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The following is an email I sent to MSNBC regarding Tim Russert's despicable comments concerning the virtual media black-out of John McCain's many gaffes.
I'm writing to express my deep concern about comments made by NBC Washington Bureau Chief and moderator of Meet the Press, Tim Russert, last night during election coverage. During a discussion with Chris Mathews about the campaign coverage so far, Mr. Russert expressed the following concerning John Mcain:
"Yes, they believed initially that ignoring the McCain campaign was beneficial and helpful to the Democrats, but as this has gone on, they see in their minds, and we get flooded with e-mails, Senator McCain making a mistake on Shi'a vs. Sunni, making a mistake about the first Persian Gulf War and the second, vis-à-vis oil, his own relationship with Pastor Hagee and why isn't that talked about and reported on the way Reverend Wright's relationship with Senator Obama is talked about. But, all that in time. It is only May. This has been going on for some time, but it's going to be a long, long campaign and when Senator McCain is back in the media's light, he'll receive the same kind of scrutiny."
As a constitutionally protected institution with a deep and binding responsibility to inform the populace in a fair and truthful manner, I find this sentiment, coming from your own Washington Bureau Chief, to be absolutely inexcusable. Is the credibility and reputation of your news organization of any concern at all to Mr. Russert or your editors? How dare you excuse the withholding of scrutiny concerning the Republican nominee for President of the United States while heaping it on the Democratic primary candidates for no other reason than a cheap ratings bounce. By ignoring the many gaffes and questionable endorsements of John McCain over the last two months, while at the same time attacking his Democratic rivals for any and all missteps, real or perceived, your organization has enabled him to raise more money and retain higher poll ratings than he would otherwise have received. That is anything but impartiality.
Your organization has, by virtue of your publicly sanction right to broadcast on the people's airwaves, a duty bound obligation to provide unbiased information to the public. When that duty is neglected by NBC, or any other broadcaster, our entire nation suffers because of it. Take some pride in what you do, and report the news with honesty and integrity. That is why the press is protected as the "fourth estate", to inform the public and serve our democracy, not to turn a profit through dishonesty and omission. Thank you.
Contact MSNBC here, and let them know what you think.
Wake Up Walmart has released its first video of 2008. Walmart is a key issue for progressives to focus on- because of their awful health care benefits, Utah citizens are estimated to be paying $16,868,207 a year in taxes to cover poor Walmart employees and their families with health care- while Walmart is making huge profits.
Please check out this video, and let your friends know why we need to "Wake Up Walmart".
(I wanted to post something on this myself, but this diary pretty much sums it up. Thanks for the great post. - promoted by Aramis)
Left: Deep in a Utah mine. Center: Crandall Canyon graphic, click on the Image for full size. Right: Robert Murray
"Our relationship with Mr. Murray has been stormy thus far. That is also the pattern of his relationship with MSHA at his eastern mines. Just wanted to give you a heads up on that. He may not be a willing participant if he senses that anything you do could impact his ability to produce coal." from an e-mail written by MSHA district nine manager Allyn Davis
No story in recent years has illustrated, at least in my mind, the true peril of the unholy marriage of crony capitalists and wealthy, politically connected corporatists to venal government officials, as does the compound tale of the mine collapse and failed rescue attempt at Crandall Canyon mine, near Price, Utah last August.
The story, as it unfolded on the nation's front pages and TV screens, was another tale of human tragedy that emerges all too often from the dark, dangerous man made caverns where for centuries, men have labored in extremely harsh conditions to provide the fuel to light and heat our homes, to power our industries, and drive our ships and railroads. No profession on the planet is more dangerous than mining the coal at the center of a mountain.
In the early morning hours of August 6, 2007, a large mountain "bounce" occurred in the Main West section of Crandall Canyon mine. "bounce" is the technical term used to describe a collapse of this type in a mine, but it does not capture the force and explosive power of the event - "blast" would be much more apt. In such a powerful release of seismic energy, the coal in the pillars and walls of the mine, under extreme pressure, literally explode into mined out areas.
Notes taken by the first Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) inspector to descend into the mine after the collapse graphically describe the massive force unleashed by the event:
"roof bolts were sheared off... direction of force had come from the North."
" some areas, coal was pulverized!"
" with the amount of rubble in the entries 5 to 6 ft deep, could anyone manage to survive the initial release of energy" Exhibit 1.
The bounce registered 3.9 on the Richter scale. According to the United States Geological Survey, a seismic event of magnitude 4 is equivalent to detonating 15 tons of TNT. In this case, seismic records show that the blast lasted for 4 minutes. Another inspector who examined the scene soon after the explosion wrote that mine walls were blown "as far as 45 ft. from origin!"
