Why Do Roadblock Republicans Hate the Planet?

[ralbertson]

(I asked this yesterday over here, but you know what? I'm still just as totally pooyied about it today as I was yesterday. What the hell is *wrong* with those people, anyway??)


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It really makes you wonder sometimes.

As the Washington Post put it, in their inimitably witty style:

"Senate Democrats failed to muster enough votes this morning to close debate on the energy bill passed by the House yesterday... the Senate voted 53-42 to close debate, falling short of the 60 votes needed to permit a vote on passage."

Here's what that means, in less WaPo-wonky terms.

This morning's Senate score: Flat Earth Caucus 1, Green Earth Caucus 0.

And the Roadblock Republicans' filibuster countdown ticker went up one more click.

After years and years of being trapped in an ever-degrading environmental quagmire, it looked like the Good Guys were finally getting our country's energy policies back on the high road again. Literally.

And so the Grand Obstructionist Party's pachydermic pothole producers dutifully lined up in the middle of the high road this morning and shoved that energy bill right (and we do mean 'right') back into the ditch again.

What? Put the planet ahead of politics? Cut back on big oil profits to save a few little trees? Worst of all, let those pesky Democrats actually pass a bill that is sane, sound, and socially acceptable? Hell, no! That would just be all kinds of wrong!

Sure, this most recent energy bill wasn't perfect, but it was a darn sight better than anything that the anti-planet party people had let come to the floor for an up-down vote in a very long time.

Better fuel efficiency means less gas guzzling, which means cleaner air, greener fields, and less dependence on foreign oil. Pushing renewable energy source instead of dirty old carbon-fueled plants means new tech, which means new jobs.

And all of that is good for the planet, which is good for the country, which is good for people like you and me. It's even good for cute little kittens and cuddly little puppies, for heaven's sake.

So, naturally, the Roadblock Republicans have been against it every step of the way.

Why? Because they hate the planet almost as much as they hate the Democratic Party.

Sure, they try to say exactly the opposite when they're working the right-wing noise machines. But since when have the Roadblock Republicans ever let anything like a little inconvenient truth get in the way of a big heaping pile of bullspin, anyway?

Remember, these are the same people that brought you a so-called "Healthy Forests Initiative" designed to make the forests healthy by cutting down all those silly trees that keep getting in the way of progress.

These are the same people who brought you a so-called "Clear Skies Initiative" designed to clear the skies of flying critters and make a nice big ozone hole in the top of it to let more light leak in.

So hmm... with that kind of built-in double-speak "lies are truth" mentality making it sound as though everything they say was written for them by George, or, well, somebody like him...

...maybe hearing that the selfish, stubborn, hopelessly obstreperous Flat Earth Wing of the Roadblock Republican Party managed to filibuster yet another planet-friendly good move by the Good Guys into submission this morning really doesn't make you wonder all that much after all...


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