Amid some pretty stiff competition news-wise this week, these two linked stories were particularly infuriating mostly because the matter received relatively little attention, in comparison to coverage of the protest itself. But such is the towering hypocrisy of these times. The establishment national news media continues to conduct itself in the manner that, sadly, we have come to expect of them. Mostly, they cover stories like this with a pillow, until they stop moving.
But the sheer gall of a protest encampment called to protest potential-possible- maybe environmental damage caused by construction of a pipeline … which then actually does damage to the local environment by the sheer quantity of stuff abandoned over the past six months, and the possibility of seepage of human waste into the nearby river. Well, really one might have very good reason for doubting the sincerity of those protesters with regard to protecting the environment in the first place.
Mountains of garbage, untreated human waste, camping gear, supplies and even abandoned automobiles were left behind; actions which just scream respect for a pristine natural landscape, the careful husbanding of scarce resources, and personal responsibility. Both linked stories note that a few of the remaining protest participants are helping with the cleanup which reflects well on those few hut honestly, whatever happened to the concept of leaving a place cleaner than you found it by your own efforts? The Tea Partiers were famed for leaving their venues cleaned up and ship-shape, just as the Occupy-Whatever protesters were not: anyone venture as to why that would be? Discuss, if you can bear it.
I was in Bismarck, ND for a week during the height of the protests. The local citizens were furious at the indulgence of the Federal government to these protests and the costs they had to incur. People I were working with had to have security at their homes because of the anarchy. When I returned home to New England one of my neighbors (pretty conservative guy) wryly noted that several women from his liberal Episcopalian church were heading out to join the protests! The prospect of serving the new green god and the oppressed Indians was too much to resist. It was a textbook example of how the non-coastal, non-urban states feel like pawns of the elites in Washington.
Just reading about it all, DJG – it’s infuriating. They left such a horrific mess – I mean, junked cars? What the Hell? So much for organization. Really. All of Soros’s money into this thing, and no one thought to hire portapotties, set up trash collection. No wonder the local Tribal council is PO’ed.
“All of Soros’s money into this thing, and no one thought to hire portapotties, set up trash collection. No wonder the local Tribal council is PO’ed.”
Why are not the affected parties suing the protesting organizations? There’s a new sheriff in “town”.
Congress or the N Dakota State legislature need to open an investigation of George Soros and his financing of groups like this and/or make the DOJ or the ND state attorney file charges against him. I think even a cursory investigation would uncover enough evidence to charge Soros with sedition.
Bah. California State Senator Kevin De Leon — Mister Ghost Gun Himself — has just frankly admitted for the public record that half his family is in the country illegally and uses forged documents to get away with it. It is a dead certainty that they are all registered to vote, and that they vote Democrat. He set my privacy and my property and my 2nd Amendment birth rights at naught, then he blotted out my vote.
The son of a bitch has disenfranchised me twice over. Publicly. Under color of law. He has gotten away with it. He CONTINUES to get away with it.
Now ask me how indignant I am about a bunch of goddam Occupy Wall Street types leaving a bunch of litter on an Indian reservation that invited them there in the first place, the better to manufacture a big fuss to cajole the white man’s gubbermint out of more money. (Which is all that’s going on here, lest we forget).
Go ahead, Mom. Ask me.
It’s more than just a bunch of OWS layabouts, Phil. I found this comment at Legal Insurrection, which has an interesting supposition for how this thing was funded and for what purpose.
Celia, this sentence struck me.
(bad move, that only works in California, which Trump conceded from the start)
Nixon lost in 1960, at least in part (in addition to vote fraud in Texas and Illinois), because he had pledged to “campaign in all 50 states.”
Late in the campaign, when air travel was not as fast, he flew to campaign in California because of his pledge and because it was his home state.
It was a useless gesture, even then, but it is often speculated that his time would have been far better spent in other closer states.
Part of the little known history of presidential races but Trump figured it out or maybe knew the story. I wonder if Trump knew Nixon ?
California is an electoral lost cause for freedom and the Constitution. The way they have it set up, for many offices no one but Democrats are on the ballot. Writing it off would not be in itself a bad thing. Now, if we could get them to secede as they are threatening, and have counties decide if they want to join the secession, it would leave a hostile foreign strip of coastal cities; starving, with no power, no water, no money, and full of illegal invaders. A consumation devoutly to be wished, although it means extending a fortified border. But the fortified border would be well worth the expense.
