By Miss Kubelik
We cats have not been able to stomach much cable news lately — especially the fatuous talking heads who, when they're not posing as epidemiologists, seem to know all about strategic alliances and international defense. (How nice that they've been able to switch from one catastrophe to the next so easily.) So we haven't been exposed to much of gas-price hysteria that social media hints is saturating TV.
Why are they whipping up frenzies when polls have shown large majorities of Americans backing the ban on Russian oil imports? Quinnipiac, for example, reports that seven in 10 people surveyed have said "Da" to the ban, even if they have to pay more at the pump. And thanks to market volatility and the greedy energy companies, they are. (Although we could have sworn we saw our local station's price drop by a dime when we passed it running errands today.)
Is it possible that voters understand that Russia accounts for only seven percent of imported oil to the US? Or is it something else?
Maybe it's this: Unlike most wars, invasions, droughts and disasters, the people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine look a heck of a lot like Americans. They're moms (and some dads), mostly with kids, carrying luggage and laptops, nervously scrolling on their smartphones. They have pets. They look middle-class. They are, above all, white.
It's pretty clear that America saw this appalling photo of a young Ukrainian family gunned down while trying to escape and thought, you know what? We don't have it so bad. We can pay more for gas.
We don't know how long US drivers will keep feeling this way. But every day, we hear more and more horrific stories of Russian war crimes — like bombing maternity hospitals. So, maybe we'll all practice some perspective and gratitude? We cats hope so, and we PURR.
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