As I watched Eddie Glaude rebut Noah Rothman on Morning Joe this morning, I jumped up and yelled "Preach!" to the TV.
Rothman, as is his financial mandate, blathered on about how the U.S. corporations reduced carbon footprints more than anyone else in the world. (In the Valley of the Blind, the one-eyed man is king.)
But it's not ENOUGH, as Glaude pointed out. And then he went on to put his finger on the real problem.
"Let me just say this really quickly. We have to answer the question, what do we value? We have to understand that over the course of the last few decades, everyday ordinary people have fallen behind. They're struggling to keep their noses above water that is rising. Our only problem is not Donald Trump. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The problem is the fact we are too comfortable pursuing our own self-interest and we've given up on the nature of the public good.
"The question is, who are we as a country? When Nancy Pelosi says the wall is an immorality, that's one question. The question is, who do we take ourselves to be? I want to suggest that this abiding faith in the market as a solution to problems that confront us as a country has put us right here in this place. So we're at an inflection point. Where are we going to go? What pathway will we choose?"
Rothman, who is notable for his use of misleading figures, tried to smooth it over.
"I'm sorry, I can't argue with that because it was so passionate. I agree with all of it with the exception of the fact that the data suggests -- what I've demonstrated. Anything but faith. There's a few data points that suggest what we're seeing is real innovation, real change. The kind of stuff that people who are frustrated with this should see as a good thing," he said. (Notice he completely sidesteps the issue of whether it's actually enough to address the climate CRISIS.)
Joe Scarborough, of course, says they're both right.
No, they're not. Because an economic system grounded in fossil fuels is nothing but trouble for our country and the people in it.
