A Little Bit of This, a Touch of That

It looks as though the protests against the Arizona immigration law are petering out. Two petition drives have been halted due to concerns about the timing and possible protections under the Arizona constitution should a measure pass on a public vote.

But the whole thing was much ado about nothing anyway. There is nothing wrong with an officer of the law, after stopping a vehicle or persons for other reasons, checking on the true identities of the folks involved. And as no one has the moral right to be here unless they come in the front door, there really is no significant issue at stake here. All else involved in the matter is padding, one way or another.

The residents of New Orleans are at the point where they can smell the oil spill which is a few miles off their coast. We can sympathize with them; who would want an odor of lighter fluid permeating their habitat? But as to those who currently mock the 'drill baby drill' sentiment heard lately and often from conservative Republicans, ask yourself this: where would you be without that oil? Until a better source of energy is found or developed, our nation runs on oil. That means we have to tap into the oil that's available. There will continue to be risks involved with that. But it's the best, indeed really the only, option we have for the time being.

You want innovation? Get government out of the way so that the free exchange of ideas might produce something better. Until then, drill baby drill.