The Sensibles

Regularly there are issues that the sensible centrist commentariat decides they are Serious about and anyone to the left is childish, ridiculous, and, especially, hurting their own cause. I don't think The Left or any of its meager institutions are perfect, of course, but The Sensibles are always claiming that there are compromises to be had that no one has actually put on the table, and that magically align with just what The Sensibles want.

Somehow it's always The Left - the most powerless political group unless you define power as "ability to annoy me on twitter" - who fail to embrace these compromises and not, you know, The Chamber of Commerce.

Basically it's always like the mythical "abortion compromise" that only exists in their heads. If only those PRO-ABORTION EXTREMISTS had been willing to compromise (party with whom they are supposed to compromise unspecified) then abortion would still be legal. That kind of thing.

This Dave Roberts thread is about energy transmission, with the basic punchline:

Turns out, if you lie down with a bunch of people who want more fossil fuels & less clean energy, you wake up with ... more fossil fuels & less clean energy. But at least you got a few sweet, sweet months of lecturing activists about not being Serious.

— David Roberts (@drvolts) May 29, 2023

Details matter, and the "compromise" only exists in the heads of the people who are used to getting everything they want. When they don't, they imagine that it's the meddling kids who are to blame instead of THE FUCKING FOSSIL FUEL LOBBY.

Not understanding - or pretending not to understand - who actually has power is one of their issues.