OPINION:
Sen. Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrat, made national headlines for the response he gave after reading the socialist love fest called “Green New Deal” — a response that went like this: “What in the heck is this?”
But now others in his party may have to get off the sidelines and say whether they support or oppose this so-called “aspiration.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is reportedly poised to call for a vote.
Delicious theater, anyone?
Fact is, with the mocking eyes of the saner citizens upon them, this call to Democrats for accountability may not be all that comfortable.
“I’ve read it, and I’ve reread it,” Durbin said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” when asked his views of the proposal from Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “And I asked Ed Markey what in the — what in the heck is this? He says it is an aspiration, you know. It’s a resolution aspiration.”
Do tell. Please explain more. And therein lies the problem. It’s not really clear what an “aspiration” is in regards to this “Green New Deal,” and what kind of direction that means the proposal will take. Is it real? Is it fake? Is it the simple musings of stupidity, or something more meaningful in nature? Come on now, Democrats, inquiring minds want to know.
A handful of the harder-core of the party have signed on to the measure.
But many more have been staying silent.
Many others, paying attention to the public trend — to the mocking backlash that began after AOC brought forth this zero-emission, free-jobs-for-all idea — are having their Homer Simpson “d’oh” moment, waiting quietly in the wings while likely wishing this “Green New Deal” would all go away. Or at least take a different watered-down form.
Now comes McConnell to drag the Dems from their dark corners.
And the dragging should be interesting, at the least.
Will the silent types cast votes for their base — the environmental lobbyists, the well-funded greenies and Big Gov regulatory aficionados — or will they buck the delusional dreams of this AOC-driven debacle?
Smart money is on the escape hatch.
“What we’re going to do is ask the Republican leader, what’s your position on global warming? … Shouldn’t you come out on the record and tell us whether you believe that human activity is having an impact on our environment? Let’s get on the record on both sides,” Durbin said, The Hill reported.
In layman’s: The Democrats are going to try their best to duck and dodge.
And honestly, who can blame them.
Only wildest-eyed leftists would want to attach their names to this “Green New Deal.”
But the idea of McConnell trying to root out the wild-eyed with a recorded vote is the political laugh of the week. And in news cycles consumed by lying Andrew McCabe and hit jobs against President Donald Trump — fun and funny are simply delicious changes of political pace.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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