I Hoped This Blog Wouldn't Turn Into This

I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed in John's "Rebuttal to The Rebuttal." It's not that I mind having my opinions challenged, I very much welcome it. However, I would rather see them actually challenged than merely ridiculed.

I did not say that offshore drilling and John McCain were "useless," as John puts it, instead I explained that I don't believe that offshore drilling will solve the problem and I included some of the facts that I was able to find to support my point of view. I opined that John McCain's motives in supporting drilling were more about getting votes than about solving problems and made no mention of whether I think he is "useless."

My mention of "a frank discussion" of the scope and complexity of energy independence was not a call for, again as John puts it, "A 9/11-style commission 30-plus years after the problem." It was a comment on my belief that we have yet to actually have such a discussion. Instead, both Democrats and Republicans have spent the last 30 years ignoring the problem, pointing fingers and trying to come up with answers based entirely on the desire to be re-elected. I honestly don't believe that we have even begun to act as if solving this problem is a national priority.

Finally, I don't understand the idea that in order to criticize a proposed solution to a problem, I must have an alternative solution. I don't believe that there currently is a viable solution to energy independence and I don't believe that we will find one until politicians on both sides of the aisle become serious about actually solving the problem.

I'm glad that we agree on the need to end the posturing and tendency to oversimplify the problem but I would argue that John's response to my rebuttal does just that.