We live in polarized times. You hear all the time how sharply divided the country is, a fact that seems to be borne out by new evidence and new controversies nearly every week. The fissures run deep, splitting families, ending friendships, causing all sorts of bad behavior– dinner table fights, Facebook flareups, Twitter wars. Often this behavior, while generally the result of misdirected passion, is rather unbecoming. Yet there appears to be no cure in sight. Matters are likely to continue as they are for the foreseeable future.

Despite all of this, as long-time readers of this blog know, we try very hard to remain as nonpartisan as possible. It’s not that we don’t have strong opinions, strong leanings, or strong convictions. We most certainly do. And maybe it’s not all that hard to see where our loyalties generally lie. But we think most of what we discuss here at the Line 6B blog defies easy pigeon-holing, doesn’t fit neatly into most conventional, predictable ways of thinking about this side or that side. Frankly, we don’t see how anybody, regardless of affiliation, could condone the sort of corporate behavior we document here.

In addition to that, the unfortunate truth is that, in these divided times, the minute you announce your allegiance, you automatically risk alienating half the people you hope to persuade. We don’t want to do that, not least because we know that the landowners living along Line 6B– and along other pipelines all across North America– are generally good and decent people, despite the fact that the positions they hold or affiliations they claim might not be perfectly in line with our own. Just because you don’t agree with us on something doesn’t mean that you deserve to be exploited, abused, or taken advantage of by those with tremendous power and influence. The truth is, we wouldn’t wish the treatment so many people have received at the hands of Enbridge on our worst enemies (that is, if we had any enemies…).

However, having said all of that, there comes a time when you can no longer try to ride down the center of the road. There comes a time when trying to get along with everybody simply isn’t possible. There comes a time when compromise, crossing the aisle, bipartisanship, comity, working together, getting along, and cooperation are no longer a sign of fair-mindedness, but are a sign of cowardice, of weakness. There comes a time when you just have to stand up and pick a side, regardless of whether doing so will alienate people, create rivals, or even anger some of your friends. There just comes a time when making nice won’t do, when it’s time to put up or shut up and face that fact that what you really want is the complete destruction, the utter annihilation, the total humiliation, of your opponents.

That time has come.

So today we proclaim, clearly, forcefully, and uncompromisingly in no uncertain terms, which side we are on. And if you don’t like it, well, that’s just tough; you’ll  have to find a way to deal with it. Here goes:

We stand proudly with Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.

So there.