A new take on global warming - really!

When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
Age of Aquarius
Aquarius! Aquarius!

Will Rogers is credited with saying something along the line that he doesn't belong to any organized political party, he's a democrat.

Rush Limbaugh opined for years that the Democratic party does not represent a cohesive organization held together by a shared, common, ideology, but rather a loose collection of movements who are willing to hold their noses and band together long enough to obtain political power at the voting booth. Having grown up in a solidly liberal, democratic family, I can attest they are both correct.

If you think about it, just how can groups that support abortion rights so easily coexist in a party that also abhors capital punishment? It's illogical. Yet they do. Big Labor wants to open the Alaskan oil fields to increased drilling for the union jobs it will create, yet this is considered a mortal sin by the environmental wing of the same party. There are an almost limitless number of other examples. I suppose it's a good thing that all these various groups must compete with each other within the party, which keeps democrats - despite their numerical superiority - from gaining too much power in government at all levels. In other words, they'll band together long enough to defeat their opponents, but when left to their own desires, they will start to squabble and fight amongst themselves. Watch the House debate on the next step for ending the war in Iraq. One third think the proposals on the table go too far, another third thinks it doesn't go far enough, while the other third thinks it's just about right.

Which brings me to my topic - Global Warming!

What on earth does all my babbling about the Democratic party have to do with global warming? I myself wasn't sure how to approach this topic, because there's so many people, with so many view points, from all aspects of society who believe human effects on the planet have caused the Earth to begin warming at an accelerated rate, putting us on a collision course with annihilation. Where to start? With the Democrats? With the scientists? With the UN? With the media? There's just way too many voices out there, stating far too many positions for any person to address each and all in an attempt to refute them all. Trying to debate with global warming fanatics is like trying to debate with a brick wall. Nothing gets past their firmly held beliefs. And that's what I found so strange. What an anomaly, all these various and varied organizations, speaking on many different topics, yet all with a sort of cosmic cohesion. Something is just not right. And that's when it hit me. All the different warring factions of the democratic coalition, have, for lack of a better phrase, entered the Age of Aquarius.

Something that I didn't believe could ever happen, seems to be happening right before my very eyes. The democrats and liberals have found the one common hook to hang all their agendas on: global warming. Modern liberalism's cornerstone has been victimhood for as long as I can remember. They divide the population up into groups, they choose one side and proudly proclaim them as the "victims" of something or other, then pledge to use the power of government to right whatever wrong they've decided to use as a wedge.

Take reparations for slavery for example. Many African-Americans alive today are the descendants of slaves, which means they have been harmed by the majority of Americans (always root for the underdog!), and therefore it's the liberal's duty to "fight" for reparations. I'm not debating the topic of reparations here, only using it as an example. Here's where democrats usually fall apart: while most African-Americans are democratic liberals, not all democratic liberals are African-American, so democrats can't get enough of a coalition to push for anything practical or substantial. Liberals may believe African-Americans have suffered because of the legacy of slavery and therefore are entitled to something, but it smacks enough of a government income redistribution that widespread support for reparations has never materialized.

When it comes to global warming, the liberal democrats have created the ultimate class of victims: everyone! If the world is coming to an end, then we all have a dog in this fight. But if we're all the victims here, then what is the evil, vile group that turned us all into victims? And that is my point exactly!

The evil ideology that's inflicting all this harm on us, is whatever any individual democratic and/or liberal movement is against.

Big Labor? Evil corporate interests are behind it. Trial Lawyers? It's evil corporations and government that needs to be brought to justice using the courts. Environmentalists? Its everything and every one who doesn't heed their philosophy. Big Academics? They're still working on figuring out who's behind it, so keep the government grants rolling in so they can keep working on it. Anti-capitalist, anti-free traders, anti-US, anti-whatever, it doesn't really matter, just point out they all contribute to global warming, and that is all the moral justification necessary to demand whatever action deemed appropriate to combat this atrocity.

Too many cars on the road are causing it, push for more public transportation and force Big Auto to keep redesigning products into forms that don't sell. Too many coal burning power generation plants belching sulfur into the air, push to shut them down, and prevent new ones from being built. Too many incandescent light bulbs? Force the government to outlaw them and force every one to use compact florescent light bulbs. Whatever any individual group believe ails society, blame it on global warming, and push for government regulation and laws to correct the outrage while simultaneously furthering their own political agenda.

School districts need more money to update their bus fleets, heating and lighting systems, and to incorporate global warming studies into their curriculum. Local and state governments need more tax money to upgrade their facilities and fleets in order to save the world from global warming. And on and on and on. I could list thousands of other examples, but I'll leave it to readers to simply turn on the evening news or pick up the daily paper to see all the examples they wish. Its everywhere. And each one has exactly three (maybe more, but at least three) things in common. First: there is a need to receive more money to accomplish something. Second: there is a need to more stringently regulate (voluntarily or legislatively) people's lives. And third: global warming. Always follow the money.

Former Vice President Al Gore is currently being hailed as the Prince of Environmentalism. He's the Grand Duke of Clean Living. He's a Hollywood top-shelf ticket. Not really. See, I don't believe Al Gore or anyone else has the brains and the organization and the contacts to pull off something this huge. Remember, we're talking about Democrats here. No, Al Gore is smart, but he's not nearly that smart, I don't believe anyone is. But Al Gore is smart enough to notice this trend, and to capitalize on it. He's not leading or guiding the global warming movement. What he is leading is the method for politicians of all stripes to take advantage of it. And its not just politicians that recognize this trend, the evil corporations of the world are jumping in with both feet. Just sign on to Al Gore's ready-made environmental platform, and by greasing his palm enough, he will personally bless your transition from the group of inflicter's to the group of victims who care. Any corporate marketing team that doesn't see the beauty of this plan should be sued for malpractice.

A perfect example of this is Hollywood itself. All the fabulous wealthy and beautiful people love their millionaire lifestyles. But, that puts them in the inflicter group, so how do they get back to the afflicted group while saving face? Enter the "Carbon Credit." Simply donate a few cents to plant some trees, and then jet off to Monte Carlo, guilt free, because they care and they made a difference. Nothing really changed, and I fail to see how planting a few trees could counter the effects of a one-way, cross Atlantic jet flight. But that's not the point. The point is, they are now certifiably in the group of victims that care.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the long term. An axiom of the free market is that government should regulate as little as possible, because by the time government acts, the dynamics of the situation have probably morphed several times over, which is one main reason government interference is usually so ineffective. It doesn't matter if their plan solves the problem, because the problem has already changed. So, seeing government starting to stand up on its rear haunches indicates to me the situation has already changed beyond the scope that government is attempting to solve.

What comes next is anyone's guess. One thing is for sure. If the moon enters the seventh house, that means it must also posses the power to exit it.