Six miners were working in the area at the time of the collapse: Kerry Allred, Don Erickson, Luis Hernandez, Juan Carlos Payan, Brandon Phillips, and Manuel Sanchez. All are presumed dead. Tragically, a second powerful bounce occurred on August 16, killing MSHA inspector Gary Jensen and miners Dale Ray Black and Brandon Kimber, all of whom were working on rescue operations at the time.
From the introduction to Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee report cited below.
Shortly after the rescue attempt ended in disaster I wrote an article about the tragedy, posted here and there around the net, and while researching that piece and a later follow up I began to have the feeling that it was probable that a criminal case might be pursued against the mine owners and senior management as well as officials within the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) due to what appeared to be an utter disregard for the safety of their employees on the first part and the terrible negligence in fulfilling legally required regulatory functions on the second.
Last Thursday the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee released its "Report on the August 6, 2007 Disaster At Crandall Canyon Mine." I took the time to read it during the last couple of days, it's hardly light reading, 75 pages of load bearing specs for coal columns, a year long chronology of the push and pull between a politically connected mine owner and the MSHA district and local field offices, e-mails and bits and pieces of evidence gathered from internal company documents, whistle blowers and testimony before the committee. In addition to the report there are 415 pages of exhibits. I found in these 75 pages an indictment, of business, of government, and of a political philosophy.
Next time you're forced to go to one of those motivational seminars, just be glad it's not with these guys.
A supervisor at a motivational coaching business in Provo is accused of waterboarding an employee in front of his sales team to demonstrate that they should work as hard on sales as the employee had worked to breathe.
In a lawsuit filed last month, former Prosper Inc. salesman Chad Hudgens alleges his managers also allowed the supervisor to draw mustaches on employees' faces, take away their chairs and beat on their desks with a wooden paddle "because it resulted in increased revenues for the company."
WTF? Mustaches? I wonder if they were the "silent movie villain handlebar", or the "Magnum PI"?
Of course the team building exercises are a bit worse...
Christopherson led the sales team to the top of a hill near the office and told Hudgens to lie down with his head downhill, the suit claims. Christopherson then told the rest of the team to hold Hudgens by the arms and legs.
Christopherson poured water from a gallon jug over Hudgens' mouth and nostrils - like the interrogation strategy known as waterboarding - and told the team members to hold Hudgens down as he struggled, the suit alleges.
"At the conclusion of his abusive demonstration, Christopherson told the team that he wanted them to work as hard on making sales as Chad had worked to breathe while he was being waterboarded," the suit alleges.
the interrogation strategy known as waterboarding - and told the team members to hold Hudgens down as he struggled, the suit alleges.
Ahh yes, nothing motivates the sales team like a little bit of torture. Maybe next time they should try electrodes, I hear the sales increase is great with that one.
Senator Buttars has dug himself one deep hole. It is a dark and ugly thing. But some are trying to collect a few signatures to convince Utah that this guy doesn't need to go. The Utah Eagle Forum has started a pro-Buttars petition. At last count this petition had 123 people, seemed pretty pathetic for the all-mighty Eagle Forum.
Bob create the "We don't support Chris Buttars" petition so we can also show our feelings toward Senator Buttars disgraceful comments, please go and sign it, and spread the word (blogs, email, etc.)
If this doesn't do the trick then we always have act blue to help us out. Megan Risbon at the Utah Amicus:
I've started a fundraising campaign for whoever the Democratic candidate is in Senate District 10. Whoever the candidate ends up being (and I'm certain we will have plenty of people to choose from), the money raised here will go directly to them. I urge you to contribute to this vital race at http://actblue.com/page/buttar... Financial disclosure reports show that Buttars has almost $68,000 to spend on this year's race. Let's hit him where it really hurts--in the pocketbook. We're fighting for this seat and we are not going to back down.
It must be a harsh and painful existence to live with such fear and paranoia. When a person fears something or someone, they will eventually begin to hate that thing or that person for making them feel so insecure. That hatred becomes a poison in their soul that turns them into a monster. I feel sorry for Chris Buttars.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday began taking public comments and fielding requests for a public hearing on plans by Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions to import 20,000 tons of waste from Italian nuclear plant cleanups.
Most of the waste would be processed and recycled into shielding for hospitals and nuclear reactors at an EnergySolutions plant in Tennessee. But 1,600 tons would be buried at the company's low-level radioactive waste disposal site in Tooele County. The limited capacity for this type of waste nationally has prompted a strong reaction from some Utahns, as well as lawmakers in South Carolina and Tennessee.
