The Political Voices of Women

Have you ever felt like you’ve duped or played for a fool? What about that old adage, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me? Well, conservatives have been played for fools, there is no other way to put it, by extreme environmentalists and anti-capitalist liberals determined to limit the population of the United States in order to save the planet.

The very real problem is conservatives have done such a good job of damning ALL liberal organizations that the “good” ones are thrown out with the scurrilous ones. And, there are some very good, honorable liberal organizations such as the ADL and the SPLC. Yes, they are liberal and have a liberal agenda, but they are honorable. As such, they deserve our respect. The more fascinating aspect of all of this is the “conservative” organizations doing the most damning of both the ADL and the SPLC are the ones who have been targeted by both organizations as extremists. If you are aren’t familiar with the workings of both, they both target the “bad guys” regardless of political leanings, taking out liberals as well as conservatives who truly give conservatives a bad name.

If a conservative organization, leader, politician, or lobbyist cannot stand up to liberal scrutiny, then something is wrong. I’m not talking ideological scrutiny, but an examination of associations and funding. I’ve yet to find anything about the SPLC that would eliminate it as a source other than the tawdry love life of Morris Dees. (and that doesn’t’ count). No matter how conservatives try to take either organization out, they can’t. The same does not hold true for anything sponsored by Soros or anything connected with William Greene, Richard Viguerie, or funded by Sun Myung Moon.

I keep a back-up archive of material dealing with various exposes at my 2nd site, The Subway Canaries. For this article I am not linking to any of the individuals mentioned. You can track them over at The Subway Canaries, which is now on the SPLC’s resource list. (FYI – At The Subway Canaries you will find an extensive ‘expose’ into the background of the SPLC).

Thursday in Part I of my Pink Flamingo expose of the anti-immigration roots, I discussed the history of the humanity within the GOP. The Republican Party has a glorious history of abolition, and the protection of the innocent, be it the life of the unborn or insuring the safety of the escaping slave through the underground railroad. Consequently, since the co-opting of the “conservative” agenda by John Tanton and his minions, this beautiful history of protecting those who need it most has been cast aside for a more “conservative” agenda of protecting our borders. Even the established and highly respected Front Page has dealt with John Tanton and the extreme liberal environmental roots of the anti-immigration industry.

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Barack Obama was in Jacksonville, Florida today. He talked about the rising cost of gas prices, and his opposition of offshore drilling. See video and what other bloggers are saying. And, let me know what you think in comments.

This is from a post by Carol Nissen at the Obama Community Blog…

“Obama risks ire of Voters by opposing new oil drilling” (From AP of course, they make almost every single headline on Obama something negative) I think they have NO idea of how angry the American people are at having their country trashed for the past 8 years. It’s NOT just the oil, it’s the un necessary Iraq war, the falling apart infrastructure, the self serving of many politicians, the trampling of the constitution, the lowest ranked healthcare of an industrial nation, the treatment of our soliders, on and on and on.

The truth is the only ones who are going to have the “ire” are the already obscenely profiting oil companies. All this talk of Obama being “uppity”, “arrogant”, etc. stinks to me of a bunch of good ole boys who just might not get their way. The truth is there is going to be a big struggle in this country over how we get our energy and the fossil fuel gang has no plans for being replaced anytime soon. Why that’s why GWB was elected…and now that he and his cronies have screwed things up royally, well McCain will say and do as he’s told.

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Breaking: Cheney’s Office Pushed for Trims to EPA Congressional Testimony

Vice President Cheney’s office pushed for major deletions in congressional testimony on the public health consequences of climate change, fearing the presentation might make it harder to avoid regulating greenhouse gases, a former EPA officials said.

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TPM is reporting…

Vice President Dick Cheney’s office apparently worked to cut swaths of the Center for Disease Control’s congressional testimony on the effects of greenhouse gases.

The information was revealed in a letter from recently-resigned associate deputy EPA administrator, Jason Burnett, obtained by the AP, to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA):

From Think Progress…

The White House’s deletions — which were “overwhelmingly denounced” by scientists and environmental health experts — included “details on how many people might be adversely affected because of increased warming and the scientific basis for some of the CDC’s analysis on what kinds of diseases might be spread in a warmer climate and rising sea levels.” (See the unredacted testimony here.)

