So, I've been wanting to write on this for the last few days but have had problems finding the words to use and organizing my thoughts properly so apologies if this comes off as a bit of a disorganized mess.
As some of you know, there's an oil pipeline some want to build through native American land in North Dakota. And obviously, the native Americans are protesting it because it threatens their land. Of course, the federal government has largely been ignoring these protests and work is going on to build it anyway. Since then, many many cruel tactics have been used against protesters. Dogs have been sicked on them. Rubber bullets have been used, and now I'm hearing reports of water cannons being used to spray protesters in FREEZING temperatures. These are not typical tactics used to stop violent protesters from acting violently, many of them seem to be done with at least a hint of malice. Who really thinks having dogs attack protesters is a good idea? It seems like an obvious fear tactic to me. And spraying water in freezing temperatures? It's like they want to disperse the crowd and make them go home or get hypothermia. These are forceful tactics intended to break up these protests and stop them from happening. I can maybe give a free pass on rubber bullets, but the other stuff goes way too far.
This is wrong. Period. There is nothing else I can say about this. This is wrong, this is totally unacceptable for a nation like the United States. This is a clear case in which our obsessive energy needs and corporate greed are trumping peoples' human rights. And sadly, outside of the most expected figures to comment, the democratic party has largely been silent on the matter. Hillary Clinton gave a fairly whitewashed declaration on it when campaigning. Obama expressed interest in rerouting the pipeline but seems to be largely sitting it out like democrats do. Sanders has called for progress to be halted. Finally, Jill Stein went out and protested with the native Americans at Standing Rock and even has an arrest warrant to show for it.
The range of responses is astounding. Mainstream democrats, the people who act like they care about the privileged more so than everyone else, seem to be doing little to fix the issue. Yes, they expressed interest in change, but like typical democrats, they're dragging their feet and allowing these horrible human rights abuses to go on when they have the power to stop the whole thing right now. They talk of a responsibility for the protesters to remain peaceful and a responsibility for the police to show some level of restraint, but given the tactics above, where's the restraint? These statements, given what's going on, seem empty to me. Sanders is a bit firmer on the matter, and Stein went out and actually joined the protesters and sprayed graffiti on the equipment used to build it, earning her an arrest warrant. See the difference between the mainstream democrats and the actual left?
Honestly, I know I'm getting a bit sanctimonious against the democratic establishment again, but for all their talk of caring for the underprivileged, it looks to me like they talk the talk but aren't walking the walk. Honestly, they should reroute the pipeline in a way to do the least harm to the least amount of people, or better yet question if we need this at all since we clearly have done fine without it until now.
This needs to stop, now. There needs to be a halt to construction until a deal is made, and they need to ensure whatever path is taken is done so in a utilitarian fashion. Just building a pipeline through native American land because everyone else has a NIMBY attitude seems to be the utmost example of privilege, and in this case, the democrats simply aren't following through on their promises to protect the underprivileged.
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