Some people have reacted very strongly to the Democratic presidential debates from earlier this week. There were some iconic moments, with probably the biggest one being when Kamala Harris essentially put Joe Biden to shame. It was apparently so bad, that I saw one guy post something on Facebook where Kamala Harris was forcing Biden to refer to himself as Reek (I am assuming someone will get that Game of Thrones reference).
In any case, one thing that has been largely absent among the Democratic nominees heading into these debates was any serious discussion in climate change. And once again, we have to ask ourselves why that is, and how this could be. After all, it is yet one more in a long list of things that Republicans seem to control the debate over, and the Republican stance, predictably after several decades, is simply to deny that it exists or is a pressing problem that we need to address.
This feels like another predictable concession to just how far the Republican extremists have managed to push the debate in this country. While the whole rest of the world - literally, every country but the United States - has officially acknowledged that climate change is a serious problem that needs to be addressed - we here in the United States have elected a leader who is on record as saying that he believes it is a hoax invented by the Chinese to hurt the American economy. You literally have to believe in wild conspiracy theories to believe that so many countries in the world are dishing out for expensive clean energy solutions, and that scientists are all in on this hoax, all just to hurt the American economy. Oh, and the climate change projections also happen to be going exactly as scientists predicted. That is a mighty huge job of ignoring basic facts, but the Republicans, and their brainwashed masses, seem to be completely and unquestioningly convinced. It's quite pathetic, frankly.
No wonder the Republican party is the only major political party in the entire world that denies the existence of climate change. Yet, they dictate the conversation far too often, and that is how we now have a President who pulled us out of the Paris Climate Accord on the basis that we do not believe in science. We stand with the dubious distinction as the only nation in the world not to be a part of this accord on the basis that we reject science.
Of course, this would not be able to happen without the complicit approval of the Democrats, who remain hesitant to go too far with any action or professed belief that climate change is as real as scientists and the rest of the world is warning, lest they be labeled extremists by some prospective political opponents, and especially by potential campaign donors.
Truly pathetic, sad days in this country.
Here is the link to an article that got me onto this topic in the first place, about the not all that mysterious absence of climate change as a major topic among the establishment Democratic candidates, who constitute a clear majority, and who only pay lip service and have token climate change platforms for what should be a much, much more pressing and urgent issues from all candidates, Democratic and Republican alike:
Florida Is Burning. The Midwest Is Flooding. Why Aren't Democrats Debating Climate? Miami hit its highest temperature ever recorded in the same week Democrats arrived for the first presidential debate. This isn't rocket science. byKarthik Ganapathy, June 25, 2019:
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/25/florida-burning-midwest-flooding-why-arent-democrats-debating-climate?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2UQ1nqUIhEMclUZYpMa0FEetbzbSwX5pRiedtsvouQ3GnH1SKkAXVJvrE
To me it's glaringly obvious why they prefer to pay lip service to this issue rather than address it in any meaningful way: they don't fucking care. I see no reason to mince words or sugarcoat matters with euphemistic speech. They don't fucking care. It's that simple. Like you, I've never been, nor will I ever be, a supporter of the Republican Party. However, I'm more than a little tired of Democrats and their tepid, disingenuous, half-assed "resistance" to the so-called Republican agenda regarding everything from the environment and corporate welfare to skyrocketing health care costs and bullshit wars, including but not limited to the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. (I say "so-called" because both parties are complicit. To suggest otherwise would be to suggest that Democrats by and large have radically different motives for running for public office than do Republicans, and that they've been valiantly, heroically "fighting the good fight". They haven't.) I once read a French press article – I unfortunately don't recall its title nor the name of its author – in which that person essentially argued that there isn't a true left in this country. Sure, there are a few left-leaning members of Congress, in addition to some left-leaning governors, mayors, etc. But they're not a powerful, cohesive, vital force with the wherewithal to reverse the trajectory this country's been on for the last forty or so years. Democrats by and large are centrists, and just like Republicans have a clear vested interest in maintaining the status quo. It never ceases to amaze me how so many people who should know better somehow expect them to rise above the shameless venality often associated with Republicans. How many more decades of empirical evidence to the contrary are they going to need before they accept that's simply not going to happen? I was pissed off but not particularly taken aback the other day when AOC had the audacity to suggest that members of Congress should receive an increase in pay. I mean, Congress is widely despised by Republican and Democratic voters alike (and rightfully so), the working and middle classes in this country continue to be given the shaft (with nary an end in sight), and she's been there for five fucking minutes. George Carlin, towards the end of his life, talked about having reached the point of "emotional detachment" – of emotionally divorcing himself from the shit show. He likened himself to a bemused spectator observing and describing it all with a certain morbid fascination, no longer rooting for a particular outcome. It's something of a paradox for me – on the one hand, all of these things anger and sadden me, yet on the other I feel myself steadily lapsing into a Carlin-esque resignation of my own.
ReplyDeleteI had not heard that about AOC, but that is disappointing, yes. I like Bernie Sanders and, for the most part, Elizabeth Warren. But like you said, real resistance from Democrats has been more of a myth than a reality, and truly progressive-minded people are automatically dismissed as "extremist" or "fringe" candidates or figures. I agree with what I believe it was Jello said, that there is the blatantly pro-corporate supremacy party, and the slightly less enthusiastic pro-corporate supremacy party. They make a big show of their differences but, in fact, agree with one another too much. The Republicans are beginning to remind me of South Africa's ruling National Party during the days of apartheid, and the Democrats remind me a bit of the old Union Party that were the official opposition party, but actually merely wanted to make apartheid a bit more politically correct, if you will, and to blunt the rough edges, rather than scrap it all together. It is not all that surprising, in fact, that what was the Union Party became the party that is usually criticized for wanting to maintain white privilege in post-apartheid South Africa. That feels like the Democrats to me these days.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Which is why it's so pathetic when Republicans attempt to dismiss Democrats as Communists, or even Socialists. By and large, they're a far cry from that to say the least, because Jello - assuming that was him - was right on the money.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not Jello said it, I am pretty sure that Jello would agree. And increasingly, more people are realizing this. Just not enough yet that it makes a big difference come election day, year after year.
Delete