Much more to come on this.

The Defense Department is the nation’s biggest polluter. But, the Pentagon doesn’t want to clean up their mess, even when the health of the environment and the American people are at risk.

From The Washington Post

The Defense Department, the nation’s biggest polluter, is resisting orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up Fort Meade and two other military bases where the EPA says dumped chemicals pose “imminent and substantial” dangers to public health and the environment.

DoD Defies EPA on Military Site Cleanups…

In other words, the Pentagon’s response is a blend of “I’ll do it because I want to, not because you tell me to” and “who’s gonna make me?” Aren’t you comforted to know that a third-grade mentality is driving the response to dangerous chemicals leaking into soil and groundwater?

Pentagon to EPA: You and what army?

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Will You Be Scared Into Voting For McCain? – by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)

The GOP wants to scare you into voting for McCain. Don’t fall for it. Last week, I posted on how John McCain’s top adviser, casually mentioned that a terrorist attack would help Republicans. I hope everyone (both Republicans and Democrats) will vote on all the issues, and not on one emotion (fear).

From The Huffington Post…

Last week, as expected, the GOP, unable to run on its disastrous record, pulled out its 2004 playbook and opened it to “Scare Tactics,” offering up fear-mongering hatchet men Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, and John Bolton to deliver the message that we should all be afraid — very, very afraid — of what an Obama presidency could lead to. Little things like the obliteration of a U.S. city (Gingrich) and more terrorist attacks (Bolton).

This fright-fest came in the wake of McCain telling us that al Qaeda will increase its violent attacks to try to defeat him, and that Hamas wants Obama to win.

In case we didn’t get the message, up popped McCain’s chief campaign advisor Charlie Black with his considered opinion that another terrorist attack on U.S. soil “certainly would be a big advantage” for McCain.

(read full FearWatch ’08 post here)

What do you think? Can fear win the election for John McCain? Does the issue of “fear” trump issues like the economy, healthcare, and the environment? Do you expect there will be an “October Surprise” designed to scare the public? Would you change your vote out of fear? Let me know what you think in comments.

Read full post at The Care2 Election Blog

Midwest Flooding: Mother Nature or Failing Infrastructure? – by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)

Levees are breaking and the Midwest is flooding. This will end-up being a huge disaster, hurting not just the people who are flooded. We will all be affected by this one way or another, with more strain on our economy and higher food prices.

MSNBC has an Interactive Map of the Midwest Flooding, showing the areas of concern.

The question many are asking…

Is ‘Mother Nature’ Really To Blame for Midwest Flooding?

The U.S. infrastructure appears to be falling apart, and we are spending all of our “borrowed” money in Iraq. At this point, we wont need the terrorists to destroy our country, it’s going to just fall apart bit by bit on its own.

Also See:

Care2 News Network

McCain Flip-Flops on Offshore Oil Drilling – by Catherine Morgan 

John McCain is using our sky-high gas prices to justify his flip-flopping on the issue of offshore oil drilling. I mentioned this yesterday in a post, and questioned why the MSM didn’t seem to notice. Today, they have noticed.

However, there is no evidence that allowing more offshore drilling will help in reducing the price of gas in the near future (as McCain is suggesting), or even the far future. But, I guess the McCain campaign is hoping you will be fooled, and vote for McCain in the hopes of lower gas prices.

Here is an interesting clip from The Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer…

SEE VIDEO AND READ FULL POST AT THE CARE2 ELECTION BLOG

I’m Voting Republican is a satirical look at the likely outcome of another four years of Republican government.

McCain Want To Lift Federal Ban on Offshore Drilling — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)

McCain announced today, that he wants to allow states to drill for offshore oil. You have got to be kidding me. The only clip I could find about this (below) is focusing on another one of his campaign supporter controversies. But, I think the real story here is his desire to lift the federal ban on offshore drilling.

From The Washington Post – The Trail…

Republican Sen. John McCain today called for an end to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling, a move that would let states decide whether oil rigs would sprout up along the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines.The move is a dramatic break with the environmental groups McCain has been courting for months, but is designed to reassure voters angry about rising gas prices. McCain said he would push for new incentives to help convince state officials to allow the drilling once the 27-year-old federal ban is lifted.