I saw something today, that may be on point. California claims the right to nullify any Federal laws it does not like, while forcing other states to obey any laws it likes.
President Trump has promised to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure. California has just submitted a list of requests for funds somewhat north of $100 Billion for California infrastructure. Now even pretending that most of it will not be diverted to the pockets of Democrat cronies; what conceivable reason would there by to send ANY of the money to a state that exempts itself from American law and is a one party dictatorship? Just as you can say that there is no reason to campaign there, there is no reason to expend Federal funds there unless it benefits the country and not California.
Awaiting the high pitched screaming from the Leftists at that idea.
Who’s going to lose money when this pipeline starts flkowing? BNSF. Who owns it?
To Mrs Davis’ point,
There’s a freight line near the neighborhood I live in. Trains with tanker cars full of oil run through every day. The fracking boom has increased traffic exponentially. Infrastructure hasn’t kept up. Four years ago a bridge over our main thoroughfare collapsed. The train derailed and tragically crushed an elderly couple. It took months to clean up and years to rebuild the bridge.
Even after that, they want to expand and lay down more tracks.
There are two railroad tracks through our town. The freight line and the main line, which is shared by Amtrak, the commuter Metra line, and freight trains. The excuse for expanding the freight line is that the Amtrak service (which runs to Milwaukee) has so much demand that it needs to push freight off the main line.
I’ve talked to people who ride to Milwaukee and they say the Amtrak is always empty. The excuse is totally bogus BS.
While these Letist loons in North Dakota are protesting pipelines that have been proven safe over decades of use, the oil is being shipped on rail. Rail which has killed people and will kill again and again.
We’re hopeful we can block the expansion, but the process is determined by a multi-state commission of unaccountable bureaucrats. We, on the other hand, are a middle class community that doesn’t have the benefit of support from media darlings or billionaire activists like the so-called pipeline Environmentalists, who bureaucrats seem to love (for obvious reasons).
What we do have is Trump. Whatever other faults he may have, if he builds these pipelines he will save our town.
The Dems in CA have done an amazingly impressive job of turning it into a one-party state in the past decade. The GOP basically can’t even get on the ballot in the major races anymore. One would have to be naive to think this isn’t tied in to the left’s push to abolish the electoral college–even after the state was lost at the presidential level, there was still reason for conservatives to vote for other offices, but now with that gone, there’s really no reason to even show up, even those who are loyal enough not to have fled the state by now.
The main thing the GOP can do with CA now is to use it as an illustrative case for how the left is a complete failure on its own terms–the state’s major cities have by far the largest income inequality gaps in the country. Also, to use the state’s problems to drive a wedge between the major demographic groups that the Dems rely on. (Recall that Kamala Harris barely won her first statewide office despite running in a year where the Dems won every other race in a landslide. One doesn’t have to be a genius to know why–at this point the state’s primary racial tensions are not white/non-white.) If Trump can get his share of the black vote up to 20%, which I think he could do with enough effort, the Dems will be obliterated.
If Trump can get his share of the black vote up to 20%, which I think he could do with enough effort, the Dems will be obliterated.
That is a big part of the furious opposition to DeVos at Ed. If what she wants to do works, it will be twilight for the top-bottom coalition that the Dems depend on.
Meet the Press was interesting this morning in a way they seem not to get.
Chuck Todd was talking about Trump and Nordstroms.
He showed a graphic that counties that voted for Hillary are twice as likely to shop at Nordstroms. Counties that voted Trump are much less likely to be big Nordstroms shoppers.
He and the others completely missed the implication for the Top-Bottom coalition. Nordstrom shoppers, just like Whole Foods shoppers, are a big part of the “Top” for the Democrats.
There are not enough of them without the “Bottom.”
Heck, Mike K – there isn’t even a Nordys where I live. (Quickly consulting a search engine for locations) Oh, yes there is. Color me surprised. It’s been years since I hit a big retail vendor for clothes that I didn’t make myself. So – the Nordstrom management is kissing off a large number of flyover country top-tier shoppers in a transparent attempt to curry the favor of top-tier shoppers in the Clinton/Dem Archipelago. Sounds like a sensible plan … not.
And yes – if DeVos can do something to fix schools in bottom-tier communities, won’t that put a lovely big spanner in the works of the Dem top/bottom coalition.
Some quote from a classic science fiction movie comes to mind – something about ‘the more the grip tightens, the more systems slip out of your control.’