Gulf region needs action, not words

The Daily Herald Opinion page on June 22 featured editorials by Charles Krauthammer and Donna Brazile, both reacting to Obama's recent speech on the Gulf oil spill yet interpreting it very differently.

Krauthammer comments on President Obama's tendency to speak forth a lofty vision for America while remaining disengaged from reality outside of Washington. Brazile thinks Republican negativity is dragging the nation down from Obama's dreams.

Brazile approves of Obama's goal of "reframing the debate on our addiction to oil." Her focus, like Obama's, is on long-term environmental policy. She mutters against Republican muttering, likening it to the incessant vuvuzelas in the background of World Cup soccer games. Krauthammer suggests that Obama's environmental dreams cannot "be legislated into existence." There are stubborn economic and scientific realities that complicate dream fulfillment. Speeches and dreams are no help to the people facing the daily reality of the oil spill.

Let's take Brazile's World Cup metaphor a bit further. Her column is essentially all about the vuvuzela buzz. She likes Obama's noise. She doesn't like Republican noise. But noise won't clean up the mess.

What the people in the Gulf region need is a talented team playing for victory on the field and a leader with a game plan. We need some action. Instead, we have a crew of Washington referees reviewing replays and calling fouls.

These two editorials vividly illustrate two alternate realities from which Americans observe and interpret current events.

For some, reality is defined by the noise in the stands. For others, reality is revealed by action on the field. Don't be distracted by the noise, for it is not real. Keep your eyes on the action, or lack of action, on the playing field. Dreams and rhetoric are important, but they should inspire and complement real action.

Judy Allen

Palatine