Allman Advocates Continued Carbon Usage!

Talk-Show Host Defends Coal and its Traditions at Rally

Commentary by Michael Curran, MLitt.

The State’s Rights rally this past September 10th in Washington, Missouri -- at Rennick Riverfront Park along the Missouri River -- sponsored by ‘I Heard the People Say,’ Annette Read of Chesterfield, the group’s co-founder, featured the emcee Jamie Allman (host of ‘Allman in the Morning,’ 97.1 FM Talk) astutely recognizing the importance between background and foreground when he embraced the frequent interruptions coal trains provided in the background throughout the evening: “We love those coal cars. Keep them coming,” Allman proclaimed as the mile-long trains shook the park grounds repeatedly.

It was clearly not just the coal and its conversion from black briquettes to the backbone of our society (electricity) which Allman defended, but a current way of life contingent with coal’s conversion. Simultaneously Allman’s words were in opposition to the ‘Green Movement’ currently at work to change the numerous traditions those coal trains represented with controversial legislation underway in Congress which would have catastrophic effects on the economy. The ‘Cap and Trade’ legislation in Congress will place a limit on carbon emissions while forcing a tax on energy consumption.

Yes, in the foreground former Marine Paul Curtman demonstrated his passion for the Constitution which had previously moved him to confront Senator Clair MaCaskill; Catherine Bleish of the Liberty Restoration Project articulated her Jeffersonian Republicanism; author Kevin Jackson (‘The Big Black Lie’) shared his own journey off the liberal ‘Ideological Plantation;’ State Senator Jim Lembke (R) proclaimed the concept of limited federal government; and finally, State Legislator Brian Nieves (R) concluded the evening and reminded everyone the best federal government is the one which is limited and fears the people!

But the background -- the coal trains that September evening -- offered literal, figurative and metaphorical meanings, a ‘teachable moment’ as has been said and in response to Allman’s observation. So let us review three different trains which passed by that evening; let us connect our review to Allman’s coal defense and the upcoming Missouri legislative session; and let us apply these thoughts to a course of action leading up to the November mid-term elections.

The train Called ‘Conversion,’ Literally Speaking

The trains Allman referred to that evening hauled countless tons of coal towards the inevitable destination of over 90% of all coal usage in America, conversion to electrical power, conversion to nearly 50% of all electrical power consumed in America -- by comparison, a larger user for a far greater percentage of its electrical power is China. But more importantly, as the origins of the trains that evening, the origin of coal as a source of power is long in our North American history.

The Hopi Indians used coal for baking dating back to the earliest years of the second millennium here in North America. The Industrial Revolution ushered in the large scale use of coal for power production and replaced the water wheel. The efficiency of the conversion process has improved across the years such that coal no longer provides the steam which powers the locomotive at the front of trains. Now a gallon of diesel apparently powers the train over 400 miles. Still, as stated, coal is a primary source for the electricity our society is founded upon. The inherent ‘evolutionary’ principles of free-market capitalism fuel emergence and extinction -- a steam engine replaced by the diesel engine -- simultaneously without governmental interference in this instance as efficiency is improved slowly.

Granted, optimal efficiency for engine power or electrical power is desirable and can be demonstrated with Einstein’s equation. Energy is expressed in terms of joules. Consider holding a 32 ounce bottle of your beloved and soon to be taxed soft drink and throw it four inches in the air: you just spent approximately 1 joule.

Related to electricity, one joule spent for one second equals one watt of electricity. Thus E=MC2 in electrical terms would convert a mere 32 ounces of the makeup undoubtedly used in one day by President Obama, Al Gore, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi (prime proponents of ‘Cap and Trade’) into enough electricity for over 1000 light bulbs each requiring 100 watts for more than 2.5 hours! Hypothetically, would the aforementioned promote or perhaps tolerate for ‘Cap and Trade’ on their makeup? The point is not for political humor but to demonstrate proposing legislation is easy for the four chief proponents until such time as it has a personal affect.

Further concerning ‘Cap and Trade,’ where is the evidence, the quantifiable formulations to justify claims of ‘Climate Change due to excessive CO2 omissions’ to be found and scrutinized as can be produced to document our light bulb illustration?

