Ash writes: "There is a perception on the part of Congressional Democrats that acting like Republicans and bowing to corporate interests will somehow save seats. It won't do that, but it will quash voter enthusiasm for years to come."
March, 2013: Crude oil in a ditch in Mayflower, Arkansas, after an Exxon Mobil pipeline ruptured, forcing the evacuation of 22 homes. (photo: Jacob Slaton/Reuters)
14 November 14
he drama playing out in Louisiana and Washington DC speaks to the heart of government inaction on climate change. It’s everything you need to know about what happens when corporations own the political process.
In the balance are the Keystone XL Pipeline, Mary Landrieu’s Senate career, and although the mainstream press will not say it, the ecological wellbeing of North America and the planet.
Somehow, some Democrats have concluded that the best way to save Mary Landrieu’s Senate seat is to embrace the Keystone Pipeline. It’s a notion that is so mind-boggling on so many levels that the sheer enormity of the folly, in a perverse way, makes it difficult to grasp.
Among Democrats nationally, the Keystone Pipeline has little or no support. To sign off on the pipeline – for any reason – would essentially put the Democratic party in conflict with its base. But to sign off on the pipeline to save the seat of a Democratic senator who for all intents and purposes votes like a Republican Corporatist is to guarantee massive alienation of rank and file Democrats across the country.
There is a perception on the part of Congressional Democrats that acting like Republicans and bowing to corporate interests will somehow save seats. It won’t do that, but it will quash voter enthusiasm for years to come.
All of which misses the bigger point that Global Warming is quite real and quite serious. From the UN to the Pentagon, and every qualified scientist in between, the word is clear: ‘Immediate action on climate change necessary.’ Scientists call climate change catastrophic for the environment, economists call it a game-changing reality, and the Pentagon calls it an “immediate risk to national security.”
The notion that saving Senator Mary Landrieu’s Senate seat is somehow worth compromising the North American ecosystem, the American economy, and U.S. national security is fundamentally, categorically corrupt to its core. It illustrates how utterly out of touch the Democratic Party is with those who identify themselves as Democrats.
A Senate seat is an important thing for the Democrats to have at this juncture. But far more important for the party is an identity, a clearly defined sense of purpose. Not just for advertising purposes but for motivating millions to get on board.
As a U.S. senator, Mary Landrieu’s day is as done as the fossil fuels she is shilling to hold onto power. The Democratic Party can either follow her into oblivion or follow millions of rank and file Democrats to a politically vital future.
Sure, that could mean that the Democratic Party might be the opposition party for a while. It’s a noble calling, and one that will ultimately get voters to the polls and the party back in the majority.
Marc Ash is the founder and former Executive Director of Truthout, and is now founder and Editor of Reader Supported News.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
