dropdeadpolitics

Barack Obama announced that he will lift the drilling ban on coastal regions in the Gulf and off the coast of Virginia.  I know this will upset environmentalists and rightly so.  But the measure will include other things such as a clamp down on drilling in sensitive areas in Alaska, fuel standards for trucks and cars, and the purchase of hybrid vehicles for federal fleet.  Barack Obama has proven he can compromise, but the question is will those on the left accept it?

I know what liberals are thinking.  They’re thinking we had eight years (but it was really only six) of Republican rule in Congress and the White House.  They forced their stuff on us, tax cuts, wars, Patriot Acts, and now it’s our turn.  While that may sound fair, it’s far from mature.  And the reality is, liberals voted for some of those things that were allegedly all Republican ideas.  Apparently both sides enjoy shoving things down throats, which raises a number of awkward questions that are beyond the scope of this discussion.   As liberals, we like to think that we are the champions of the environment but that’s a bit of a myth.  There are many conservatives who do quite a bit for the environment.  Some, such as Teddy Roosevelt, have been thrown out of the conservative camp as a result of it by talking heads like Hannity and others, but the reality is conservatives have their fair share of environmentalists.  Even George W. Bush, Mr. Oil himself, has many green technologies at his Crawford Ranch.  The house has solar panels, geothermal pumps, and the recycling of water from the house to use for irrigating the landscaping around the home.  How many of us liberals have homes like that?  Not that many.   You could argue we don’t have his money, but if the cause is so important to us wouldn’t we find the resources to do what we could?  My point simply is that those of us on the left aren’t the only ones worried about and taking action to help the environment.

As for compromise, Obama has a history of it.  He did it back in the Illinois state legislature and was praised for it by republicans there.  Anyone voting for the man with the expectation that he would be a crushing conqueror of right wing policy simply didn’t know enough about whom they were voting for.  The health care bill is a prime example of a compromise.  You know how I know?  Because no one’s happy with it.  Those on the right didn’t get what they wanted in reform and those on the left didn’t either.  They each got pieces of it, but not all they wanted.  And so they will whine about that, but the truth is, that’s compromise.  And this proposal is reeking of compromise as well, both on energy policy but also as a bit of a peace offering over health care.  Liberals may question angrily why Obama would do this, but we must remember that not every American is a liberal and liberals alone didn’t vote Obama into office.  He cannot cater his policy specifically to us and get re-elected.  The alternative to Obama in 2012 isn’t promising for liberals anyway.  The president is an office that was supposed to be above the partisan bickering by design.  We’ve since altered that design under the guise of democracy, but the truth is Obama is playing the executive role that all good presidents realize they must do.  They must compromise.  There is no such thing as a mandate that lets them steamroll their agenda over opposition.

The 2010 elections are racing towards us and the Democrats are worried.  But the truth is, the Republicans aren’t really on solid footing either.  Their reputation still hasn’t recovered from 2006 and while Karl Rove is predicting victory, he also predicted victory in 2006.  The Republican strategy is to oppose him at every turn and force his agenda to crash and burn.  Well they lost on health care, they lost on the jobs bill, and to make matters worse, Obama is now stealing their thunder on energy independence.  He’s not the stubborn ideologue they were hoping.  You can’t blame Republicans for assuming he was, after all so many of them are these days.  Obama’s compromise may anger some of us on the left, but it’s necessary to keep the right from forcing their agenda…uh…down our throats?