Why do we keep having this fight? When will these people grow a damn soul and start considering some of the other implications of these decisions besides the swelling of their wallets? That 1600 tons is equal to about 74 tractor trailers loaded to the legal weight limit.
That's a mile long convoy of trucks loaded with deadly toxic waste driving into Tooele county. What the hell is wrong with these people?
Contact info for NRC.
Comments can be e-mailed to secy@nrc.gov through March 12. Written comments can be sent to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
Evidently the idea that the police are here to serve us has been lost on State Senator Chris Buttars. He has introduced bill SB260 that would keep police misconduct private unless the officer released the information to the public. Here is how the tribute describes the impact of the bill.
Such limitations on police disciplinary records may mean journalists won't have access to information on police punished for using deadly force, involved in sexual misconduct or other questionable behavior, said Joel Campbell, a Brigham Young University professor and member of the Freedom of Information Committee for the national Society of Professional Journalists.
And I thought the police worked for us. Guess not.
As many of you may know, Rep. Conyers has said he's "on the edge" of starting impeachment hearings. Let's help him make up his mind.
This is the e-mail I sent today.
Dear Rep. Conyers,
I'm writing today to covey my support for HR 333 and for beginning impeachment hearings immediately.
The Bush administration, from the top down, has displayed nothing but contempt for our constitution and laws. This willful abuse of trust is well documented and undeniable. In fact, this administration has openly admitted to, and even joked about their law breaking. They are completely unapologetic and will continue to obstruct any and all oversight by the Congress and our Courts. The shameful display by Attorney General Michael Mukasey in the recent House Judiciary Committee hearings is the most recent proof of this continued obstruction.
Begining impeachment hearings now will galvanize the support of the nation behind our Congress by:
Exposing this administrations lawlessness to the public on prime-time television.
Forcing compliance with subpoenas by eliminating "executive privilege".
Illustrating clearly that this Congress will actively defend the Constitution.
Failure to act now will only embolden this administration to further their executive overreach and cause more harm to our nation. I strongly urge you to proceed with these hearings as soon as possible, so that we may finally have a complete accounting of the crimes and abuses perpetrated by this administration. Only after a public review of these events will our nation be capable of moving forward with a clear vision and renewed sense of purpose.
Over the last couple of weeks I've been thinking more about the possible affects of Super Tuesday on Utah Republican voters, and I believe the potential opportunities for Democrats here could be great. As I said in an earlier post, I've had several conversations with Republican friends and coworkers that have all had a similar tone; Disenchantment with the national Republican party, anger about the way Romney was reviled by the religious right, and disgust with the lack of fiscal responsibility in Washington. I wanted to see if there was something other than my "gut feeling" to go on, so I started digging through some exit poll numbers to see if there was anything there that could support the idea of a possible swing toward the Democratic candidate.
Now, generally I don't believe polls are really all that useful, especially before an election. It's too easy to misinterpret the data and come to misguided conclusions. However, exit polls are generally accurate and can provide some interesting incite into the views of voters. After picking through some of these exit polls from super Tuesday, I found some encouraging signs that I think could provide an opportunity for Democrats to press their advantage this year here in Utah.
The first sets of numbers were all very similar. The demographics for Republicans and Democrats here were nearly the same in age groups, incomes, and education levels. After that there were no big surprises. Republicans tend to be church going conservatives, and Democrats were more occasional in there church going and tended to be liberal.
The two areas I found interesting were are on the Republican side. There were 21% of Republican voters who considered themselves "moderates" compared to 39% for Democrats. Not surprising considering that the their primary was open only to those registered republican. However, I see those 21% as potential Democratic voters given the proper motivation, but I'll get to them later.
The other area of interest on the Republican side was the this one:
How much does it matter to you that a candidate shares your religious beliefs?
Category
% Total
Giuliani
Huckabee
McCain
Paul
Romney
A great deal
14
1
3
3
2
92
Somewhat
27
-
2
4
3
91
Not much
30
-
1
5
2
91
Not at all
29
1
0
7
4
88
Those are difficult numbers to reconcile with how the votes actually went. You can look at it a couple of ways, either they weren't completely honest in those answers or they voted for Romney simply out of loyalty this once, despite not putting much importance on religious belief. I'm willing to bet that the majority of those who said they didn't find religious belief important genuinely don't in most elections. This time, of course, was a little different due to a high profile Mormon being in the race. That doesn't happen very often, so I don't think the majority of Mormon Republican voters think religious belief is terribly important in national elections. They do however put "values" and "leadership/ personal qualities" as the most important considerations when voting.
