Dear Joe Biden: are you kidding me? - Erin Brockovich

[progressoid]

The president-elect has tapped a former DuPont consultant to join his Environmental Protection Agency transition board

For years, I’ve been trying to impart a simple concept that Superman is not coming.

Dare I say, I had hopes that this new administration would usher in the dawning of a new day. As picks for President-elect Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) transition team were announced, I felt concerned and disheartened about a chemical industry insider being on the list. Are you kidding me?

Michael McCabe, a former employee of Biden and a former deputy Environmental Protection Agency administrator, later jumped ship to work as a consultant on communication strategy for DuPont during a time when the chemical company was looking to fight regulations of their star chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) also known as C8. The toxic manmade chemical is used in everything from waterproof clothes, stain-resistant textiles and food packaging to non-stick pans. The compound has been linked to lowered fertility, cancer and liver damage. The Guardian reported this week that Harvard school of public health professor Philippe Grandjean, who studies environmental health, warns that PFAS chemicals, of which PFOA is one, might reduce the efficacy of a Covid-19 vaccine.

...

Are we the people supposed to trust a former DuPont man in a transition team tasked with reviewing the Chemical Safety Board? Is this how the newly elected leadership wants to start what is supposed to be a healing and unifying administration? Are we already falling back on the old and antiquated, hide-and-seek, conceal, dodge and deny leadership or are you going to come out and be the change and the hope needed when it comes to the environment?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/19/dear-joe-biden-are-you-kidding-me-erin-brockovich

[Srkdqltr]

1. Maybe I am wrong but our guy won. Can we give him and his a half minute before you lot tear him down

He hasn't even been inaugurated yet and people aren't happy with his decisions.

[StarfishSaver]

7. THANK you!

Sheesh!

[Tech]

13. This.

[ismnotwasm]

14. No shit

[NurseJackie]

21. The purity-brigade is out in force. Resentful and bitter.

Brockovich can go suck an egg... pound sand... and take a long walk on a short pier.

He hasn't even been inaugurated yet and people aren't happy with his decisions.

Just wait until the "Justice Democrats" and "Sunshine Brigade" start to do their best to smear, attack, denigrate and undermine him. Same shit, different year. It never ends. They are their own worst enemies. It's because of people like this (the Sarandon squad) that we end up with people like Trump.

[StarfishSaver]

35. They attacked Obama for not governing like a left-wing version of Trump

and they'll do the same thing to Biden if he doesn't cater to the far left - and only the far left - the way Trump caters to the MAGATs.

Two sides of the same coin.

[NurseJackie]

44. Yep... they divide and weaken. Creating distrust and suspicion...

... and without unity in the party they end up getting even LESS than what it was they were complaining about in the first place. Very short sighted. The "all or nothing" philosophy is a selfish and an immature way to approach politics and activism.

[treestar]

28. and their standard is they demand all of his decisions

meet with their unique approval! No room for anything but doing just what they want him to do, down to small details.

[peggysue2]

46. Yes, x 1000

We're facing an enormous threat to our democratic Republic and this nonsense of already picking apart Biden's selections, considerations, attitudes before he even has a chance to take the oath is self-defeating and frankly dangerous. Joe Biden is going to need support just to get this Administration aloft under considerable headwinds. I have confidence he can do it and I'm also confident that the professionals ultimately put into place will give it their all.

We may not like all the decisions that get made. There will no doubt be criticisms, fairly and unfairly, down the road. But for God's sake, give the man a chance to do the heavy lifting. At a minimum, he deserves that.

We won this thing, remember? We barely escaped the Thug-in-Chief for another 4 years. Stop with the grim prognosticating. It is not helpful at this moment.

Lordie! Nothing like trying to kill the infant in its crib.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Let the bashing begin.

But it would be nice if the critics could at least wait until he's inaugurated before second-guessing every damn thing he does.

[PatSeg]

15. Oh, this brings back memories of the endless

Obama bashing in the early years. It seemed like every other appointment or nominee was torn to shreds. All that bashing didn't help at all come the 2010 mid-terms. I hope people aren't going to do this again. We can't afford to lose the House in 2022 or more seats in the senate.

President certainly can be a thankless job. I'm sure we'll all disagree with one or more choices that Joe makes, but clearly he can't please everyone. Meanwhile, Joe is the most qualified President-elect of my lifetime, so I think I'm going to trust his decisions. I might not always agree with him, but he knows a whole lot that I don't.

[wryter2000]

16. I was a mod here

I remember how many "Obama = Bush," and "Obama is worse than Bush" posts we had here. And many of them were allowed to stand as "criticism from the left." I think that's changed now. I sure hope so.

[PatSeg]

24. Oh, so it wasn't just me

It really was exhausting, especially after the excitement and optimism of the election and the inauguration. How frustrating it must have been for Obama with republicans on the right obstructing everything he tried to do and his own party attacking him from the left. Of course, I don't believe we should blindly support any one in office and a certain amount of criticism is understandable, but we need to give them a chance before casting stones.

Also there are so many things going on behind the scenes that the average person doesn't know about or understand. After the nightmare of the last four years, I think we should give Joe our support. His job will be overwhelming and as bad as it looks to us upfront, I can imagine what we don't know is much worse. The mess Trump will have left behind undoubtedly will be staggering.

There will be time enough for judgment down the road. Today we still have battles to fight.

[treestar]

27. Yes, why don't they help instead of criticizing?

And demanding perfection? A political party is a group of people working together, pulling together, to accomplish as much as they can of what they want. I disdain people like this who sit out and judge it. They got nothing, because they can't win elections alone. And they can't direct the President and other elected people what to do, as if there were no other constituents.

