A couple of weeks ago, Democratic Majority Leader Tom Daschle caused unprecedented furor on both sides of the political aisle by daring to criticize President Bush while he was on a trip to Europe. This is something that just is not done in a civilized democracy. When the leader of the free world is travelling abroad, the country should unite behind him. When our leaders criticize the President while he is meeting with other heads of state, it makes both him and the country look bad. For Daschle, a Socialist, the normal rules of Right and Wrong do not necessarily apply .. but you would think that this man would have a shred of common decency. Apparently not.

Seattle has now made itself guilty of the same crime. When the President makes a global policy decision, the country should unite behind him. With its insolent rhetoric, Seattle has turned itself into the Tom Daschle of American cities. Mayor Schell has vowed to defy the Bush administration by using energy conservation, windmills, and recycling programs to reduce pollution. He has even threatened to plant trees!

All of this comes despite the fact that President Bush has very clearly explained that implementation of this flawed treaty will devastate the United States' economy, and will likely throw the nation into a decades-long depression. It comes despite the fact that Third World nations should not have the authority to dictate public policy to the United States of America. And it comes despite the fact that the type of socialist regulations that this treaty requires will not be tolerated in this country.

It takes a special kind of courage to stand up to "eco-friendly" politics, the One World Government propaganda of global warming extremists. President George W. Bush has repeatedly demonstrated that he has this courage; with its actions of this week, the city of Seattle demonstrates that it has none to be found. The policies of the Greenie Left would be disastrous for this nation's prosperity. For proof of this, all you have to do is look at the burning trash barrels and block-long bread lines that are a common sight in many mid-sized European cities.

So how long will it take Seattle and the Pacific Northwest to "conserve" itself into economic ruin? Your guess is as good as mine. Experts at the Cato Institute estimate that if the aggressive policies announced this week are implemented, the region's economy will be in shambles within two years. Now, you might be thinking to yourself: "If these people want to bring this destruction down upon themselves, why not let them so that they can see how wrong they are?"

I am sympathetic to this point of view from a philosophical standpoint, but there are several practical problems with it. Most notable is the fact that localized economic devastation does not stay localized for very long. If Seattle greens itself into oblivion, the effects will be felt in every last nook and cranny of this great nation; from the fruited plain to the purple mountains' majesty, from sea to shining sea. The economy is a complex and byzantine creature; the economic well-being of the Northwest is but a cog in the complex machinery that keeps all of our families fed and sheltered. We cannot allow this delicate balance to be upset by irresponsible leftivistism.

If Seattle makes good on its threat to go ahead with this plan, I believe that the Bush administration should act. In particular, I believe that the National Guard and Army Reserve could be activated to accomplish the following goals:

• Servicemen should be equipped with axes and chainsaws that could be used to deal with suspicious trees that serve no apparent purpose. These would likely be leftist trees that are intended to implement the Kyoto Protocol.

• If citizens are using draconian environmentalist procedures to "conserve" energy, put a stop to it. Seattle citizens, though "mandatory usage guidelines", could be encouraged to turn on every light in their house, and run their air conditioners to maintain a constant indoor temperature of 65 degrees. Force people to crank their refrigerators to the absolute coldest setting. If you think this sounds ridiculous, consider this: how many jobs in the energy industry will be lost because of the proposed conservation? And if people are forced to consume large amounts of energy, won't those jobs be preserved? Energy workers are people just like you and me. They have families. They need to eat. They go to church. In short, they deserve to be treated like human beings.

• Coffee houses, such as "Starbucks", could be forced to run their latte machines at full speed. Most of these machines are (routinely) run at 40% of their rated speed; they would consume far more energy if they were pushed to their full potential and redlined. This would be a significant amount of energy; if you've ever been to Seattle, you know that you're never a stone's throw away from a Starbucks.

• The government could offer energy-intensive light therapy to all Seattle citizens. This would serve a dual purpose; not only would it consume large amounts of energy, it would also placate legions of frappucino-guzzling Seattle residents, the vast majority of which are borderline suicidal. In fact, it is common in the winter months to long lines of Seattle residents waiting to jump off of bridges. From a taxpayer perspective, suicide is expensive; the investigative costs place a burden on police department budgets and raise property taxes on non-suicidal citizens. So this is really a win-win-win scenario.

The point is that there are plenty of ways that the federal government could block Seattle's implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. If you think that the Feds would be overstepping their bounds to do this, think again; the United States Constitution clearly states that only the Senate has the power to ratify treaties. Seattle is trying to ratify a treaty based on its own authority, which is arguably an act of treason against the Union. I remind you:

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

One must conclude, then, that if Seattle enters into the Kyoto Protocol in direct violation of President Bush's edict, the federal government will be more than justified to use any means necessary -- including military -- to stop them. If you think that there is no precedent for this, then you aren't thinking very hard; you might recall a little incident in our nation's history in the year 1865. In 1865, we were fighting for our nation's unity. Today, we are fighting for the planet. For if the United States' economy goes in the tank, the entire world that depends on it will go in the tank, and billions of people will die. Clearly, Seattle's blatant disregard for President Bush's decision is the first step down a long road that leads, ultimately, to the annihiliation of all human life on the planet.

President Bush has the courage to stand up to all of the scaremongering and myths that are coming from the environmental left. He has demonstrated his fortitude by telling the truth about the Kyoto Protocol. Seattle, on the other hand, has demonstrated that it is nothing more than a collection of 560,000 cowards, yellow-bellied slaves of the Politically Correct mafia. So be it. If Seattle feels compelled to commit high crimes against the United States of America, then America will be compelled to fight back.