn't free, it is earned and it must be vigilantly guarded or it will be lost. Giving something back, contributing to something greater than yourself, remembering to honor those that gave us what we have, these are the the values that I was taught.
I am not sure what will happen, but I think that we need to make the idea of service to the community an obligation of citizenship. I see this as nothing less than a practical "thank-you" to our country for the rights, the freedoms, the liberty that we enjoy. For each of the 'rights' that we enjoy in America there is a responsibility that accompanies it. We have the right to vote, but we have an equal responsibility to actually exercise that right and use the vote we are given. We have a responsibility to those that paved the way for us to help pave the way for future generations.
Service, in this sense, need not be military service. There are many, many areas where service is needed and would be valued from a local city level all the way to federal programs and, of course there is nothing stopping anyone from the honor of military service if they choose that route.
Are American's ready to put feet to their high minded rhetoric, or are we left with only proud words on a dusty shelf.
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