Hail To The Chief

I just found out on the news last night that the President is coming to town. It's probably the most exciting thing to happen to little Franklinton NC in it's entire history.

The President will be visiting Novozymes, a biotech firm that is involved in making, among other things, the enzymes to produce ethanol out of renewable energy sources from cellulose, found in such things as cornstalks and switchgrass. President Bush is visiting to support these efforts, since one of the goals he has set forth is weaning the nation from it's dependence on foreign sources of oil.

I think that ethanol mixed with gasoline will yield small benefits, if any. Ethanol doesn't have the energy content to directly compete with fossil fuels in our current internal combustion engines. Where I think ethanol, and other similar biofuels, will come into their own is with fuel cells, when that technology matures. One hundred years from now I see our primary energy source to be fuel cells, powered by synthetic fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

But back to the Presidential visit for a moment.

Of course you can't have a visit of the VIPs without having the usual collection of nitwits. One of my recent visitors came by way of a Google search for "protest march in franklinton nc". I hope he left disappointed. And I am happy to say that my own search came up with negative results as well.

The President's policies and politics are probably not much appreciated in heavily Democratic Franklin County NC, but I could wish that people would put aside politics long enough to appreciate the fact that he is visiting to support the reduction in dependency on foreign oil.

Unfortunately there are people who are professional bitchers, and to them this man can never do anything that will be right. If God himself came down out of His heaven and placed His hand on George W. Bush's shoulder and proclaimed him to be the right man at the right time, there are those who would not be able to see past the separation of church and state.

I was not a big fan of the last President, but I was always willing to give the man credit when it was due him. It's a crying shame that the "loyal" opposition cannot bring themselves to do the same for President Bush.

I hope he has a good visit.