Energy is the main debate that should really be the focus of the presidential campaign. The implications of the energy crisis effect almost every major problem we face today--the economic woes, climate change, and foreign policy.

Fiorastar makes a strong and informed point about the ugly realities of increased coal use. It is absolutely clear that there is nothing "clean" about coal. No one should think otherwise. Like oil, coal is a finite fossil fuel that is a detriment to humanity. That being said, I think that realistically coal does have a future in our conversion to cleaner and more efficient energy sources. The reality of energy independence is that it won't happen overnight, hard choices will have to be made, and cost/benefit calculations will have to be weighed. In moving toward the exciting (and lucrative)new energy economy that Fiorastar describes, compromises will have to be made, and the reality of our predicament is that, in the short term, coal should play a small yet significant role in our transition.

In the same vein, I totally agree with MaddieP about nuclear energy. I've been saying the same thing for years. Of course there are problems with nuclear energy--environmental, waste storage issues, high start-up costs...But, I honestly believe there can be no energy independence, no movement away from an oil based economy without a major reliance on nuclear energy. I think of coal and nuclear as methadone to a heroin addict. Certainly not the ideal, but a way to begin to move forward and diversify.

Government should be responsible for encouraging and fostering clean energy sources--wind, biomass, geo-thermal, solar, hydro, hemp, etc. Gas prices should be raised by the government, tax relief should be granted to people who run homes and businesses green, and tax breaks to emerging companies who are developing, researching, and perfecting tomorrow's energy sources. Government should strictly regulate dirty gray energy sources like coal and nuclear. In fact I think these businesses should ultimately be controlled by the state. But the reality of the world is that we have a ways to travel from here to there. The reality of the world is that with 6 billion + people in the world there will be some sort of pollution. I believe that the United States must wean ourselves from fossil fuels (incl. coal) and at the same time create a new and vibrant energy economy, but it will not happen overnight. I say all this as a supporter and member of the Green Party. I am just a bit more realistic (and independent) than most of my fellow Greens.

And hell, I could be wrong too (I'm almost positive I am). Again, that is why we should be having this debate. Our future depends on it. I'm willing to concede my position if someone makes a better argument.

Unfortunately, this campaign has shown that most people are only interested in candidate cheer-leading. Where has the rational and informed voter gone?

This is not surprising, when viewed along with the recent wave of bigotry and discrimination Italy's government has directed toward the Roma people. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/05/20/italy.immigration/

Interesting interview. I look forward to reading this book.

I happen to live about 15 minutes from the U.S. Army College (the site of the Carlisle Indian School). I also served active duty there in 2003-2004. There is no reminder there of the Indian School save for a small cemetery on the back gate of the post. The cemetery is the resting place of Native American children who died attending the school.

One day while standing sentry at Claremont gate, next to the cemetery, I noticed a group of about seven Native Americans there. Some of the women were taking pictures; others were placing trinkets on the tombstones. An older man in a VFW cap was planting little American flags by the graves. Upside-down. A small girl was helping him. Later, MP's came along to right them. This was a little game played out over the course of my time there.

I was telling this story to my mother who asked if this was the same place where Jim Thorpe went to school. It turns out that my Great Uncle was sent to the Carlisle School from Puerto Rico around 1905. It seems there was a contingent of Puerto Ricans sent to the school after the US gained territorial "rights" over PR after the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans were seen, like Native Americans, as a "savage culture."

We remember and honor trail-blazers like Jim Thorpe, Jackie Robinson, and Roberto Clemente (and rightly we should--those men were heroes), but stories like Charles Benders' and (personally for me) my uncles' are the silent and forgotten stories of the realization of America. These men silently and with no recognition suffered discrimination and humiliation at the hands of, what Chis Matthews would refer to as "regular" Americans, while in their own way re-defining and re-imagining what is meant by the term "American." (that is as long as we're not talking about West Virginia or Kentucky outside of Louisville and Lexington--those people are still "regular."):P