So, with countless restrictions upon future oil exploration, nuclear power plants, dams (i.e. water-wheel power/turbines), to merely cap the use of coal without a new source ‘convertible’ to the electricity our society is built upon, rightly elicits Allman’s response which is, keep the train called ‘Conversion’ -- and the tracks of countless related traditions -- coming until improvements or alternatives are developed.

The Train Called ‘Contradiction,’ Figuratively Speaking

A second series of trains that evening -- figuratively speaking -- offered a continued contradiction, Burlington Northern engines pulling CSX box cars, or Norfolk & Southern engines pulling Union Pacific cars as but two examples of the cross-matching of otherwise competitors. What a portrait of our political process!

Consider, forced health insurance -- the prime political topic at present -- dates back to Earl Warren’s days as Republican governor of none other than California. Further, in exchange for pulling Eisenhower’s train of political box cars (i.e., delivering California’s electoral votes) Eisenhower returned the debt, promptly pulled Warren’s train and appointed an icon of liberalism -- whose rulings affect us to this day, and beyond -- to the Supreme Court.

More importantly, that titan of judicial activism is viewed small and left much work yet to be accomplished according to President Obama. Just what does that tell us concerning the milieu of box cars the President gladly seeks to pull? For President Obama it appears, forget asking the self-sacrificing question as Kennedy proposed the right question decades removed, is “What can my country do for me?”

Related to forced health insurance and privacy rights, in a telephone conversation recently Senator Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, announced she will introduce legislation during the 2010 session of the General Assembly designed to protect health care freedom of choice for Missourians. Not feeling the need to await U.S. Senator Harry Reid’s benevolence -- apparently his willingness to ‘allow’ states the opt-out choice a revelation of his oblivion to the Constitution -- Cunningham will send the message of state’s rights first. “If this measure is passed by the Legislature, Missouri voters would have an opportunity to decide if they want to send a message to Washington that participation in an insurance plan is a personal decision (refer to Roe v Wade) and a right which should not be infringed upon,” Sen. Cunningham said.

The proposal will add Missouri to a list of dozens of states calling for legislation or state constitutional amendments to guard citizens against attempts to socialize health care through the “public option” health care mandate currently under consideration by Congress.

So, what can we conclude regarding the ongoing political trains, one of which has long-embedded Republican and Democrat fingerprints dating back to the Golden State? First, a glistening engine of a desired named means little if the box cars behind it are in fact street cars named ‘Undesirable.’ Second, the long-standing tradition of political trains called ‘contradiction,’ warns us that what glitters (i.e. the ‘R’ behind a name) is not gold figuratively speaking.

The Train Called ‘Coercion,’ Metaphorically Speaking

A third train that evening represents the obvious coercion which forces unlikely or undesirable unions. Simply put, with limited tracks traversing the country, financial survival forces otherwise competitors into mutually agreeable sharing arrangements it is supposed. And therein lies the problem when such happens politically. For what is the authoritative source for calling out a particular ‘box car’ as dangerous radioactive political waste?

If the metaphor appears stretched, does not our President engage the process? For when he says in so many words, ‘Get a mop and help clean up the mess!’ Just what does President Obama refer to specifically when he uses the word ‘mess?’
If President Obama is referring to the resistance he encounters whilst trying to enlarge the federal government, then his argument is hardly new, nor is the resistance novel as Senator Lembke states, “Before the ink was dry on the Constitution, Jefferson and Hamilton where at odds over the power and scope of the federal government. Jefferson believed that the center of power should be with the people and their state representatives. Hamilton, on the contrary, espoused a powerful central government.”

And it is in that light and our current state of affairs which motivates Senator Lembke, for he believes, “Our nation is teetering on its last leg, awaiting the knockout punch! Only Gods’ providence and our founders’ genius have sustained us to this point. We are a Republic, governed by our founding documents ‘and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof” (Art VI, par.1). Our federal government has since its inception, attempted and succeeded in usurping power away from the states and the people. In many cases through bad court decisions, but in most by passing federal laws that are beyond its constitutional authority (Art.1 sec. 8). It is time for the states to draw a line in the sand, and say to the feds this far and NO further.”

Representative Nieves along with Senator Lembke will be introducing identical legislation simultaneously in the upcoming session for the purpose of “Pushing back our out of touch, out of control federal government and asserting the fact that our state legislatures are indeed ‘Ground Zero’ in this all important fight,” Nieves declared.