We've all heard of the "values voter", the term has become almost synonymous with the religious right of the republican party. (The same group that has kept Huckabee in the contest long after he should have been laughed off the public stage.) If you look at the numbers in Oklahoma, which went to McCain with Huckabee in a close second, you see something very telling when compared to the "values voters" of Utah.
How much does it matter to you that a candidate shares your religious beliefs?
Category
% Total
Giuliani
Huckabee
McCain
Paul
Romney
A great deal
43
0
51
31
3
13
Somewhat
32
1
24
39
1
35
Not much
17
-
11
48
9
30
Not at all
8
-
-
-
-
-
"Values voters" in Oklahoma seem to care a great deal about their candidate's religious beliefs. Surprise, surprise. About three quarters of the Republican voters in Oklahoma find it important that a candidate shares their religious beliefs, and those that thought it was very important voted overwhelmingly for Huckabee. The fact that he's an evangelical Christian was the overriding factor that won him those votes, just as Romney won the votes in Utah because he's a Mormon. The difference is that the evangelicals put religious belief over all other issues every time. Mormons don't, and that means they're not necessarily "untouchable" when it comes to voting for a specific candidate. It's simply a matter of getting the right message to them at the right time.
I think there are growing numbers of Utah Republicans who are starting to realize that they have been punted out of the so called "value voter" community that they, until recently, considered themselves to be a strong part of. This growing disenchantment is creating a golden opportunity for Democrats. With the proper message and motivation I think we could really make some advances in getting a good portion of that "moderate" 21% to vote for a Democrat at least in the national election. Now is the time. As for the message, if you look at the independent vote numbers, I think it's pretty clear who these potential voters would most likely support.
No matter how you voted today, do you usually think of yourself as a:
Category
% Total
Clinton
Edwards
Obama
Democrat
63
47
2
49
Republican
5
-
-
-
Independent or something else
32
26
4
68
Could there be a blue Utah in November? I think it could happen, what do you think?
John Stewart gives the perfect response to Romney's idiotic, pant-wetting, fear mongering, dip-shit assertion that anyone who votes for a Democrat is surrendering to terror. What an asshole. (It's a long clip but very funny. The best part is at about the 4:10 mark.)
Could Romney be more of a... oh, what's the word I'm looking for...
I just got off the phone with a friend and coworker of mine who has been a strict Mormon Republican for over thirty years. The conversation lasted for about an hour and started with him saying something like, "I'm pretty pissed off today, and I'm seriously considering voting for Obama over McCain, can you tell me more about him and his ideas?" He then proceeded to vent his anger and frustration about the way his party has gone over the last decade or so, and I told him "hey Dave, you know you sound a little like a Democrat today" to which he replied "Yea, I know" and then we had a good laugh. The point of all this is, there's a good portion of disenchanted Republicans out there who are really sort of stumbling around looking for someone they can get behind who isn't going to screw them over. The above conversation is just one of about half a dozen similar conversations I've had over the last couple of weeks with people who all feel the same way. They're worried about how things are going in this country and they want change, but the only information they've heard about Democrats is from Fox news and talk radio. Give some of your Republican friends and family a call sometime and talk to them about it. There's a good chance that through a little friendly chit chat they'll be thinking, as my friend did, that "maybe he's not that bad, after all."
Stand for Change Rally with Michelle Obama
Salt Palace Convention Center
100 South West Temple
(Please use the Salt Palace entrance at 300 West)
Meeting Room 255
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Monday, February 4, 2008
Doors open: 11:00 a.m.
Program begins: 11:45 a.m.
RSVP now:
http://ut.barackobama.com/slcMO This event is free and open to the public; however an RSVP is strongly encouraged.
Update: Live streaming video of Sen. Obama speaking tonight in Boston on his website at 7:00pm. Tomorrow's the big day, get out and VOTE!!
The Republican State Legislature™ is proposing it's master plan to solve illegal immigration this session, and it is chalk full of irrational authoritarian insanity. Here's the list...
HB241- Revokes in-state college tuition for undocumented students.
HB239- Revokes the driving privilege cards of all undocumented drivers, thereby nullifying their insurance.
HB237- Requires local law enforcement to "perform certain functions of a federal immigration officer", ie. detaining any undocumented immigrant they come in contact with, regardless of criminal activity.
