The self-debasement at Rolling Stone continues as the outlet declares Joe Manchin a Bond Villain.

The hysterics and histrionics seen in the media the past week over the possible failure of Joe Biden’s multi-trillion dollar infrastructure-reconciliation bill have been the stuff of laugh-tracks. Repeatedly, we watched as supposedly learned and wise individuals came forward to display abject ignorance of basic civics, and all over the fact that a pair of Democrats dare to vote according to their constituents. Joe Manchin has become the target of constant irrational ire.

There was Bernie Sanders saying it was not right for lone politicians to possess this much power. Here is Robert Reich stating how it is unfair for two Senators to have more influence than the other 48 Senators. Others in the press have displayed how minuscule the representation of the voters is by this duo, and one cartoonist tried to illustrate how improper it was that they have this much sway over the nation.

Since a couple Senators have such outsized influence maybe we need a more accurate map of our political geography…. pic.twitter.com/JpiESQi8eL

— Matt Wuerker (@wuerker) October 1, 2021

All of these claims have to be made by overlooking that there are 50 Republican Senators also voting against the bill. Grandpa Socialist is impacted by the ratio, and Robby at the whiteboard cannot grasp basic math: 52 is greater than 48. Every single one of these examples displays one of two realities: Either these people are completely unattuned to the concept of how our government operates, or they believe their followers are so inept in their grasp of civics that they will swallow these stupid bromides and repeat them to the masses. Either the case, the desire is to spread ignorance, all while claiming to occupy the cerebral high ground on such matters. 

Not to be overlooked in this ignorance, nor out-shouted on the matter, is Jeff Goodell at Rolling Stone. He penned an outrage column about Manchin’s incalcitrant vote position and decided to take a familiar position from the Democrats and the press on policy matters, but to his credit, he inflated the hysteria to all-new levels of hyperbole. In taking a very familiar tack on legislation battles — that if the Democrats do not get their way, then people will die — Goodell goes above and beyond with his promises. If Joe Manchin gets his way we are ALL going to die. And the animals. And the plants, fish, and probably all forms of microscopic organisms.

Unless Manchin changes his negotiating position dramatically in the near future, he will be remembered as the man who, when the moment of decision came, chose to condemn virtually every living creature on Earth to a hellish future of suffering, hardship, and death.

That is some serious projection of power! Joe Manchin is not some mere Senator from a smaller state, he is Dr. Evil incarnate! Sure, sure — we have come to learn that he lives on a kayak-accessible houseboat, but somewhere he MUST have a sprawling hidden lair from which he is orchestrating this global takeover. I mean, let’s face it — you cannot plot to kill off every living creature while simply moored at a dock with a Direct TV hookup.

What has Goodell so worked up is that Manchin has put a monetary ceiling on his support, in the name of fiscal responsibility. While Biden’s plan has been pegged at anywhere from $3.5 trillion to any target over $5 trillion (all while, ironically enough, Biden displays Dr. Evil’s challenge with enormous figures) Joe Manchin has pledged not to approve anything beyond a $1.5 trillion threshold.

This has the Rolling Stone writer tied up in knots of outrage. Goodell buys into and delivers the hype of climate catastrophe if Biden’s bill is not passed. Any truncated budget less than what he is asking for will assure us of global calamity. “For anyone who cares about the future of life on this planet, Manchin’s moves are willfully destructive,” he writes, in a fashion where you can practically hear him hyperventilating. Then, as he exhibits outrage at Manchin’s bargain proposal, things turn even more amusing.

And the price of inaction on climate is a lot more than the price of action. It’s not just the tens of billions of dollars or so spent every year recovering from natural disasters. It’s also the price of the priceless: How do you put a dollar value on the extinction of monarch butterflies? How do you put a price tag on the 600 Americans who died during the heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest last summer? How do you run the numbers for a vanishing Arctic? 

If it will help out the typing-angry columnist here — Uh, Jeff? By saying that if Biden does not get his fully-financed bill of $3.5-whatever-trillion, the butterflies will die, you have just, in fact, put a price tag on them. But this is not the lone dose of obliviousness he displays.

In his dismay that Manchin might be under the influence of those in the energy industry, specifically coal, he tries to suggest that because it is a dwindling industry, Joe Manchin should not pay any attention to this sector of the economy.

In 2020, 543 million tons of coal were mined in the U.S., about half as much as a decade earlier. In 2012, 90,000 people were employed in coal mines; today, it’s only 40,000. There are more florists in America than coal miners today.

Sounds pithy, except Jeff needs to become aware that there are more coal miners in West Virginia than florists. Manchin’s state is the second-largest producer of coal in the nation, and they employ about one-third of all the coal miners. There is a reason Manchin appears so beholden to that industry; those are his constituents, and they elected Manchin to represent them in Congress. This is what Joe is doing in the process of formulating his vote.

This is a reality that many in the press need to ignore when leveling their outrage at these politicians who are not voting according to the wishes of the Democratic Party leaders and their devoted fans in the press. As I recently wrote about the journalists blinded by this fealty to the Dems, they are actually calling for politicians to turn their backs on their own voters for the sake of Biden’s signature cause. The list of those chucking objectivity to blindly support the administration continues to grow.

So, too, does Joe Manchin’s stature it seems. Now he — and he alone — possesses the power to render the entire planet, even as 51 other Senators are voting the same way as him. This weekend, the film “No Time To Die” will be released, and it will be actor Daniel Craig’s final portrayal of the famed 007. After this, the studio will be in search of a new James Bond for the franchise. The good news for the producers is Jeff Goodell has already provided them with their next global villain.