Headlines - Monday June 6

 

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Grifter queen Sarah Palin doubles down on Paul Revere gaffe.

 

Of course...

 

".... If Palin knows her American history, this latest bit of jujitsu shows no evidence of it. The purpose of Revere's ride was to inform John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and other colonial American patriots that the British Army was marching from Boston to Lexington. As such, secrecy and stealth were essential. So contrary to Palin's claim that Revere warned the British they would not succeed, Revere attempted to avoid all contact with British troops or British loyalists already living in the colonies. The entire point of Revere's mission was to inform the patriots of the British movements without the British knowing they were being informed. http://www.americablog.com/2011/06/palin-oddly-sticks-to-wrong-story-that.html

 

Andrew Sullivan notes that supporters of Sarah Palin are trying to edit Paul Revere's Wikipedia page so that her gaffe appears to be historical fact. A Wikipedia editor says:

In the article on Paul Revere, someone has added false information in an effort to support Sarah Palin's FALSE claims about Paul Revere. "Accounts differ regarding the method of alerting the colonists; the generally accepted position is that the warnings were verbal in nature, although one disputed account suggested that Revere rang bells during his ride.[8][9]" This must be removed as it is a LIE designed to mislead.

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This is how it's done

If you doubt that McClatchy is the only DC press service with a working bullshit detector, check out "New film on Palin is a fawning one-sided valentine to her":

It repeatedly cites great poll numbers from her days as governor, but doesn't mention how they've collapsed since then. It brags about her role in pushing for a natural gas pipeline and raising taxes on oil companies – but doesn't mention that the pipeline hasn't been built or that her Republican successor now blames the oil taxes for slowing exploration. And it revels in her successful challenge to former Gov. Frank Murkowski, but never mentions the family feud with the Murkowskis or the fact that Alaska voters last year sided with the Murkowskis against Palin's pick for a Senate candidate.

The whole thing is brutal, and it's telling to compare it to Ben Smith's story on the film at Politico:

The atmospherics at times obscure the movie's core argument, which is that Palin was a serious executive during her partial term in Alaska, taking on the oil industry and the Republican establishment alike in a genuine reform campaign.

That's Ben's only attempt to be critical of the movie, and his only criticism is stylistic. Other than that, he simply reprints what the film's director told him without examining a single factual claim, proving yet again that Politico is nothing more than the TMZ of the Potomac.

 

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Yeah, this is what happens when you kow-tow to a criminal industry: they commit more crimes.

From the Courier:

The Kentucky coal industry's compliance with U.S. surface mining regulations dropped sharply from 2008 to 2010, while the environmental impact of the violations has worsened, federal records show.

A U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement report analyzing state enforcement of the federal surface mining and reclamation law shows the industry's compliance rate in Kentucky dropped from 87 percent of surveyed mining sites in 2007 and 2008 to 65 percent in 2010.

The most common violations involved water quality, permit administration, and backfilling and grading, the report said - often harming water, land, structures and people beyond the mining site.

The agency found that as the compliance levels dropped, the frequency of such problems as water pollution violations, landslides or flying rock have risen - from 3 percent of mine sites in 2000 to 21 percent last year.

"These are not minor violations," said Joseph L. Blackburn, the top OSM official in Kentucky. "I think there is a degree of seriousness we cannot ignore, and we aren't."

Media Czech has been documenting the endless examples of Kentucky officials - including both U.S. Senators, U.S. House members and the governor - competing in true bipartisan fashion to demonstrate their finest Big Coal cocksucking skills.

This morning, David Shankula brings it:

Meanwhile, Roger Alford @ the AP highlights the hot trend sweeping Kentucky:

The Democratic chairman of the Kentucky House Natural Resources and Environment Committee became the latest state politician on Thursday to criticize the federal government for tougher environmental standards on coal-fired power generating plants.

State Rep. Jim Gooch Jr., who represents mining communities in western Kentucky, complained in a legislative hearing that tougher standards have utilities asking to impose environmental surcharges on customers to recoup billions of dollars that will have to be spent on improving pollution control at coal-fired plants.

"Everybody talks about the war on coal," Gooch said. "This is a war on Kentucky."

A war on Kentucky!

That's right folks. Where's Paul Revere when you need him? Barry Hussein's statist shock troops and Black Panther Child Army are coming to clean your water and keep your kids from being poisoned.

The horror.

And what a good job their doing... so damned good, our besieged Coal Companies are evading safety regulations.

Alford's AP article also gives some love to David Williams, Mitch McConnell and Steve "GET OFF OUR BACKS" Beshear for standing with Gooch on the front lines of this battlefield with the Feds.

Sadly, no mention of Ben Chandler or, say, his battle to ensure toxic coal ash isn't actually considered toxic.

There's a war on folks. You're either with Kentucky or you're with the terrorists.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you that the terrorists aren't the ones struggling to cope with poisoned drinking water.

