European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 11, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                July 2007 stars and stripes Page 15 opinion Bush mentions then backpedal by Marsha Mercer Media general news service Washington on july president Bush predictably gave another spirited defense of staying the course in and he asked every Ameri can to find a Way to thank the men and women in the military and their Send a care he ask family members with a mom or dad on the front lines what they Pray for sol Diers and their Click on wait a did he say car carpooling to thank and sup port the troops that a the few times it has come has been in the context of an Energy Bush told Federal workers to carpool and take Public transportation in 2001 when California was hit by rolling after hurricanes katrina and Rita blew away some Oil production on the Gulf he advised this he dropped the phrase you can carpool into the Holiday speech in without the timing Gas prices have soared and the National mood has soured raises intriguing could the president be conceding at last that Oil is a Factor in the Iraq War is he finally asking Ordi nary americans to sacrifice As part of the War Effort has he Mel Lowed since 2001 when he de you cannot conserve your Way to Energy George Bush has not gone the White House emphatically denied that Bush was calling for widespread this is not an Energy said Blair a Hes talking about carpooling As helping people out whose spouses or loved ones Are so the president missed another Chance to carpooling is on the decline in Only about one in 10 people carpooled to work in the census Bureau reported last we not Only bowl alone we drive Cue the Sci those who do carpool tend to ride with just one other per 77 percent of us drove to work alone in according to the american Community carpooling was biggest in the led by immigrant farm workers who ride mid westerners Arent hot to nor Are in North South Carolina and 80 per cent or More of people drove alone to about 78 percent of virginians drove less than 5 percent nationally took the bus or subway to work and they live in the 10 biggest Cit these stats Are hardly a recipe for Energy but its not fair to blame pro Bush South Erners or its not As if most Are constitutionally opposed to mass transit or sharing a especially with Gas above a its just easier said than higher housing prices have forced people to move farther away from transit Many peo ple commute to jobs in another sub schedules one could avoid the commute by working from but National fewer than 4 percent a few High tech such As operate their own transit picking up and de livering workers but that and free food at the workplace Are extremely rare Bush has always been More keen on using technology to develop new sources of Energy than on improving fuel Economy or encouraging personal action to reduce Energy he Hast exactly led by exam last the White House asked the Virginia transportation department to shut Down All the commuter lanes into Virginia on a wednesday afternoon so that Bush could make a fundraiser for George the state and Bush took a Helicon except that a president never takes a a car or a theres Marine the Limo or air Force one and always a critics complain that but Security Trumps fuel changing the Public transportation habits and creating incentives for rid sharing or mass Tran sit would require leadership from both congressional democrats need to Stop staging photo Ops where they blast Bush Energy policies and then hop into their sums to ride the Block Back to their and the president needs to do More than you can Marsha Mercer is Media generals Washington Bureau one indivisible but divided on Many issues Peter Brown the recent decision in this once Stalwart conservative state to legalize civil unions for Gays makes new England the coun try first Region to completely bless such and underscores the reality that America is divided by More than parti san since the 2000 and 2004 elections spawned the stereo types of differing Blue and red Ameri it has become fashionable to argue that the notion of a country divided along lines is both simplistic and of course All whether in or agree on the easy equal Opportunity and the ways one tries to reach those goals can vary for those who dont see the vast differences among Well meaning try spending More time out of your own zip codes and see How the other half the Way that various states Are dealing with the Gay unions ques Tion is the Best recent evidence of this real but it is by no Means an isolated Situa should the supreme court overturn Roe the same would Likely be True about the legality of some states in the Sun Belt and Rocky Mountain West would almost certainly greatly restrict or even ban abortion in others there would be no change in the Sta Tus even with the right to Abor Tion still there Are efforts in some states for greater while in others there Are think this split american personality is just about hot Button social issues think take it would be easy to play the following game successfully for an unidentified state find out whether there is an income the size or existence of a sales the property tax rates and other Revenue Ais ing then predict whether that state is North or South of the Mason Dixon or bordered by either the Atlantic or Pacific the higher the tax the More North Erly and the closer it is to new which has no sales or income might be the major exception to that but it does have a Small the same generalization would Proba Bly work pretty Well if the criteria were the amount of state government spending per gun control restrictions or the frequency of death penalty exec the Legal status of the various is sues among the states does not just reflect regional differences in political altitudes and these differences in the Law also Are a product of the availability of methods that allow voters to change statutes or the states Constitution directly by the Issue of same sex unions illustrates this those states where it is easy and traditional for voters to go around their elected officials by making Law through ballot proposals Many of which would clearly be in the red Ameri Camp have banned same sex but in those general Blue Ameri states without the political vehicle of state ballot or where it is very difficult to it has been the courts and the political leadership that have led the Way toward legalizing same sex in addition to the six new England where either the legislature and governor or the courts acted to change the new Jersey and Washington state recently joined the and there Are similar stirrings in other Northern tier new York Eliot Spitzer has introduced legislation that would legalize same sex although it has passed one House of the legislature but does not yet appear to have the votes for passage in the when Over the last few years 23 Rocky Mountain and midwestern states have banned same sex marriage in some civil unions via Public most by very Large we As the pledge of allegiance be one under indivisible but that Doest mean that we dont have a great Deal of internal those who want to deny that should Wake up to Peter Brown is the assistant director of the Quin Lipiac University polling Institute and a former editorial columnist for the Orlando prickly City by Scott Stantis