In some good news (at least for those who cheer for the underdog), the protesters at Standing Rock appear to have won a victory. From CNN:
Celebrations, tears of joy, chanting and drumming rang out among thousands of protesters at the Standing Rock site after the Army Corp of Engineers announced it will look for an alternate route for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota.
For months, members of the Sioux tribe and their supporters have camped out, fighting the pipeline they say could be hazardous and damage the water supply of their reservation nearby.
“People have said that this is a make it or a break it, and I guess we made it,” Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe, announced to a cheering crowd of protesters.
Tribal leaders worry the decision to change direction may not be permanent, especially with the incoming Trump administration.
Grassroots activists, who have turned the protest site into a mini-city, prepared to withstand freezing temperatures during what was expected to be an even lengthier standoff, were cautious about the scope and durability of their victory.
“I’m really happy that I’m here to witness it and celebrate with a lot of my elders and the youth, but I think that we also need to keep in mind that we need to be ready to keep going,” said protester Morning Star Angeline Chippewa-Freeland.
“We are asking our supporters to keep up the pressure, because while President Obama has granted us a victory today, that victory isn’t guaranteed in the next administration,” Dallas Goldtooth, lead organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network, said in a statement. “More threats are likely in the year to come, and we cannot stop until this pipeline is completely and utterly defeated, and our water and climate are safe.”
Since the success of business is paramount in Trump’s mind, while justice has absolutely no place, the Indians are wise to be cautious. I see the GOP continues to throw mud and ignore justice, as CNN reports on the reaction of North Dakota’s Representative Kevin Cramer (R):
“I hoped even a lawless President wouldn’t continue to ignore the rule of law. However, it was becoming increasingly clear he was punting this issue down the road,” Cramer wrote in a statement. “Today’s unfortunate decision sends a very chilling signal to others who want to build infrastructure in this country.”
He ignores the probability that this sort of pipeline is not the future of this country, but the past. Will Trump do the same? Probably. The partisan politics exhibited by the GOP over the last eight years makes it impossible for a serious independent voter to take seriously anything a Republican says, especially clothed in extremist rhetoric such as this.
Representative Cramer should be ashamed and embarrassed; to the extent that he’s not, it’s a measurement of just how little he and his allies understand of the political world.