 

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No, not as bad as Chernobyl: Worse and escalating. "At the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, a robot sent into the building housing Reactor No. 1 on Saturday detected the highest levels of radiation measured since the crisis began on March 11. According to the Japan Times, The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) reported that radiation levels in the air around Reactor 1 were at 4000 millisieverts per hour, an exposure level equivalent to approximately 40,000 chest x-rays. TEPCO says it has no plans to send workers into the area because of its dangerously high radioactivity. On Friday, a spokesman for TEPCO announced that steam was rising from underneath the reactor building. That afternoon, Japanese national television carried blurry footage of smoke rising from an opening in the floor. Underneath the reactor, an estimated 40,000 tons of "highly contaminated" radioactive water have collected in what is known as the pressure suppression containment vessel, and it's this water that is believed to be producing the steam. TEPCO officials warn that the water will begin to overflow from the storage vessel by June 20 as it reaches its maximum capacity, sooner if there are heavy rains. Massive tanks are being sent to contain the water from nearby Tochigi Prefecture. An estimated 370 will be needed for the job, two of which are due to arrive this weekend. The tanks each hold 100 tons of water and will continue to arrive at the plant through August. Workers have been fighting to keep the crisis from escalating in an ongoing struggle that officials say they hope to have under control by January. Critics of TEPCO and the Japanese government say that this estimate is overly optimistic. A row has erupted in the Japanese government over Prime Minister Naoto Kan's promise to step down when the crisis is resolved because in truth no one knows exactly when that will be. At the plant, it's believed that nuclear fuel rods have melted down to the bottom of three reactors' containment vessels. Allegedly none have gone into "full meltdown" in which the fuel rods burn through the bottom of the containers."

 

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You know what we would kick in cash to see? Planes trailing banners that read "Hatred Preached Here" circling over mega-churches every Sunday morning as the bigots gather to feel superior and sanctimonious. "The Florida Family Association spent $7,000 to have an aircraft to fly near Disney World on Friday and Saturday with a banner that warned visitors of "Gay Day." ... "Gay Day" is a six day celebration of gay and lesbian pride held in Orlando, FL, with Saturday spent at Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom. ... The Florida Family Association claimed that the event offends thousands of unsuspecting families with "same-sex revelry" and that Disney should require special events like "Gay Day" to be held after normal operating hours. ... "Many Gay Day patrons wore shirts that promoted homosexuality, kissed, hugged and groped in very public places and dressed in drag all to the curiosity of tens of thousands of children," the group said. ... Organizers of the event claim it brings an estimated $150 million to the area."

 

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When you're losing the argument, redefine the terms. Repugs do it all the time, while dems flop around like fish gasping for air.

But it's not about just elections anymore. The economy is not only not recovering, not even slowly - it's actually losing jobs. Permanent unemployment is on a permanently increasing trajectory, and the economy is on the verge of total collapse.

This is now a matter of national survival. National security. Counter-terrorism.

Marcy Wheeler at Firedoglake:

Jared Bernstein (whose blog I still recommend) has responded to his 2-day PEPCO power outage by posting the crummy infrastructure report card the US got in 2009:

Check out the 2009 Report Card from the American Society of Civil Engineers:
Aviation D
Bridges C
Dams D
Drinking Water D-
Energy D+
Hazardous Waste D
Inland Waterways D-
Levees D-
Public Parks and Recreation C-
Rail C-
Roads D-
Schools D
Solid Waste C+
Transit D
Wastewater D-
America's Infrastructure GPA: D
Estimated 5 Year Investment Need: $2.2 Trillion

Bernstein's take (channeling Atrios) is that fixing all this infrastructure ought to be a good way to get 20 million people back to work.

But fixing just about every single one of these infrastructure problems is also a way to make our country more resilient to terrorism. Bridges? Dams? They make attractive terrorist targets, particularly if they're already crumbling. Drinking water? Another vulnerability to terrorist attacks. Rails? We know Osama bin Laden was reviewing plans to derail trains (as it crossed a bridge-this one's a twofer).

So can't we start fixing this stuff and, rather than calling it stimulus, call it "counter-terrorism preparedness"? There's no way, of course, the idiots in DC would support 2 trillion of stimulus, but their willingness to keep funding multiple wars in the name of terrorism-to the tune of trillions-show they might do so if we can give it a national security spin.

And between us? If we fixed things like levees and energy plants, we'd also be more resilient to things like earthquakes and climate change. Mind you, if Republicans found out about that, it'd be enough reason to defund it. So we'll just keep that part a secret between us.

Jared Bernstein, a former aide to Vice President Biden, was the Last Economic Leftist in the White House before his resignation last month. He may no longer be in the room to contradict Little Timmy and the other Wall Street cocksuckers in the administration, but he's got a blog, where you can read his reality-based take on economics for yourself.

Here's a good place to start, in which Bernstein reveals why the Obama administration never had any interest in the kind of massive job-creating stimulus program that might have actually saved the economy two years ago.

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John Boehner on the success of the auto-industry bailout which saved millions of jobs.

"The administration's auto bailout is nothing to celebrate," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. "The model the White House should be touting is Ford, which, instead of relying on a taxpayer-funded bailout, saw trouble coming and made the tough decisions necessary to preserve jobs and weather the storm."

What do you think about that, employees of GM?

According to John "Theres a Tear In My Beer" Boehner, your continued employment and job security is nothing to celebrate. And apparently neither is saving a distinctly American company which was founded in 1908. Nor is saving the countless number of dealerships and suppliers across the country which sell GM vehicles, parts, and maintenance.

What would John Boehner say if the Obama Administration had not rescued General Motors? He'd probably condemn the president for not acting quick enough. Or, he may simply say "So be it."

The Republicans are going to struggle in 2012 on this issue because so many of the jobs saved by the auto-bailout are located in Midwestern swing-states where Republican Governors are already hard at work ensuring that their eventual presidential nominee doesn't stand a chance.

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Skippy's environmental news stories Sunday.

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Food Stamps For Fast Food

The parent company of Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut is lobbying the Kentucky government to allow the use of food stamps in their stores.

Currently Kentucky's Food Assistance Program provides money to those in need to buy food -- but that does not include fast food. Yum! says the elderly, disabled, and homeless should be able to use food stamps to buy hot meals, especially those unable to cook. But members of the African-American Think Tank disagree, as Rev. Gerome Sutton explains: "What that will ultimately do is, it will affect the health and well-being of our community and drive up the cost of health care for the state."