Paradise lost

[n2doc]

By Wright Thompson
ESPN: Home | OTL


HOUMA, La. -- The greatest tarpon fisherman who ever lived sits in a house on the side of a forgotten bayou, stuck in a blue recliner, watching his world die on live television. Oil gushes out of the well, every lost barrel another line in his obituary.

Though he's only 55, Lance "Coon" Schouest is about to become obsolete. Everything's being taken from him, in living color with a network logo and theme music. His way of life, his job, the marshes he grew up in and possibly even an entire breed of fish that has survived since dinosaurs walked the earth. The tarpon has taken every disaster man and nature could throw at it.

There are places along the Gulf Coast where the oil coats birds and beaches, and there are places where the marshes remain untouched. Wright Thompson shares the story of one town in the middle.

Until now.

The oil pours into the water, and in the next frame, washes up on the shores, over and over, a looped montage of destruction. Coon just stares.

"Look, y'all," he says to his family, his voice raw. "Jesus. Look at that."





more

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=100630/tarponfishing

[virgogal]

1. God almighty----this is awful.

[Prometheus Bound]

2. I think this is just a bad dream.

I'll wake up soon. This can't really be happening.

[Catherina]

4. +1 Same thoughts here constantly. n/t

[Prometheus Bound]

15. The sad thing is that it it were a dream and we were to warn everyone of what would happen...

I guess many people would tell us we were crazy, whacko, conspiracy nuts, etc.

BP would say it's impossible.

[Catherina]

17. Well we did rightly say, for many years, no to offshore drilling.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night now, crying because the spill haunts me even in my dreams. There's a brief moment of relief that it was a dream but then the horror sets in all over again.

The entire affair is so deeply upsetting. So inconceivable.

[rzemanfl]

5. You too? Long bad dream.... so soon after the one that started

in November of 2000 and lasted eight years. I am still trying to figure out where the hell my money went during that one.

[SoCalDem]

3. Wesley's answer.

A similar situation faced the midwestern farmers during the dustbowl years. They had to move.

If I lived there, I would be pushing to get as much money from BP or whomever, and I would load my stuff up, and leave. I know it's not fair and that it sucks bigtime, but what else is there to do?

[rzemanfl]

7. Sure, become a muskie guide in Wisconsin.... n/t

[SoCalDem]

8. There's no easy solution, but keeping the family in a toxic environment where there is no work

is not a solution either

[rzemanfl]

9. A mass migration in this economy is going to be a huge problem.

I think it will happen, but it will be a long term disruption nationwide. The depopulated areas will be a law enforcement nightmare.

[SoCalDem]

11. Perhaps even criminals will not want to be there..

It's all a crapshoot now..no one knows what will happen, and everyone's in harm's way:(

[rzemanfl]

14. Some people will be too sick, poor or stubborn to move. Our

neighborhood is probably 20% vacant due to the collapse of the housing market/foreclosures. There will come a point where basic services can no longer be supported by the remaining population.

[KansDem]

10. Yeah, but at least the Okies had the Golden State to move to...

Where do these folks go? The entire country is hurting financially...:(

[SoCalDem]

12. True, but wherever they end up, it would probably be safer for them

than wallowing around in an oiled environment, trying desperately to hang onto houses that are probably next to worthless now..

[Big Blue Marble]

6. It is corporate crime, pure and simple,

stealing our lives, our wildlife, our very planet.

[AnArmyVeteran]

13. And sociopathic republicans want to deregulate the oil industry even more.

And sociopathic republicans want to deregulate the oil industry even more.
How can anyone be stupid enough to vote for ANY republican. The democrats should win HUGE majorities in November if they just used all the ammunition given to them gift wrapped by the corrupt republicans. But if history is a guide, they won't even mention most of the disgusting things republicans are doing and saying. Leaders in the democratic party have a long history of ineptness and gutlessness when it comes to capitalizing on their opponent's mistakes and blunders.

Gore should have slaughtered Bush in 2000, but instead of debating Bush, Gore agreed with almost everything Bush said. I could have debated Bush and exposed all of the damage he did to the state of Texas, but Gore never mentioned a word of it. I could have made Bush look like the laughingstock he was.

My liberal friends and I sat in disbelief at how Gore did nothing to expose Bush for the corporate whore he was or how he sold out every Texan by making Texas number one in the nation in air, water and land pollution. Bush also destroyed the Texas education system, but Gore said nothing.

And if Gore had actually debated Bush there would have been no way the Supreme Court would have been put in a position to steal the election in 2000. The election wouldn't have been close. We would have been spared two wars, the destruction of the economy and the latest Supreme Court wouldn't have been able to give corporations the right to give unlimited amounts of money to campaigns. If only Gore had debated Bush. How could any competent person lose a debate to the buffoonish Bush?

If democratic leaders don't capitalize off of the republicans' blunders this Fall I think I'm going to give up on them. Democratic leaders should hire The Daily Show research staff. They have the knowledge, ability and creativity to destroy the republican party. Historically, democratic leaders are clueless how to combat their evil opponents. I'd be glad to be in charge of the Democratic National Committee. I would kick ass, not kiss ass.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

16. It's FUBAR.

And there is a tab that is coming due.