Going Rogue

I'm not really the outdoorsy type, but I do like to watch scenery and nature on TV, so I caught part of The National Parks series on PBS the other night. I had never really thought about it, but I guess national parks really are an American invention -- one of our best even.

The story of our national parks is about love of nature, conservation, preservation and democracy, but it's also about politics. Amazingly, this great idea, this great investment, flourished during a time of economic catastrophe.

Of course, I have to wonder how that could be? We're so damn cynical now that even our government hates government. I know our country had "yellow journalism" back then, but did we suffer through anything at all like Glenn Beck?

I was slightly impressed today when one Republican finally went rogue. No, not Sarah Palin. I'm talking about Senator Lindsey Graham. He had a few words to say about Glenn Beck and cable news in general:

"Can you imagine doing D-Day with cable television?" he asked. "Can you imagine writing the Constitution -- you know, O'Reilly says Ben Franklin's giving in on something. Can you imagine having to do that in this environment?"

Or could you imagine the government conserving beautiful forests and canyons so that all could enjoy them? Or employing 300,000 young men for a Civilian Conservation Corps? It couldn't happen now. Somebody would yell "socialism" and everybody would cower.

What we protect is what we value. We protect insurance industries, bankers, greed, and the status quo, but sometimes we have to take action for the greater good. Sometimes we have to try to make things better for all of us.