Robert Ariail for January 21, 2021

Pete Buttigieg had a hearing interview today and had to explain the loss of 11,000 union jobs on the mostly completed Keystone pipeline. The US Government has not put a penny into the project and it will cut the dependence of foreign crude oil. Killing it won’t reduce the gas consumed in the USA it will just shift the source to several unreliable vendors. So the Canadian crude will be exported west via the TransMountain and get exported. It will feed the US refineries in Washington State (which has some pretty high prices because of the need to import from offshore.) Killing Keystone won’t stop rail shipments, but Joe doesn’t mention that part. The pipeline is more efficient, less risky and an employer. Indigenous groups were to get a royalty, but given the track record of government in aboriginal treatment, the shortfall won’t be made up. So look forward to more substandard services.

Buy American is a great idea as long as it doesn’t involve buying aluminum, most of which comes from Canada, along with softwood lumber and energy.

Farewell, Mario the Plumber.

Sure is a lot to do, but judging by yesterday and today, Biden is making an impressive start in cleaning up Tiny’s messes, mistakes, and just plain sh*t.

Republican covid spreaders are responsible for 400,000 deaths in one year.

The color is sure right.

I see Arial’s point, though one of the really smart things Biden has done isn’t depicted here: He’s hired a LOT of people with experience in governing, and they’ve all already rolled up their sleeves and are pitching in.

I think he’s going to need a high-pressure steam nozzle for that.

I feel great! Biden’s been in charge for a whole day and I haven’t puked from the raw terror, even once.

‘’Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.’’

A lot can change in just two days, The Prayer Partners, Proud Boys and Q-Anon Crazies have turned against Trump saying he betrayed them with NO PARDONS. Biden has accomplished more for America in two days than Trump did in four years of golfing and watching FOX NEWS.

People will be praising Moscow Mitch for getting enough Republicans to vote for Trump’s impeachment . . ONLY because they don’t want him to be able to run for President again as a third party candidate and take away votes from their candidate. Otherwise Moscow Mitch and his fellow G.O.P. thugs have NO INTENTIONS of working across the aisle . . . EVER.

Watch for DAILY press briefings . . .that’s something unheard of in recent Fascist years.

Clean up on aisle 45.

First, you overstated the number of jobs by 10,000. The Keystone Pipeline would employ some 1000 construction workers for a limited time followed by roughly 100 maintenance and service personnel, not worth the potential environmental risk. Second, remember that the pipeline was originally designed to pass near Bismark, but the mostly, Euro-American residents fought it on the grounds that it might endanger THEIR drinking water so they rerouted the pipeline over Native Indian lands with sensitive watershed. However, the pipeline happened to also cross ranchers’ lands who had more political pull, so they all fought the pipeline together. Three: oil sands oil extraction is environmentally destructive to begin with. Four: oil prices are at an all-time low making oil sands extraction extremely unprofitable, so this whole exercise is moot. This was an idiotic boondoggle from the start.

He also needs to do something about that Copper Mine in the Apache burial grounds that Orange Twitler’s people authorized.

Its minus 45 and I don’t feel cold.

R A finally gets it!!!

You need to add Moscow mitch making more messes to clean up.

As a Canadian, I feel ambivalent about the Keystone pipeline. Too much dependence on oil as a revenue generator. BTW It is nice to see policy being debated instead of the madness of the last 4 years…..

The jobs are temporary ones. Maybe indigenous groups care more about the conservation of land and their well being than greed.

To paraphrase Roy Scheider in Jaws “We’re gonna need a bigger mop.”

He’s going to need a couple more Tanker Trucks of Club Soda to get all the Stains out.

It’s a messy job. Where’re the Bounty and Clorox?