Keystone: Obama’s Re-Election Gambit Endangers America

Democracy and Power 107:  Counting votes

Successful … politicians are insecure and intimidated men. They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies. – Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), American Journalist and Author

In a democracy, the politician must favorably influence the majority of their voting constituents.  In all political decisions, the politician calculates how many votes are gained by voting-money spent on interest groups versus how many votes are lost.

Keystone:  Obama’s Re-Election Gambit Endangers America

By rejecting the pipeline, President Obama pandered to the environmentalists over dependable energy and America’s workers.  Every politician calculates how many votes are gained and lost on a political decision.  Obama counted and chose the environmentalists.  The reason is obvious, the greens are zealous and passionate activists, and their support is crucial for the president in 2012.

Robert Samuelson in Real Clear Politics called this decision an act of national insanity: 

President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is an act of national insanity.  …  All it tells us is that Obama is so obsessed with his re-election that, through some sort of political calculus, he believes that placating his environmental supporters will improve his chances.

How insane is Obama’s decision?  It does not help the green agenda.  Canada will still develop oil.  Worse, Canada most likely will build a pipeline to the Pacific Coast and ship the fuel to China.  Besides the potential for sea disasters, China will certainly pollute the atmosphere more than the EPA controlled United States. 

What is the impact on the American economy?  Reasonable estimates are 10,000 high-paying construction jobs are lost over the next two years.  These are shovel-ready jobs that Obama has long-been promising.   Again, Samuelson:

And Keystone XL is precisely the sort of infrastructure project that Obama claims to favor.

Insanely, because of this sinister political decision, America remains dependent on foreign oil controlled by many nations and people that want to destroy us.  American and Canadian energy supplies are enormous and if utilized can drastically reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  Again, Samuelson:

The more oil we produce domestically and import from neighbors, the more we’re insulated from dramatic interruptions of global supplies. After the United States, Canada is the most dependable source of oil — or was until Obama’s decision.

Clearly, President Obama made this decision in his personal interest at the expense America.  One more time Samuelson: 

 It isn’t often that a president makes a decision that has no redeeming virtues…

Obviously, the great political observer and writer Walter Lippmann never knew President Obama.   However, Lippmann identified Obama’s character, which is that of a run-of-the mill politician.  They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies.