President Bush's Underwater Retreat

There's a word for the type of bullshit you're trying to pull, and if I knew it, I'd accuse you of it.

Seriously, so you're against the sea level rising. How does pointing out that the President might have one less house make a damn bit of difference to anyone? If he didn't have this house, but still lived in Crawford, would he somehow be a better man? Are all other politicians with waterfront property evil, too?

I live close the the water... am I evil? Maybe we should alll post our lowest homestead elevations on our driver's licenses so that others can know exactly how evil each of us are.

After all, what kind of ridiculous world is this if we can't point fingers at people based on irrelevant trivia?

Michael, The "bullshit" you refer to is called "pointing out the elephant in the room." Yes, I am guilty of it, and yes, it does stink, doesn't it?

A dyke stands against the sea level rising. On the other hand, I don't think it is something that will be easily stopped. I'm concerned more about the effects it will have on the world we all live in. (Did you read the next post, here?)

As for your question, no, I don't think you are evil, nor do I think Bush is evil. "Ignorant" is perhaps the better term.

Ha... point well taken. Still, I don't see Bush's Maine estate as the "elephant in the room." It's completely irrelevant to the issue of preparing for coastal flooding, and as such is deceptive and irresponsible.

If you have a point, make it, but do so directly and honestly by spreading legitimate information on the subject. You seem to be clearly trying to place a black mark on Bush with this post as a means to undermine his credibility without actually adding a single shred of worthwhile information to the table.

By all means, rip into him for his lack of recognition of a legitimate problem. But to tear him up for inheriting an estate that is orthogonally connected to the issue by a loose geographical connection is something I take issue with. You're trying to brand him as "evil" in the minds of your readers by drawing on the supposedly amoral nature of his having abandoned a community of people to... whatever unfortunate end the reader's mind will devise... financial crisis, the discomfort of moving, a slow, horrible death by suffocation... whatever.

And all because you figured out he has some land on the Maine coastline. THAT VILE SICKO! HE'S KILLING AMERICANS! IMPEACHMENT!

Bush is middle-aged, and as such has better than even odds of being dead of old age well before 1m of sea level rise occurs. The storm flooding issue referred to via the debris pic is more important though.
A 6m sea level rise is much farther off. Most pessimistic estimates of GIS (an ice sheet containing about 5m of sea level rise equivalent) melting by climate scientists are in the 'low centuries'.

I've been thinking for a while now about a couple of different metaphors to describe how different folks react to information.

So many folks seem to expend all their effort to defend their castles, often by shooting every messenger who wanders into their field of view.

Other folks swim in a lake of interesting information, diving and exploring.

I tried the castle defense gig for a while. It's tiring, it's bloody, and the view rarely changes. I find swimming and exploring to be healthier exercise, and a more satisfying way to spend my days.

Thanks for the hints about lake levels, Karmen. I appreciate the information you contribute.

I don't see Bush's Maine estate as the "elephant in the room."

Actually, I was referring to the issue of climate change as the elephant.

As far as my intentions with this post go, I was simply pointing out an amusing coincidence. Life is full of such coincidences, and the entire point of this blog (or perhaps any blog, for that matter) is to point them out. Hence the idea of a "chaotic utopia".

If this brief, snarky post happens to stir up questions about responsibility, (i.e., a leading figure abandoning an entire community, or perhaps an entire nation, when it comes to preparing for climate change) then it is probable that they were waiting to be raised.

llewelly, sadly, you have an excellent point about his age. I suppose I think of Bush being on the younger end of middle age.

etbnc, I'm always glad to see you're still reading here. And you know me... swimming is cool and all that, but I like to ride the waves. :)