By now, it's clear that Bernie Sanders knew of Sierra Blanca, and despite the same pleas made by the West Texas residents as they had done with the Vermont residents, he was unmoved. Worse, there was no sense of compassion or remorse from him for what the bill was going to do to the residents of Sierra Blanca. His mind was already made up, and nothing can convince him to change his position. As the bill HR 629 had already passed both chambers of Congress with veto-proof margins and was just waiting to be signed into law, it was already a done deal. By this point, it seemed that his re-election campaign was more important than the plight of these West Texas residents. It is interesting to note the pattern we see here that is also currently in his campaign, where his focus is always in making stump speeches and ignore or evade direct questions not answerable by his well-rehearsed talking points.

Fortunately, that was not the end of the road for the residents of Sierra Blanca. Efforts continued from the SBLDF and even from the Mexican Government, who cited that the building of nuclear waste site so near the border violates the La Paz Agreement of 1983, which states that both the US and Mexico must work toward reducing or even eliminating “contaminating sources” 64 miles north and south of the border. Many Mexican officials from nearby towns across the border also protested due to the seemingly blatant environmental injustice occurring in Sierra Blanca. Due to these pressures, in the end, despite congressional and state approvals, the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission voted 3-0 on October 20, 1998 to deny the TLLRWDA a license to build a disposal facility outside Sierra Blanca, citing concerns regarding the socioeconomic impact and safety. Thus, victory was achieved for these residents of Sierra Blanca, no thanks to Bernie Sanders.

So, what did we learn about our glorious revolution leader Bernie Sanders from all this? First, all his claim of having always cared about the poor and fighting for minorities is a lie. He was willing to let a powerless group of underprivileged Hispanics suffer for the benefit of his mostly Caucasian Vermont constituents. He was willing to let environmental injustice play out at the expense of the Sierra Blanca residents. It is disgustingly hypocritical of him that on his official campaign website right now, he touts that he will fight racial injustice, with one of the sub-issues being environmental violence. Where was his sense of racial injustice then, when he tried to dump toxic waste on the poor people of Sierra Blanca? It was not even in his realm of concern, because he did not need the vote of the people of Sierra Blanca to keep himself in office in Vermont. But now that he needs the Latino votes, he hopes that everyone will forget this little incident here in West Texas.

Second, he is just another deceptive politician who refuses to be culpable for his actions. He pretended to not know where the exact dump site was going to be and emphatically noted in his speech upon introducing the bill that it’s not their job to debate about the actual site because that is the responsibility of Texas legislature and its "people". He smartly protected himself in case something bad came out of this, since he could easily blame it on Texas. According to him, he's not responsible for picking Sierra Blanca as the waste disposal site. Rather than saying the buck stops here and be held accountable for it, he chose to pass the buck instead. Is this a quality we want in our potential next President, someone who avoids taking responsibility when things could possibly go negative?

Third, just like the Texas Waste Authority, he took the path of least resistance, choosing the easy way out. If he had really cared about the environmental injustice suffered by underprivileged Hispanics, he could have recommended that Vermont pull out of the compact until a more suitable site is found, one that does not reek so badly of socioeconomic and environmental racism. He could also have supported the proposed amendments to the bill by Senator Wellstone to give rights to sue back to the residents of Sierra Blanca. But seeing as to how those amendments might jeopardize the tri-state Compact, he vehemently opposed it. In the end, all he cared about was to find the easiest way to rid Vermont of its nuclear toxic waste, instead of choosing to stand up for what is right and just.

Fourth, when Bernie Sanders has made up his mind, one cannot convince him otherwise. The confrontation between him and the residents of Sierra Blanca in Vermont was very telling. He had already made up his mind, and nothing the residents said, even detailing how their lives will be adversely affected by the bill, will change his mind. Some of his supporters might say this uncompromising quality is something they like in him, since it seems like he's "standing his ground" or not bending to the outside influences. As he makes grandiose plans to pass single-payer healthcare and free college for all, by being unyielding and not listening to others and compromise even when faced with new evidence, Bernie Sanders only guarantees that we will never see the light of day for any of his lofty goals.

So, let's face it. Bernie Sanders is no revolutionary. In the end, he's just another opportunistic career politician who will do and say things just to advance himself in the office--just like how he is opportunistic now all of a sudden wanting to proclaim to be the leader of the Democratic Party, despite having remained an independent and never having really done anything to help the party in the past twenty years. The MSM rhetoric has been highly pro-Sanders because they want to prolong this primary race for ratings. But the sooner the people realize who he really is and start to scrutinize and question his choices in the past, such as this abhorrent bill to dump toxic waste on the poor people of Sierra Blanca, the better off we will be.