Green team pushing for dumb deal
The unlikely duo of Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York unleashed their Green New Deal on Thursday, and it was a fantastical, wild ride through absurdity. “Today is about the vision that we’re putting forward,” declared Ocasio-Cortez.
And off she went, with a rolling, melodic rhythm — the ringmaster of a journey on which she was taking the gathered throng. “Today is a big day for workers in Appalachia,” she declared. Then we were off to “living rooms being flooded in with the waves of rising sea levels.”
Next, the spotlight shone on the “economy, the labor movement, the social justice movement, indigenous peoples and people all over the United States of America.”
It was a progressive rendition of the Beatles’ “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” featuring a steady cavalcade of socialist flourishes, progressive buzzwords and postmodernist sloganeering. At one point you half-expected Markey to lurch over to the mic and bellow out the refrain, “And of course Henry the Horse dances the waltz!”
As Ocasio-Cortez lightly described her initiative to move the United States to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, she made rhetorical stops at the progressive hot-button issues of the day. “There is no fixing our economy without addressing the racial wealth gap,” she said, with Jim McGovern and Ayanna Pressley standing in the wings. “There is no justice and there is no combating climate change without addressing what has happened to indigenous communities.”
The actual substance of the proposed “Green New Deal” is rich in spirit but anemic when it comes to cogent solutions.
The fact sheet Ocasio-Cortez released reads like it was authored in a Harvard Square coffeehouse by students who spend their trust fund allowance at the Garment District to dress like Leon Trotsky.
“This is a massive transformation of our society with clear goals and a timeline,” the fact sheet reads. “The Green New Deal resolution a 10-year plan to mobilize every aspect of American society at a scale not seen since World War 2 to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and create economic prosperity for all. It will: Move America to 100% clean and renewable energy. Create millions of family supporting-wage, union jobs.”
“We need to save ourselves and we need to save the rest of the world with us,” Ocasio-Cortez declared from the Capitol steps. Educated congressmen of advanced age nodded in agreement at her every flourish. There is no doubt that if she broke out into her viral roof dance they would have joined right in, clunky and awkward and shameless.
When a reporter asked AOC if she was offended that Speaker Nancy Pelosi had referred to the proposal as a “green dream,” Cortez gushed, “No, I think it is a green dream.”
Obviously the Green New Deal is an absurd proposal. It may be the most ridiculous, unserious and flimsy initiative ever deliberated in the light of day by professional adults. With the exception of the mention of a carbon tax, it is entirely unrealistic and unfeasible.
AOC is a delight. She is positive, full of self-esteem and has a million-dollar smile. Good for the Bronx.
It would be nice to see the members of our delegation in attendance at the spectacle focusing on what was good for their constituents.