Harkin Talks About Keystone

I remember Tom Harkin form the 1992 race for the White House. He was a long shot, a real dark horse, to say the least.

Yet, for my first ever election when I actually was of voting age, he was my man.

Yes, if it had been up to me at the time, Bill Clinton would not have been elected President, and George H.W. Bush would not have won re-election, and Ross Perot likely would never have been heard from during that election. I believe that it was Paul Tsongas that Clinton managed to defeat for the Democratic nomination, but that would not have been the case, either.

If I had gotten what I wanted, then Tom Harkin would have been the Democratic nominee, and would have been elected to the Oval Office, as well.

When he talked, what he said resonated with me. I was, of course, a lot younger and more idealistic than I likely am now. Yet, he is one of those rare politicians that do not actually disgust me. In fact, there is nothing specifically that I can think of him saying or doing that really pissed me off - although now that I think of it, he must have voted for the invasion of Iraq more than a decade ago, which is no small thing).

Still, he was normally a stand up guy, especially for a politician.

Apparently, he is going out with those same virtues intact, as he is speaking out, and rather loudly, against the Keystone Pipeline.

He is urging  us to act in a more responsible way towards future generations, even if it comes at tremendous profit for businesses  today.

Hey! Imagine that!

Here is a bit of what he had to say on the subject. You can read a bit more about it from where I took these quotes from, with the link down below:

"Every dollar that we spend on fossil fuel development and use is another dollar we spent digging the graves of our grandchildren," the Iowa Democrat told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon.

"And I'm not going to be a part of it anymore. I'm through. That's just how strongly I feel."





Harkin On Keystone: Let's Stop 'Digging The Graves Of Our Grandchildren'  By Sahil Kapur of TPM Livewire, November 18, 2014:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/tom-harkin-keystone-digging-graves-grandchildren