The Political Right to the Rest of America: "Drink your 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol and like it!"

(WPA workers cleaning a river in Worcester County, Maryland, 1937. Thousands of New Deal projects during the Great Depression gave work to the unemployed, while simultaneously improving our environment. It was a connecting of the dots that most of our current Congressmen and women can't even begin to contemplate, because their too busy soliciting campaign contributions from the corporations polluting our environment. Image courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.)

 
Republicans, Tea Partiers, and certain strains of Libertarians are fond of telling us that if government just gets out of the way, and lets Corporate America do its thing, everything will be a-ok. Well, let's see how that's working out for us. Here's some interesting stories, most of them from just the past few months:  

"Toxic ash poisons North Carolina river, threatens drinking water"

"BP Oil Refinery Waste Stored At Koch Brothers-Owned Site Polluting Nearby Chicago Neighborhoods"

"West Virginia chemical spill leaves 300,000 without clean water"

"Derailed train leaks chemicals near New Augusta"

"Willard residents evacuated after dangerous chemical spill on CSX train tracks at North Main Street"

"Chemicals Found In Water At Fracking Sites Linked To Infertility, Cancer"

"More gunk spills in West Virginia, turning creek black"

"Toxic fog hits Utah: Pregnant women and children urged to stay indoors as pollution goes 'off the charts' in freezing weather"

So, what's the reaction to all this? Well, Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner recently said, in response to the spill of 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol into West Virginia's drinking water, "We have enough regulations." And the political right is still, of course, on their never-ending crusade to shut down the Environmental Protection Agency and eliminate the Endangered Species Act. To them, it seems, clean air, clean water, and wildlife are annoying nuisances--obstacles to be eliminated, so the super-wealthy can get more money. To the rest of us, they have this message: "Drink your 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol and like it!"

Is this the America you want?