The legislative agenda of Lembke and Nieves, along with Representative Cunningham’s, will clearly etch a line in the Missouri sand, a line around the varied federal outposts -- Fort Sumter -- with further growth on Missouri soil forbidden. A state established limit on the train called ‘Federal Coercion,’ legislative gun powder, is coming down the tracks for Missourians metaphorically speaking of course.

Our Future Therefore

What are we to conclude from this brief review of three trains which appeared in the background at Rennick Park and were recognized by Jamie Allman with his brief defense of carbon usage?

First, we recognize the similarity between the events and scenery of that evening as a metaphor for a life lesson. As the speakers in the foreground addressed various important current issues and upcoming events but the coal trains in the background placed the events within a larger context of meaning, so too it is for all of the various ‘hot issues’ driving current debate. In the foreground are debates on climate control, state’s rights, and individual liberty and so on. What we seek to notice and discuss are the obvious larger themes which are in the background and are foundational for the debate to exist! This is where the differences lay.

For example, the Hopi Indian reference in our first train review was more than incidental reference to historical fact but a bridge to make a final point: those whose deep concern for ‘Climate Control’ under-girds the advocacy of land for polar bears comes concurrently when polar bear numbers and land holdings is greater than the few thousand Hopi Indian still surviving on meager reservations in Arizona!

Further, it is worth noting that from such an obscure, near extinct tribe of people arose a stellar legal mind -- Diane J. Humetewa (pronounced hoo-MEE-tee-wah) -- who recently resigned her post as United States Attorney for the District of Arizona, when by ironic twist President Obama nominated her replacement: the President who bends forward for kings and emperors and backwards for Guantanamo detainees forced a Native American displacement. Our point from this example is simple? Debates on climate control presume a consistent view on human worth or the lack thereof beyond any reasonable doubt. Arguing whether the Earth like Goldilocks’ porridge is too hot, too cold and what is just right is pointless until the value of each human life is first and preeminent and the meaningful life and contribution each life can make even when the beginnings are humble or near extinction. Ms. Humetewa is a perfect example.

Second, we apply the foreground/background analogy to the current state in the foreground which is a populist consensus for a complete renovation of congressional membership! What is the background in order for such populist desire to find fruition come November mid-terms?

There are nine obvious themes, nine box cars shall we say which we can string together to form a train of boxcars, a train we shall each pull individually called the CCS (Congressional Clean Sweep). The CCS will be a train of principles equipping and informing voters to call on Washington, D.C. with on-time arrival November 2010 via the ballot box.

We need only address these nine themes which are foundational to that end and such will be done with essays in each succeeding issue of the MetroVoice beginning with the February issue on through the October issue with a concluding essay in the November issue prior to the election.

As we shall see, the train has no party affiliation nor does it require Christians to agree on all eschatological (how the world shall end) or ecclesiological matters (the role of the Church). Recall how the varied church backgrounds of our Founders did not preclude coalition in declaring earthly, temporal independence, followed up by a landmark in human history, our Constitution! A congressional overhaul is a small accomplishment for believers in that light.

Furthermore, the monthly topics will be discussed on a bi-weekly one hour segment entitled, “Heart, Head and Soul” with Brian Nieves, the host of ‘Patriot Enclave,’ heard 7-9 A.M. daily from beautiful Washington, MO., on AM 1350 ‘The Mouth.’ The contents of the monthly essays and radio segment will be available on an officially launched blog site, ‘Heart, Head and Soul’: http://heartheadandsoul.blogivists.com in the near future.

Finally, for those who say these matters are in God’s sovereign hand who establishes kings and kingdoms and governments are established by Him, I say yes, but scripture is clear too regarding human responsibility: we are called to pray fervently and act wisely. Recall Cromwell advising his troops in so many words, “Pray hard but do keep the powder dry boys!” For this writer, ten essays, bi-weekly radio appearances and a blog site are forms of powder I intend to keep dry and in abundant supply.

Michael Curran travels and speaks and is available to speak regarding Church history, history, politics and of course theology and can be contacted via email at mc454@alumni.st-andrews.ac.uk to request a speaking engagement.