More than one person has told me that this column could use a road map. Sometimes I take the scenic route on the way to making a point.
We live in a world that demands instant gratification. Time and distance traveled are factors even here, in a written column.
I can’t help the occasional detour to Mount Metaphor. Things look different there. The air is clearer. You can see all fifty states, or the other side of the world.
With the right metaphor, you could even see the future.
George W. Bush used to talk about his road map to peace in the Middle East. That is a good metaphor to describe a plan. It suggests you know where you want to go and how to get there. Road maps are not idiom proof. Bush also talks about staying the course. If you are sailing a ship, staying the course makes sense. I think what he means is that we must keep our eyes on the road. Most roads bend, and sometimes you have to turn left or right. Try staying the course while driving a car, and you’re liable to run into a ditch or up against a brick wall. Maybe you’ll end up between Iraq and a hard place. Like Iran.
A road map is useless if you don’t know where you are or where you’re trying to go. Or, if neither one of those places is actually on the map. Otherwise, a map can be very useful. The trick is to use it to make sure you are still heading in the right direction. Getting to peace through war only works some of the time.
You don’t hear Bush talking much these days about his road map to peace in the Middle East. It must be in the trunk, under the spare tire. And he’s not one to stop and ask for directions. Or maybe he hasn’t been keeping his eyes on the road.
Road maps used to be given away for free at gas stations. That practice stopped a long time ago. Gas stations also used to give away a lot of other things, in order to get your business. Now, most gas stations have turned into convenience stores. They’re convenient because you have to stop there anyway to put gas in your car. Might as well pick up a snack for yourself. Or maybe you can buy an antacid or aspirin, anything to take away the pain at the pump. Most gas stations would be unprofitable without the sales made on the convenience store side of the business.
If you’re out for a drive and don’t particularly care where you are going or when you get there, then you don’t need a map. You just need plenty of gas.
If you’re running out of gas, you start to care where you are, and where the next service station is.
America’s energy policy looks a lot like that. We’ve been driving around aimlessly, not caring where we’re going, and now we are a bit lost. There’s not a service station in sight, and some of us backseat drivers think the answer is simple: have someone build a new gas station, preferably less than five miles up the road. Bring the oil in from offshore, or Alaska, and we can be on our merry way again.
This is unrealistic for many Americans, especially for the short term, especially right now, for their household budgets.
They’re doing something else that makes more sense: driving a lot less, and more purposefully. Less sightseeing, better planning, more efficient cars.
This has caught America’s automobile manufacturers with their pants down. Their road map was wrong: trucks, minivans and SUVs are more profitable for them, but the new reality makes consumers less likely to buy gas-guzzling trucks, minivans and SUVs.
Americans can change direction. The problem is, not all of us think a change of direction is required. Some of us have different ideas as to which way to go. And some of us think that if we do run out of gas, we’ll only be stranded by the side of the road a little while, and AAA will be along shortly in the form of new oil discoveries or technological innovation.
Maybe it’s time to start walking.
As far as Iraq goes, it is starting to look like General David Petraeus knows where he is going. Things seem to be getting more stable there. Whoever ends up in the Oval Office driver’s seat, they may be able to worry less about Iraq. That is a good thing, since they will have more to worry about, like the worsening economy. And Afghanistan. And Iran.
There has been a lot of hot air in the past couple of weeks about flip-flopping as if it was a bad thing. I hope the next guy in the driver’s seat has a little bit more of an open mind and is willing to change direction when necessary and appropriate. Flexibility is a good thing.
If Obama says we’re going to be in Iraq for more than sixteen months because the situation doesn’t allow him to keep a promise he made last year, it would be better than insisting on a timetable.
And if McCain says we can leave Iraq earlier than he once said, that’s good, too.
The road to the White House is the same, whether you are a Republican or a Democrat. There’s a change of direction during the primaries (Democrats go left, Republicans go right, to appeal to their party) and then both move towards the middle. That move to the middle is important: candidates should show that they intend to lead all Americans, not just their party faithful. At least, that’s the way I think it should work. Maybe I’m a little naive about this.
Obama has made a move to the middle in recent weeks, only to find he has annoyed the more liberal members of his party. He’s also been accused of flip-flopping on issues by the McCain campaign. Meanwhile, McCain has moved to the right since 2000, but many of the more conservative members of his party still don’t trust him.
Both candidates have published their energy plans. Both plans deal with the supply problem: where our energy is going to come from, in the future. That new gas station five miles down the road. Neither plan goes into reducing demand. America is addicted to oil, but no one votes for someone who dares to say that it’s time for rehab. Ask Jimmy Carter where asking Americans to conserve energy gets you.
Sometimes a change in direction only occurs after you realize you’re lost. And sometimes it’s too late.