From Politics Junky…

With gasoline prices rising and the United States chronically dependent on foreign oil, the Republican presidential contender said his proposal would “be very helpful in the short term resolving our energy crisis.”

That of course is horseshit as oil is traded on a global market and any oil tapped from the ocean (or ANWR, for that matter) would have little if any influence on the price of oil. Even if it had a nominal effect it would be at least five years before US consumers saw it. It’s not like US oil companies would find new oil reserves and only sell it to Americans for a discount. They sell it to the highest bidder, which may be China or India. And then there’s the problem of refineries…But that’s a more complicated message than telling the American people that crazy environmentalists are keeping gas prices high by blocking exploration on our own shores. So much for straight talk.

From Michelle Malkin’s blog…

Just a recap: McCain was AWOL on the windfall profits tax debate in the Senate (a failed Carter relic that he says he’d be “glad to look at”). He had nothing to say about Rep. John Peterson’s effort to lift the offshore drilling ban when it was up for a vote last week. And as I noted back on May 22, he has channeled the entire Democrat presidential field’s class warfare rhetoric and repeatedly referred to the oil industry’s “obscene profits.”

Now, he’s announced he wants to lift the offshore drilling moratorium and will give an energy speech tomorrow. He was for it before he was against it before he was for it again. Positively Kerryesque:

From Tammy at Tammy’s Blog…

In light of our soaring energy costs, John McCain wants the federal moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling to be lifted, and individual states given the right to pursue energy exploration in waters near their own coasts. With gasoline prices rising and the good old US chronically dependent on foreign oil, McCain said his proposal would “be very helpful in the short term resolving our energy crisis.” He even wants to go so far as to offer the states incentives, including a greater share of royalties paid by companies that drill for oil, as an incentive to permit exploration. Asked how far offshore states should be given control of drilling rights, he said that was a matter for negotiation. Wow, imagine how delightful our beaches will be?! He offered no other details for his proposal, which he is expected to describe more fully on Tuesday in an energy speech. Stay tuned for that.

What do you think? Is this the most ridiculous thing you have ever hear?

Here is a guest post from Frances at Frances Ellen Speaks.

(If you would like to be a guest blogger on this site, please join our community)

Have you noticed whether your gas station is putting ethanol in their gas? Have you noticed that your gas mileage has decreased?

I get my gas at a Shell station and right there on the front of the pump is a sticker that says, Contains 10% Ethanol. My gas consumption has been rising by leaps and bounds lately, but I’m not driving any more than usual. Actually, because of the gas prices, I’m more selective about where I go and how I get there.

While I was pumping, I looked up at the sign to see if the price had come down since my gas was now being spiked with ethanol. What a joke! What made me think a gas company would dream of giving the consumer a break.

It appears I’m not the only person that’s miffed. Here’s an excerpt from Slow Food Waltz

Ethanol, isn’t it’s use supposed to lower gas prices? Huh??

Help me out someone, what am I missing here. I just noticed this Shell gas station uses 10 percent ethanol, but the gas prices are exactly the same as they are at other places. Will ethanol ever translate to a cost savings for the consumer??

Okay, so the price hasn’t come down. It’s still up there at $3.90 a gallon in my neck of the woods. To top that off, I recently purchased a fuel economy car, but now I’m getting less gas mileage. That’s a fact and I’m not the only one who’s noticed. See information from Punny Money.

It lowers fuel economy. That 10% ethanol being mixed into your gasoline might be helping to keep it 10 cents a gallon cheaper, but you’re probably getting 10-30% fewer miles per gallon because of it. Since all the gas stations around here switched to a 10% ethanol blend, my gas mileage has dropped by about 15%!

What is going on? I understand it’s imperative that we cultivate some type of alternative fuel, but why am I suffering while the gas companies are reporting record-breaking profits? Oh yeah, I forgot–I don’t have a lobbyist. Drat!

So, it appears that you and I will be at the pumps more often, paying the same ridiculous prices. And I don’t expect to hear too much squawking from anyone because the change is couched in “alternative fuel” rhetoric. I suppose the media will somehow find a way to make it sound unpatriotic if anyone speaks out against it, too. What a racket!

READ MORE BY FRANCES AT FRANCES ELLEN SPEAKS

Also See:

How High Will Gas Prices Go?

Taxes on Big Oil

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