During the awful epoch that was the Barack Obama Administration, Scott Pruitt was a fearless free market champion.

Pruitt was in 2010 elected Oklahoma’s Attorney General. And in that capacity he spent a lot of his time fending off the Obama Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a whip and a chair.

As an Attorney General, Pruitt’s whip and chair – were lawsuits. Lots and lots of lawsuits. Fourteen, all told. Do not be mistaken – Pruitt was not overly litigious. The Obama EPA was just that obnoxiously overreaching.

The Obama EPA was actually even more obnoxiously overreaching than that. I’m guessing Pruitt was limited to just the fourteen – by a lack of sufficient resources.

Pruitt was doing God’s work – tending His freedom fields.

So of course the Left loathed him.

Then happened one the most miraculous miracles in the history of miraculous miracles – Donald Trump won the presidency. And immediately began enacting his Undo-the-Obama-Administration-Agenda agenda.

And who better to choose to head up the EPA – than Scott Pruitt.

So of course the Left loathed it.

And that’s exactly what we less government types want – in all things: Someone the Left loathes.

To be a less government type in DC (or the Silicon Valley, or Hollywood, or on college campuses, or…), you have to like being liked for the right reasons – and LOVE being loathed for the right reasons.

You must revel in the hate the Left levels at you. Because the Left is going to level a whole lot of hate at you. They are bottomless pits of it.

Pruitt seemed like just the man for this particular job.

And for a while – Pruitt was. He began rolling back all sorts of Obama Era ridiculous overreaches – all while reorienting the agency to an approach not quite so openly hostile to all things free market.

Pruitt pledged to end the EPA’s ridiculous flights of global warming – oops, I mean climate change – fancy. And return the agency to its charter roots.

Roots like – cleaning up Superfund sites:

“EPA’s Superfund program is responsible for cleaning up some of the nation’s most contaminated land and responding to environmental emergencies, oil spills and natural disasters.”

And this is where rock-ribbed Pruitt – may be suddenly, inexplicably going wobbly.

And the Left’s mouthpieces – the media – are drooling in anticipation.

At Superfund Sites, Scott Pruitt Could Flip His Industry-Friendly Script: “The landfill (outside of Saint Louis, Missouri) known as West Lake…contains thousands of tons of radioactive waste from the World War II-era Manhattan Project….(A)ctivists are pushing for significant excavation. Pruitt has promised them he will issue a decision within days.”

“Activists?” You know the type:

“(W)ho would be Pruitt’s Leftist point person in Saint Louis? Missouri State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, who earlier tweeted her hope that someone would assassinate President Trump.…”

How very pleasant. Pruitt is eminently familiar with this type of “activists.”

Death Threats Against Scott Pruitt Has Led to Dramatic Rise in Security Costs: “The EPA’s inspector general’s office, which investigates threats, says Pruitt has received more death threats than any of his predecessors. The office has launched more than 70 investigations into threats against Pruitt and others, the agency said.”

And now Pruitt is considering caving to these pleasant people?

Scott Pruitt Leans Toward a Radical Solution at a Superfund Landfill: “Mr. Pruitt…in rush to resolve the problem…may be about to make a bad choice, succumbing to political pressure from the left, which is never satisfied with anything less than everything it demands.”

A terrible idea – for reasons both political…and policy:

“Both the state of Missouri and the federal government have conducted extensive testing of the levels of radioactivity, which decline year after year, and found that the levels are well within what is considered safe and acceptable.

If “the levels are well within what is considered safe and acceptable” – then there’s no need to cave into the latest in the Left’s endless list of ridiculous demands.

And since is Pruitt’s first Superfund project, this terrible policy decision – would serve as terrible precedent:

“If (Pruitt) agrees to excavate he…will send a signal to every radical environmentalist that political pressure will move him in directions that sound science says is not necessary.”

So Pruitt can do for what the Left is screeching. You know, the Left – that keeps threatening to murder him…at a record-setting pace.

Doing for what the Left is screeching – makes absolutely no sense. It would be a huge waste of time, effort…and a metric ton of money.

And be just the sort of horrendous government-waste precedent – the Left loves, longs and lives for.

All of which begs the question – why is Pruitt even considering it?

If he has suddenly acquired some deep-seated need to have the Left like him – trust me, it will never, never happen.

And getting the Left to like you – ain’t why you were hired. And it ain’t why we less government types have for so long liked you.

You must remember your love for the hate the Left has delivered you.

And remember – that the Left will again hate you the second after you cave to them here.

The Left’s love – never, ever stays bought.