[PatSeg]

36. And its good to have different ideas and goals,

but this "my way or the highway" is counterproductive. Republicans love it when we fight one another instead of them.

It is okay to disagree with one another, after all we're not sheep like republicans, but its never okay to make other Democrats the adversary. The stakes right now are too high to play these kinds of games.

[treestar]

40. Exactly!

Does nothing but give the media a chance to use the Democrats in Disarray theme!

[Hortensis]

39. Lol, of course not, Ocelot! You're nuts to even imagine those

outraged by this should be willing (or able) to look beyond label to character and competence. And in a scary-dangerous world full of enemies and betrayals on all sides, there is at least some comfort in having one's hostile prejudices "confirmed."

[Ninga]

3. I highly recommend reading about the contributions he has made while serving past administrations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Michael_McCabe

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Well Done!

The guy is an expert on environmental affairs.
He played the wrong side of the field once or twice, and now he's the enemy.
That Wiki description seems to support this being a sound administrative choice, particularly since he will not be part of the administration.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

29. I like that he was on the other side for a while

Nice to know the inside moves of your opponent!

[ProfessorGAC]

34. OK With Me, Too

No better way to ID the holes in the laws, than to have worked with the folks who exploit them.

[LSFL]

4. Erin Brockovich. Are you kidding ME?

Thought she was dead. Huh.

[joshcryer]

5. I remember when the left shit on Tom Wheeler for FCC because he worked for big media.

As usual their shit talk was wrong.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Don't get your shorts in a twist, Erin; he won't be part of Biden's administration.

"Biden's transition team stated that McCabe has recused himself from any matters involving the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, and was committed to not taking a role in the Biden administration." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Michael_McCabe

[Arne]

8. Whoe them horses there.

These factoids may not be the whole story.

Mike McCabe, "was committed to not taking a role in the Biden administration"

[wryter2000]

17. Welcome to DU

And thanks for the fact checking.

[stillcool]

10. way to be irrelevant...

[Demsrule86]

11. Dear Erin ...get lost.

[sheshe2]

12. Just stop.

I am talking to Erin and not you progressoid.

[mcar]

18. Oh, for sweet Jesus' sake!

WTF is this?

[BannonsLiver]

19. Fuck off, Erin.

[kansasobama]

20. Erin - Let Biden do his work

Erin, you are not working Moscow Mitch. Biden will work around the obstacles to move forward. He can't get everything you want. Instead, why don't you (and AOC and Bernie) work to elect Democrats and progressives. Come to Kansas and experience how hard it is for us. Liberals in Kansas work harder than blue district Democrats.

[kansasobama]

22. Liberals like Erin need to be political savvy to win elections

You have to keep moving forward and win small steps at a time. I still remember 2010 when liberals were upset with Obama becasue HealthCare did not pass and sat out giving Republicans the House. We paid a price for it. Some liberals were upset and voted against Hillary. How did that go?

[Progressive dog]

23. I voted for Biden and I would like to see him

have an opportunity to do his job. My God, this is a transition board, not even the agency itself.

[Iggo]

25. Dear Erin Brockovich: Donald Fucking Trump.

Can you chill for just a fucking minute?

[treestar]

26. Not this crap again

Do they have to whine about every single appointment? All have to be pure? I get so tired of this. It's why we lose. These people cannot compromise on anything. And just who do they think the Republicans would appoint?

[Dem4Life1102]

30. Why do some assume that just because someone

once worked for a company that they still have allegiance to it. I’ve worked for several companies and have no relationship with any of them.

[betsuni]

32. Yes! It's ridiculous.

A way to divide everyone up into either morally pure (us) and corrupt (them). Here they have a nutty radically right-wing criminal party in the Republicans and they get all worked up because a Democratic guy once worked for a corporation. Ridiculous.

[ProfessorGAC]

37. My Allegiance Ended...

...when I sold the last of my 21,000 shares several weeks before my last day.
I quit trying hard at that point.
What were they going to do? Fire me?
I coasted to the finish line!
I did my part, and now it's just a place I used to go.

[uponit7771]

41. +1

[betsuni]

31. But ... he doesn't work for DuPont any more.

Working for a company for awhile isn't like selling your soul to the devil like in a novel or a movie.

But the rule is to never give Democrats the benefit of the doubt and always ascribe negative motivations to everything they do.

[BGBD]

33. The reason this guy was

A deputy at EPA and got a gig consulting a at Dupont is because he is a subject matter expert. I'm pretty sure experts are what we want in every role.

[StarfishSaver]

38. They want people who's experience with the subject is having tweeted really awesome stuff about it

God forbid they actually worked in the field and if they got PAID for it, well ...

[uponit7771]

42. Oh no, not the Pony brigade !!! They can be just as uninformed as the average MAGA on some issues

[Yavin4]

43. "In response to an email from The Intercept about McCabe's work for DuPont, Biden's transition team

stated that McCabe has recused himself from any matters involving the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, and was committed to not taking a role in the Biden administration."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Michael_McCabe

Can we calm down now?

Also, just because someone worked for an evil corporation that does not make them evil. I've worked for evil companies in my career, and I would have no problem bringing down the letter of the law upon their heads. Sometimes people take jobs in order to stay relevant in their fields.

[AmericanCanuck]

45. Your candidate lost.

Time to move on and not start bashing Biden or give any platform for people who want to cause harm.

We need to learn from repukes .. they support their elected leaders 100%. We commit suicide with internal strife. Not everyone will get what they want but Joe Biden is our guy and let him handle things the way his studious and experienced mind can. We have excellent people.

[kansasobama]

48. She is worried about this when democracy is under fire