By David Swanson
There’s a story deeply buried here. Set aside for a moment dishonest ads being run by Republicans against Congressman Tom Perriello of Virginia’s Fifth District attacking his Yes vote on a climate bill. Set aside the fact that the climate bill will actually increase pollution. The story may involve Perriello’s vote for this controversial bill, but it certainly involves his recent vote for the war supplemental / IMF bankster bailout bill — deeply unpopular here, and Perriello claimed to oppose the IMF money while voting for it. (There is not a shadow of a doubt that had the bill failed, the war and the IMF would have been separated, and Perriello could have still voted to kill people without voting to impoverish people.)
We know that the Democratic leadership in Congress and in the White House cut deals to get that war/IMF vote and may have done so for the climate vote too. Likely elements in such deals have been made public in recent weeks — in fact publicity is what they have been. First Majority Leader Steny Hoyer came down to do an event with Perriello in his district, generating front page news. Then White House environmental advisor Van Jones came down to do a PR event with Perriello generating more front-page news. Now staged event numero tres has been announced. This is from the Los Angeles Times:
“On July 18, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will appear in Ringgold, Va., to talk about plans for renewable energy. Ringgold is part of a southern Virginia district represented by Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello, who narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Virgil H. Goode Jr. last year.”
Well, what’s wrong with that? They had to go SOMEWHERE, right? Why not here? But such questions miss the point. Perriello was given over a million dollars by the national Democratic Party in the last election. He undoubtedly wants that money again. Cabinet secretaries and top national officials are suddenly popping up in the Fifth District to promote, among other things, Tom Perriello. And Tom Perriello is voting the way the White House wants him to, which is not necessarily the way his constituents want him to.
I don’t want a representative who does not represent me, even if he does represent the second-worst political organization in the country rather than the worst one.