♫ What’s so great about the Barrier Reef?
What’s so fine about art?
What’s so good ‘bout a good time spent
When you’re workin’ on a broken, workin’ on a broken man? ♫
— “Barrier Reef,” Old 97’s

Earth Day, like your humble WPT host, has turned 48. Some* would argue Earth does not look a day over six-five hundred, but even at that age, the girl shows her mileage.

Most would agree that white men took the toll, riding Earth and putting her away dried out.** Since the launch of the Industrial Revolution in mid-18th century England … . No need to go through the litany for the savvy Politicado choir.

Uvular does feel it appropriate to get discursive about not even knowing Earth Day existed until the 20th commemoration of the April 22nd commemorative. Certainly the likes of Ronald Reagan and James “Pine Trees Cause Acid Rain” Watt had no intention of asking Americans to think about protecting the environment for even 24 hours. Environmentalism surged from 1990 through 2016, then stopped for some reason.

Oh, yeah. These guys.

None of them, to reference the epigraph, consider coral bleaching a problem, appreciate creative expression, or take joy in anything other than destruction. Broken men and women all who will the world to burn so the outside matches their insides.

Since opportunities to do so in the future appear limited, join Uvular in slipping into your best Marilyn Monroe voice and singing

♭ Happy Earth Day to you
Happy Earth Day to you
Happy Earth Day, Mother Gaia
Happy Earth Day to you! ♭

Post your dispatches from the pre-blighted vast wasteland of social media below.

++++

n.b., Since no song has ever featured a better opening verse — equal, not better — check this out: The Empty Bottle was half-empty, tide was low, and I was thirsty / Saw her sitting at the bar; well, you know how some girls are / Always making eyes? Well she wasn’t making eyes / So I sidled up beside her, settled down, and shouted, “Hi, there! / My name’s Stewart Ransom Miller, and I’m a serial lady killer.” / She said, “I’m already dead.” / That’s exactly what she said
* Idiots. Though, in fairness, James Ussher worked with the best source he had to hand in 1650 and had a very particular point to make to his fellow perpetually doubting Interregnum Irishmen.
**Not a sex thing.