On Fracking, Boycotts, and Democracy: A Lesson From Ainsley Hayes
After less than 2 hours of sleep following last Tuesday’s unforgettable council meeting, I got my kids in the car and hopped on a plane to Cleveland to visit my family. Still there, but just now getting to the social media aftermath. And it’s ugly.
I understand why people are frustrated. But calling some of my colleagues spineless, cowards, corrupt, and bought by the oil industry because you disagreed with their vote is unfortunate. A vote, by the way, that I find wholly reasonable and defensible – even though, at the end of the night I disagreed. And now there are calls for boycotts of businesses and recall elections?
Why do we insist on importing such ways of reacting and talking from the poisonous political rhetoric of DC?
Disagree. Get mad. Be passionate. But channel that into democratic civic virtues: debate, form an argument, sit down with your council member, write a letter, vote against someone, run for office, or maybe even dare to learn from someone you vehemently disagree with.
But the thought that we only want to do commerce and hang around in the same businesses with those who hold the same political opinions as us appears to me to be the furthest thing from the democratic spirit. In fact, it’s the most dangerous thing to a vibrant democracy.
I have the utmost respect for my council colleagues, even and especially when I wholly disagree with them. They work hard, they love Denton, and we all found ourselves faced with a difficult decision on an enormously complex issue with far-reaching consequences on either side.
I warned of the problem of political fundamentalism in this post just before Thanksgiving. I continue to think its presence in a city is much more toxic than a 100 gas wells.
I leave you with a scene from the second season of West Wing. Ainsley Hayes, a Republican talking head, was just invited to join the Democratic Bartlett White House, in part because of her stunning performance dressing down Senior White House Advisor Sam Seaborn on a recent cable talk show. After spending a day inside the White House with an administration that she was earlier hired to criticize at every turn, she returned to her Republican friends who were eager to hear about just how bad her political enemies were. Check out her response and consider our’s…
8 Comments
I have heard the same comments and understand the frustrate and anger. We need to channel that energy against the real enemy, the fracking industry. The first hit piece against members of DAG showed up on the internet today.
Get mad, get it out of your system and then move forward. We can win the vote in November.
I agree that the focus needs to be on getting out the vote and fighting the cause against the industry. Denton voters will need to be very organized and will need to help with fundraising to win in November.
Thanks so much for your efforts that night. I watched the whole thing from my living room and your questions/clarifications were great but it was Jim E. who had me laughing out loud when he would fly off the handle a few times in the early hours of the morning – asking a regulator if he would be willing to help “whoop some ass” to negotiate new ordinances.
Just to clarify what happen in the end there: Does the council still retain the right to bring this vote back on their agenda in the event that the industry representatives fail to make good on their promises to work with us for a better solution? (Not that they made actual promises. I remember you asked a lobbyist to give us a glimpse of a possible solution and he said “I would not be so bold” – that’s not reassuring).
Here here, Kevin. A functioning democratic government requires disagreement, engaged deliberation, and yes civility. It’s all too easy to troll from the sidelines once a pet issue hits our mediated radar, but truth told this issue has been boiling for years. I’m heartened by the passion and community awareness, but best to channel it into organizing, openly debating with our neighbors and representatives, and (sigh) going to the meetings. Is this an unfair battle that also has to be waged in state and national elections? You bet. No one said democracy would be easy, quite the opposite, but it is worth it.
Totally agreed! Let’s be grateful for the service of our elected leaders. Let’s be respectful. And let’s get out the vote and win in November!
Can’t go wrong with a dig up from the West Wing! Please keep us posted on how many of those “pledged” helpers from industry and royalty protection groups step forward to generate a solution that works for Denton. That is what struck me – those folks stating that you all have not worked hard enough for a solution and the other half of the pro drilling stating that our concerns with fracking are misplaced and based on ignorance. That type of rhetoric inflames.
Kevin, thanks for your admonishment to show respect to our fellows, and especially to those who dedicate their time to service.
I would, however, humbly disagree with these descriptions of boycott. Let me offer a defense of pragmatic, thoughtful boycott.
In the same way that dialogue and forum are tools of expression for the refinement and galvanizing of democracy, market choices, and boycott by extension, are the moment-by-moment, powerful votes that most directly affect the world around us, and can be practiced by anyone (indeed, almost everyone) at any time.
This doesn’t excuse or preclude under-informed, overly impassioned decisions, whether they affect policy mechanisms or the purchased traffic over one’s dinner table, of course. Everyone should still be thoughtful and mature.
But the decisions that surround those food/good/service purchases are more intimate and personal than allegiance to the methods of beltway insiders. In fact, those who favor market solutions, even if alongside solutions of governance, trend anti-DC.
If you encourage passion, I suggest that thoughtful boycott, or simply buying decisions, are effective, practical, and most of all, responsible.
No matter where one stands on an issue, we are all responsible to our customers/sellers, and cooperation and collaboration with, or by contrast, boycott of the commercial community surrounding us speaks loudly indeed.
Thanks Kevin for reminding us to stay civil. I do respectfully disagree that voting with your dollars is not part of civil discourse. And this can be done in a reasonable way.