"A disaster is an inexcusable thing to waste."

[Danascot]

I know there are decidedly mixed feelings about Tom Freidman on DU, but this piece is one of the best I've read on the BP fiasco by him or anyone else. Plus the title is great.

"The president ... has to think like a kid. Kids get it. They ask: Why would we want to stay dependent on an energy source that could destroy so many birds, fish, beaches and ecosystems before the next generation has a chance to enjoy them? Why aren’t we doing more to create clean power and energy efficiency when so many others, even China, are doing so? And, Daddy, why can’t you even mention the words “carbon tax,” when the carbon we spill into the atmosphere every day is just as dangerous to our future as the crude oil that has been spilling into the gulf?

"That is what a child would want to know if he or she could vote. That is the well of aspiration for a game-change on energy that Mr. Obama can tap into. And he could even rip off BP for his moon shot motto: Let’s get America “Beyond Petroleum.” As you would say, Mr. President, this is your time, this is your moment. Seize it. A disaster is an inexcusable thing to waste."

Malia for President

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/opinion/30friedman.html?src=me&ref=opinion

[msongs]

1. kids aren't beholden corporations nt

[pretzel4gore]

2. too bad friedman aided/abetted the lyin liars for so long...

there was no need to overthrow saddam, no need for Iraq destroy war, there was no need to isolate Cuba, or N Korea-they're poor 3rd world nations, like Iraq was, like Iran is....the USSR should never have been destroyed. friedman lied and confused and misrepresented facts regarding what the hell was going on since he began peddling his media butt way back in the trick nixon era....he and guys like woodward/mathews/limbah/brite hum etc have warred against liberal democracy EFFECTIVELY so long that, for them to now act innocent and of clean spirit is just sick. More than sick. The damage was done when junyer bush took the WHouse in 2k.. or when reagan did it in 1980. Friedman and the rest of the pigmedia cheering the reactionaries on drowned out ALL the voices of reason. Shame on yall.
Mind you, the oil spill trumps petty political hatred- and Obama needs to be pushed

[retread]

3. Saw the title and thought it was straight out of Milton Friedman economics.

"Only a crisis, actual or perceived, produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable.” M. Friedman