NODAPL

I didn't want to get into it. Wanted to just give some support, some likes and shares on Facebook, but I wanted to keep my thoughts about it to myself. Congratulations, law enforcement and government officials in Standing Rock, you have well surpassed the line on acceptable behavior. You have finally, after all the crap being pulled on protesters, you have finally crossed the lowest line I have ever seen crossed in the US, that didn't result in fatalities. Oh and the media, you people, heh... Why are you in the media being so quiet?

I wanted to stay away from this, really I did. Not because I don't agree with the Standing Rock protesters, but because I honestly wanted to have hope. Hope that the powers that be would drop the Dakota Access Pipeline, like a radioactive potato. I had hoped that with the recent turn of events regarding other pipelines across this country that sanity would prevail, and this idea would be relegated to the history books. The people having won the battle to protect our mother Earth, a lesson that ardent protesting actually does work.

The situation in Standing Rock has deteriorated. I am not there, nor have I ever been there to assist in protesting this god awful idea. I was angered when a sacred site was pushed under to make way for this cluster f—k. I was inconsolable when security turned dogs loose on the protesters. Now we have duster plane flybys at two in the morning, we have protesters getting water hoses turned on them, and more people protesting because Clinton isn't the president elect, than people actually caring about the dangerous and the wrongs committed at Standing Rock.

Okay, lets put this out here. I detest oil pipelines. It not only puts people out of work, but they are very unsafe. FFS, we have one pipeline leaking gasoline into a river (PA), we have had several explode, and they all develop leaks, some “minor leaks” while others develop pretty bad leaks. Oh, and as they get older, the problems get worse. So, no go on the pipelines, too much damage. But here is the crux of this, its not about the dangers of oil pipelines. Its not about the men and women who will loose their jobs when this thing comes online. Its all the other things that are happening right now.

I was not kidding when I said there are more people protesting a failed presidential bid, than trying to stop a very bad idea from coming into reality. Said failed candidate did not come out in support of these protesters, self described as water protectors. They are protesting a very legitimate concern, what happens in the DAPL starts leaking, and it will start leaking. The ramifications are going to be bad for many in the tribe where this thing is going, but its going to be worse for everyone down stream.

Complicating matters is that once again, the US government has failed to honor a treaty with the Native Americans. This company destroyed a sacred site, while there was a court ordered injunction, and it was just a flavor of the moment to be pissed about it. We must protest the current president-elect. These individuals are trying to draw attention to the fact that if this pipeline goes tits up, its going to have negative consequences for everyone down stream. Our current administration has been woefully silent in addressing their concerns, well outside of saying that his administration was willing to let this play out, and looking into rerouting the pipeline. Clinton said a whole lot of nothing in her talking out of both sides of her mouth statement. Trump is also quiet about it. Stein went up there, got her fifteen minutes of fame by spray painting a dozer blade as a means to stand against this thing. Sanders came out behind the Water Protectors, and it was not a passing craze, like so many of my fellow peers. So, the answer to this problem is to, reroute the pipeline, which does nothing to address the concerns about future environmental damage, while making the typical, we'll address this promise statement.

Yet, here we stand, or sit in some cases. The mainstream media is ignoring this, hoping it will go away. Facebook is trying to keep the social media genie in the bottle, and few of the politicians even care. We have private security and police forces going fifty shades of 1960 civil rights protesters on the protesters, in the late fall turning water hoses on people in near freezing weather, while police get to live out their “Johnny Rambo” fantasies on protesters. They (the protesters) are being pepper sprayed, have had dogs turned on them, tear gas launched, as well as percussion grenades ,and in many instances people and horses have been shot with rubber bullets at close range. There are crop dusters and helicopters flying over head in the long hours of the morning, with rumors that the crop dusters are dropping payloads over the camps.

Next up, I'm sure that the police will disregard the rubber bullets, accidentally of course, and we will have some very dead protesters, but hey, by all means that isn't all that important, Clinton got robbed in the election, right? Most of America consists of racist, xenophobic, sexist a$$holes and their white privilege is showing right? That is what we should be protesting, not some sacred ground, or the fact that this pipeline is going to contaminate wells, and drinking water for millions of people. That as of today, right now, hundreds of people are having their right to protest, their first amendment rights striped from them, as they are being abused by law enforcement who is acting like a private military goon squad mercenaries. By all means, we must protest an a$$hole who legitimately won the election, while we ignore our brothers and sisters in Standing Rock. I mean f—k them right, its not like the majority of us will have to drink that poisoned water.