Ryan Lizza’s New Yorker Article Reveals Details about the Death of the Energy Bill in the Senate ─ an Exercise in Dysfunctional Government and Failed Presidential Leadership

© 2010 Peter Free

 

11 October 2010

 

When the severity of a problem has not yet chewed our carotid artery ─ “we ain’t gonna do nothin’”

 

The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza exposed details of failed climate deal-making in our single most worthless governmental institution, the U.S. Senate.

 

The piece is long, but worth reading for people interested in the causes of American governmental dysfunction.

 

An array of culprits, some of them us

 

In reading Lizza’s article, notice the destructive role that vehemently ignorant citizens played in creating the mess ─ particularly as they affected Senator Lindsey Graham (R, South Carolina) who was trying to do something in the national interest.

 

Notice, too, the abominable role that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, Nevada) had in torpedoing the efforts that Senators John Kerry (D, Massachusetts), Joe Lieberman (I, Connecticut), and Graham were making to get agreement on an energy bill.

 

And give President Obama his significant share of blame.  A leader the President is proving himself not to be.  At least in regard to attempting to fix the nation’s most pressing problems in constructive, rather than camouflaging, ways.

 

I won’t bother to add Plutocracy’s successful efforts to sabotage meaningful legislative progress.  We can take those for granted with each turn of the screw.

 

Citation

 

Ryan Lizza, As the World Burns, New Yorker (11 October 2010)

 

Alternatively, read a much shorter overview of Lizza’s essay by Thomas Friedman

 

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman did a masterful job of summarizing the meanings of Ryan Lizza’s excellent expose.

 

Friedman’s essay is short and hard-hitting.

 

It is recommended reading for people concerned about our country’s future.

 

Citation

 

Thomas L. Friedman, An X-Ray of Dysfunction, New York Times (09 October 2010)