The Patriotic Thing To Do

As New Orleans sits underwater, oil platforms in the Gulf being found hours away from where they were originally anchored, and disgruntled customers at gas stations around the country are swearing under their breath, it is evident that we are going to have a tough time recovering for a while after Katrina reaked havoc over the south. This morning, I was listening to the radio that Michigan is offically in an energy crisis and that the governor declares that the patriotic thing to do this holiday weekend is to stay home and conserve fuel. I get what Granholm is saying but the last thing I will be thinking about is my devotion to my country if I stay in Lansing.

Half of the people in my complex alone don't speak English and I would bet they aren't citizens. I could turn on a movie but most of the good ones are comprised of those Aussie actors that are so big right now and those movies are filmed abroad anyway. I could meet up with a buddy at the local pub, but he's a beer snob and won't drink domestic while his wafe of a girlfrind ops for a brand of Russian vodka to mix in her O.J. I'll get back to my place and crash on my bed in sheets that were probably stitched up by some sweat shop kid in Guatemala and because I am so dehydrated from the earlier drinking I'll have to get up stumble over my pile of shoes, all of which were made in Asia, and dig through my cabinet for asprin which though bottled here in the U.S. the actual bottle was made elsewhere. To wash that down I will drink out of my water bottle that was bottled in Sweden of course.

With all due respect Governor Laura, people aren't staying home to be patriotic. They are staying home because they can't afford to run their SUVs and power boats. If they were going to do the partriotic thing they would buy American, eat a hot dog, play some baseball, hang up a flag, and down a Big Mac at MacDonalds. Sitting around on a holiday weekend has more to do with economics than patriotism. Unless being a couch potato is the most American thing you can do....yeah I didn't think so.

Here is your lesson. Through history, economics is a far bigger motivator than patriotism.