July 2010

Since the oil started flowing 83+ days ago there have been those on the right floating conspiracy theories. They range from “Liberals blew up the well” to “Obama doesn’t want to stop it quick so it looks bad”. Well now we have one of these claims coming from an actual GOP member of Congress. Here’s Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) making the later claim:

Transcript via Think Progress:

BROUN: Our President he is utilizing this crisis of this oil spill to try to promote this energy tax. And I’ve had numerous people, all over the district, question whether his poor response to this oil spill was purposeful so that he could promote his energy tax. I don’t know, maybe.

I remember when the truthers started showing up on the scene and the right going after the “loony left” for their conspiracy theories. Of course that whole argument was dealt a serious blow in 2008 when the truthers then became the birthers. They aren’t liberals, but rather very misinformed individuals living in a Dale Gribble world.

But the fact that we have actual Republican lawmakers out there making the most absurd of claims like this proves the real loonies lie on the right of the political spectrum.

I meant to hit this story yesterday. It also exemplifies the problems I’ve posted about in the past when it comes to MSNBC.

Markos and Joe Scarborough got into a little Twitter back and forth a couple of months ago:

JoeNBC: The Sestak story is as unbelievable a cover story as Nixon throwing little Checkers under the bus. A farce on it's face. Luckily for the White House, the media has been negligent on this story since Day 1. The press will let this laughable story slide.

markos: Like story of a certain dead intern. RT @JoeNBC: Luckily for the White House, the media has been negligent on this story since Day 1.

Markos: But if you want to talk about bullshit "scandals", @JoeNBC, there's this one about Joe Sestak and the White House you might've heard of.

JoeNBC: @markos Unbelievable. You have a long history of spreading lies suggesting I am a murderer. This is the 3rd or 4th time by my count.

Markos: @JoeNBC, I've never suggested you're a murderer. I've noted media hypocrisy in going after Gary Condit. But he was Dem. You aren't.

JoeNBC: Anyone in media who interviews @markos, know that you're extending your credibility to someone who regularly suggests that I'm a murderer.

Markos: A bit touchy, @JoeNBC? Links for where I accuse you of being a murderer please.

Joe Scarborough, a person of such thin skin that he will block anyone that disagrees with him on Twitter, didn’t like that. Like a child being picked on in school, Joe ran and told the teacher principal, or in this case, the president of MSNBC. That resulted in this email being sent to Markos:

Markos,

Houston – we have a serious problem:

More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells remain in the Gulf of Mexico and no one's checking to see if they are leaking, reports an investigation by the Associated Press.

The AP, calling the Gulf an "environmental minefield," says the oldest of these wells were abandoned in the late 1940s, raising questions about whether their seals remain intact. It says 3,500 wells are listed as "temporarily abandoned," without seals, with 1,000 of them remaining that way for more than a decade.

So we have more than 27,000 wells out there that no one has even looked at in years. We need a big overhaul of this and need it now. Where are you Mr. President? Where’s our hope and change?

Back in 2006, former Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) made national news when he called firefighters “lazy bums’.  Three months after that Burns was unemployed and Jon Tester became the new Senator from Montana.

Now we have another story, very similar in nature. From TPM:

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), fresh off his Republican primary win, filed a lawsuit Friday against the City of Billings and the Billings Fire Department for damages sustained in a 2008 fire. Rehberg is the developer of record for the 1,000-acre subdivision that is managed by his wife.

The lawsuit, which seeks an award to be determined at trial, says that the fire department "breached its duty" during the July 2008 fire. The Rehbergs are claiming damages for the loss of trees and ground cover in an area they intended to develop.

Two points need brought up here. First off, what about tort reform? I thought Republicans were against these lawsuits, yet time and time again we see them filing suit after suit. Talk about a massive hypocrisy.

And the second, and more important point. Why do Republicans feel like firefighters are lazy and never do their job? As a former firefighter I’ve heard this song and dance from other Republican politicians before. When you aren’t on a run and resting at the firehouse, they think you are being lazy. I would love to put one of these fat asses in 75 pounds of gear in the middle of the hot summer and send them into a burning building. I guarantee they will collapse instantly.