Did You Know...

**Written by Doug Powers

Quick factoid before we get started: Not many people know this, but the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria didn’t rely on sails but were instead pushed to the New World by algae.

From the Washington Post:

President Obama blasted his Republican critics Thursday for their resistance to investing in alternative energy sources, comparing their stance to the beliefs of those who thought that Christopher Columbus would sail off the edge of the world.

In another in a series of speeches defending his energy policies, Obama touted his push for green energy growth — including wind and solar power, electric cars and biofuels — as a way to help wean the nation from a dependence on foreign oil. And he mocked his rivals for failing to embrace his ideas.

“If some of these folks were around when Columbus set sail, they probably must have been founding members of the flat earth society. They would not believe that the world was round,” Obama told an enthusiastic crowd of hundreds of students at Prince George’s Community College in Largo. “Maybe they would have agreed with one of the pioneers of the radio who apparently said, ‘Television won’t last. It’s a flash in the pan.’”

How many “green” ships loaded with taxpayer riches have to sail over the horizon never to return before people start to wonder?

I certainly don’t trust the Department of Energy to be the final arbiter of what’s flat and what’s round in the world of “clean energy.” They couldn’t circumnavigate a snow globe without spending billions and they’d still end up breaking the thing.

For those of you keeping score at home, here’s where we are: America needs to spend more money to keep from going bankrupt, stop sweating high gas prices because plankton-power is on the way, and continue to pour money into programs that spend millions of dollars per job created — and anybody who doubts it needs to wake up and accept reality before our country is ruined.

Because President Obama’s speech was billed as “official” instead of “campaign” business, Jay Carney had to claim the reference to Republicans as “flat earthers” wasn’t a campaign message, but rather a “policy message.” This way the flat earthers have to pick up more of the tab.

Click the pic to roll tape on everybody’s favorite Beltway comedian:

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe