In The Pipe, Five By Five

President Obama's decision to hold off on the KeystoneXL pipeline until after the election was arguably the most pragmatic thing he could do, but he was going to take damage either way.

The Department of State is planning to put the brakes on the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, Reuters reports. After seeming to be a foregone conclusion, approval by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama of the $7 billion Canada-to-Texas pipeline hit a wall of popular opposition and scandal. Climate activists mobilized across the nation, risking arrests in acts of civil disobedience, to raise the alarm about the civilizational risks of mining the tar sands. Nebraskans of all political stripes united in opposition to the foreign oil company TransCanada’s abusive practices and plans to cut across the state’s most valued ecosystems. State’s decision to reconsider its draft impact statements to evaluate alternate routes means possible final approval, originally expected this year, will be delayed at the minimum by several months.

Remember, Republicans wouldhave attacked him no matter what he did.  If President Obama agreed with the pipeline, he would have been using his army of union thugs to take land away from Americans to build his "stimulus project" gift to the AFL-CIO.  Likewise, if he disagreed with it, he would have been attacked for giving into the "job-killing environmental whacko greens just like Solyndra".

But I'm seeing the President take a lot of heat from green progressives over this too.  Greens did want a delay and for reconsideration of the project based on environmental studies and further investigation into TransCanada.  They got it.

So you have to wonder what the motive of the usual suspects really is right about now.  This one's tailor made to try to split the Dems, and more than a few are obliging.  Given that attempt, taking it out of play as the President has done was a smart move.

Karoli over at Crooks & Liars has more on this.