Lake Okeechobee, the Herbert Hoover Dike, and Peter Schorsch warned of “Godwin’s Law” two years ago.

“When forced to choose between living with humans or going down with Mother Nature, I may be selfish, but I’ll side with humans.”

—Quote by journalist Peter Schorsch.

At the end of this blog post is the definition of Godwin’s Law.

It sounds inconceivable anyone would think a breach and resulting collapse of the Herbert Hoover Dike would “fix everything”, but that is exactly what one ‘environmentalist’ suggested. If you didn’t know, there is a mass grave in West Palm Beach with bodies recovered when the previous dike collapsed. You can learn more about that using this link.

Am reminded of a quote by Michael Busha, the former Executive Dir. of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, who summed up the ideal way to solve vexing problems:

“Get everyone in the same room and not leave until you have a solution.”

Why? Because if this debate doesn’t settle down, and very soon, this is what will happen. Again.

Peter Schorsch at the Florida Politics blog originally broke this story in February 2016; here are some excerpts:

For those of you paying attention, however, they [radical environmentalists] have no doubt been aware of the release of excess water [east and west] from Lake Okeechobee, a result of historically high El Niño rainfall in South Florida.
     Unsurprisingly, environmentalists have been vocal in opposition. But this time, the rhetoric may be getting out of hand.

and. . .

     In one email, an activist named ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ goes beyond the pale.
     ■■■■■■■■■, in an especially nasty rant, wishes death via a disastrous Herbert Hoover Dike failure, resulting in the death of thousands of South Floridians. Such a catastrophe would “fix everything,” [emphasis added] noting the human toll would be “inconceivable.”
     But the benefits to the environment would be “immeasurable,” he concludes, drawing a line in the sand. “Question is … Which side are you on? Human or nature?”

Lastly, Mr. Schorsch has this observation. . .

     It may seem passe to say so, but wishing death on opponents is not the most efficient way of winning hearts and minds.
     When forced to choose between living with humans or going down with Mother Nature, I may be selfish, but I’ll side with humans.


Understandably, there is a lot of frustration about Lake Okeechobee, “Send It South!”, water storage and water releases, but there needs to be some perspective as well.

In the article cited above by Peter Schorsch is a reference to Godwin’s Law: What happens when the debate gets completely out of control and the likelihood “of inappropriate hyperbolic comparisons” increases exponentially and all reason and reasonable debate on the issues is lost.

Good advice.