House Speaker Greg Curtis has proposed using Oxbow jail as an internment detention facility for undocumented immigrants. (Luckily this has been rejected by the county, but I'm sure it's still being pushed by lawmakers.)
For the record, I'm not using the term "fascism" lightly here. Unfortunately that term has been so misused that it has nearly lost all meaning. I'm using it here in a very serious manner.
Historically there are several key similarities throughout all authoritarian movements, especially those who would be referred to as "fascist". I'm not going to go into all of them here, but one major likeness you find in nearly all of them is the "fear of difference" or "fear of the other". This irrational fear is fueled by a sense of victimization (you know the old "they took our jobs" nonsense), as well as an overly zealous nationalism.
We can go on and on about the awful ramifications of any one of these laws, but the fact is, using a policy of attrition to make the lives of immigrants as miserable as possible is not only despicable, it's immoral. Labeling immigrants "aliens", and casting them from society by revoking their privileges and rights is abhorrent, and should be called what it is. Fascism.
HB237 is one of the most ignorant bills to be put forth by Republicans this session. Unfortunately it passed in the house along mainly party lines. I am really starting to ask myself what Republicans have against immigrants. And the bills just keep coming. You would think by looking at the line up of bills being put forth by Utah Republicans that the only problem in our state are those scary immigrants.
But HB237 is in a class by itself. This bill would create an agreement where local law enforcement agencies statewide could volunteer to perform certain functions of immigration enforcement. Has anyone considered how this will impact collecting information about a crime? I can see this bill making it considerably more challenging. So the next time an immigrant sees a crime do you think they will say anything? The law of unintended Republicanism is rearing its ugly head again on immigration. After all..what would Jesus do?
The BYU College Democrats assembled Monday night in Diane Bailey's apartment to watch the State of the Union address. Like so many college kids in America, they weren't going to sit through a SOTU speech without turning it into a drinking game. So it was that every time the president said a certain word ("terror," "enemy," "evil") or mangled the language ("nucular," "Zimbawe"), they bolted down a beverage. Of course, as Mormons, they had to stick to soda. They ingested heroic, indeed sickening, quantities of root beer, ginger ale and 7-Up, even the rather edgy Mountain Dew.
They got louder as the speech grew longer.
"Terrorist!" (Gulp.) "Evil!!" (Glug.) "Nine-eleven!" (Burp.) When the president named America's greatest enemy, the students roared -- "Osama bin Laden!" -- and, as stipulated in the rules, ran outside to roll in the snow.
The article notes how Utah is getting some much needed attention from the candidates.
Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are running multiple TV spots. It's a bargain for the campaigns, what with just one media market in the entire state. It is also utterly novel: No one here can recall ever -- ever -- having seen a presidential TV ad in Utah.
The funeral forced Obama to cancel a campaign stop scheduled for Saturday in Salt Lake City. His wife, Michelle, will make the pitch for him here Monday. The biggest campaign event in recent days has been the appearance of Chelsea Clinton, who stumped for her mother at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. About 200 people showed up, many of them Republicans just curious to see a young woman who spent her teenage years in the White House.
While Hillary may be running ads it is Obama that has created a true ground game with plenty of grassroots support.
For what it's worth, Obama has an overwhelming advantage among the BYU College Democrats, who have an e-mail list of about 600 names on a campus with 30,000 students. Obama is pushing so hard in the state that he opened a campaign office in the remote southwest town of St. George.
The rest of the article is about how fun it is to be a Democrat in Utah. Gave a pretty good perspective, I enjoyed it.
Obama is on a roll in Utah, he picked up some major Utah endorsements today including former Congressman Bill Orton.
Gordon B. Hinkley was a good man. I was still an active member of the LDS church when he took over as president, and I always thought of him as a nice "grandpa" type figure. He had a talent for speaking that was endearing and funny, but always with great conviction. He wasn't boisterous and pulpit pounding, which is probably what I liked about him. Of course this is all reflections on his public persona, so I only have a narrow view of the man, but he always seemed pretty genuine. He skillfully led his church through many changes in a period of unpresidented expansion. There are now many more members abroad than here in the states. Regardless of my personal disagreements with his church and the actions of some of it's members, I believe he was a very capable leader and genuinely cared for mankind. I know he will be missed.
First off Obama is opening a second campaign office in Utah. Not only is Obama the only candidate running a 50 state strategy, he is also the only candidate competing for all of Utah.
Obama came to Utah back in August. Aramis posted some great video and now Obama is coming to Utah again. I'll post when I get more details.
Update - Guess not...stand up move, Obama needs every delegate he can get but never forgets his manners.
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