Pruitt is a pure creature of this new hyper-conservative GOP. He came up in Oklahoma conservative politics, where alliance with fossil fuel industries and hostility toward federal regulators are taken for granted and the only serious political threat is from the right. Liberals and environmentalists mostly exist as grotesque caricatures on the conservative media that dominate the airwaves.
Pruitt has lived his life in a conservative bubble, and much like [URL='https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1564645&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newyorker.com%2Fmagazine%2F2017%2F10%2F23%2Fthe-danger-of-president-pence']Vice President Mike Pence, his intense religious convictions, his naked political ambition, and his industry-friendly policy agenda are in perfect alignment, with nary a hint of cognitive dissonance. God called on him to deregulate the fossil fuel industry. The more power he gains, the higher he rises in politics, the more he can carry out God’s will.
Xxxx
When he was Oklahoma attorney general he was busted copying industry talking points directly into his communications with the federal government. Emails from that time, which have been dragged out of him by investigations and lawsuits, reveal a long pattern of working in close coordination with industry to attack EPA regulations. They also reveal a striking lack of self-awareness that anyone might object to or even make particular note of such a relationship.
More than anything, Pruitt just doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with it. They worked with their tribe (environmentalists), why shouldn’t he work with his (industry)?
Xxxx
It did not occur to him to explain himself to the mainstream media; they were the enemy. Instead, his immediate instinct — one that reflects his long-time immersion in, and relationship to, right-wing media — was to play the victim of a liberal witch hunt.
It wasn’t hard to sell that narrative on the right. Conservative media were slavishly supportive of Pruitt from the beginning, culminating in a series of fawning profiles in purportedly respectable outlets like the Weekly Standard and National Review. (The author of NR’s lickspittle paean to Pruitt’s greatness? None other than Kevin D. Williamson.)
Xxxxxx
For the most part, right-wing media, think tanks, and industry groups rallied on Pruitt’s behalf. (A few, including Fox News host Laura Ingraham, began turning against him in recent weeks.) They didn’t care about establishment standards or the perception of procedural neutrality, any more than he did. He was of their tribe, advancing their agenda.
://www.vox.com/platform/amp/energy-and-environment/2018/4/7/17205276/scott-pruitt-resigns-scandals-tribalism?__twitter_impression=true[/URL]
Pruitt has lived his life in a conservative bubble, and much like [URL='https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1564645&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newyorker.com%2Fmagazine%2F2017%2F10%2F23%2Fthe-danger-of-president-pence']Vice President Mike Pence, his intense religious convictions, his naked political ambition, and his industry-friendly policy agenda are in perfect alignment, with nary a hint of cognitive dissonance. God called on him to deregulate the fossil fuel industry. The more power he gains, the higher he rises in politics, the more he can carry out God’s will.
Xxxx
When he was Oklahoma attorney general he was busted copying industry talking points directly into his communications with the federal government. Emails from that time, which have been dragged out of him by investigations and lawsuits, reveal a long pattern of working in close coordination with industry to attack EPA regulations. They also reveal a striking lack of self-awareness that anyone might object to or even make particular note of such a relationship.
More than anything, Pruitt just doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with it. They worked with their tribe (environmentalists), why shouldn’t he work with his (industry)?
Xxxx
It did not occur to him to explain himself to the mainstream media; they were the enemy. Instead, his immediate instinct — one that reflects his long-time immersion in, and relationship to, right-wing media — was to play the victim of a liberal witch hunt.
It wasn’t hard to sell that narrative on the right. Conservative media were slavishly supportive of Pruitt from the beginning, culminating in a series of fawning profiles in purportedly respectable outlets like the Weekly Standard and National Review. (The author of NR’s lickspittle paean to Pruitt’s greatness? None other than Kevin D. Williamson.)
Xxxxxx
For the most part, right-wing media, think tanks, and industry groups rallied on Pruitt’s behalf. (A few, including Fox News host Laura Ingraham, began turning against him in recent weeks.) They didn’t care about establishment standards or the perception of procedural neutrality, any more than he did. He was of their tribe, advancing their agenda.
://www.vox.com/platform/amp/energy-and-environment/2018/4/7/17205276/scott-pruitt-resigns-scandals-tribalism?__twitter_impression=true[/URL]
