Cutting Off Our Nose

Remember the bill that Mark Udall amended to prohibit drilling on the Roan Plateau? Supposedly it was because the Roan was a unique place.

It turns out that the bill does more:

The Roan Plateau amendment isn’t the only reason oil and gas producers are bitter. One provision within the energy bill would close down seven multi-agency offices in the West that were created to facilitate coordination between the BLM and other agencies and speed up the permitting process.

That provision makes Mark Udall, Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter and John Salazar into bald faced liars. They aren't interested in preventing gas production in just the scenic areas in the west. They want to ensure that it doesn't happen anywhere.

Udall Committing a Crime Against Humanity?

Cornfusion isn't the only problem with corn ethanol:

A U.N. expert on Friday called the growing practice of converting food crops into biofuel "a crime against humanity,'' saying it is creating food shortages and price jumps that cause millions of poor people to go hungry...

The world price of wheat doubled in one year and the price of corn quadrupled, leaving poor countries, especially in Africa, unable to pay for the imported food needed to feed their people, he said. And poor people in those countries are unable to pay the soaring prices for the food that does come in, he added.

''So it's a crime against humanity'' to devote agricultural land to biofuel production, Ziegler said a news conference. ''What has to be stopped is ... the growing catastrophe of the massacre (by) hunger in the world,'' he said.

OK, it is time to put some names to these perps. Who would have guessed that Mark Udall, Ed Perlmutter, Ken Salizar, John Salazar, Bill Ritter and Diana DeGette would stoop to commit a crime against humanity-against the poor in Africa and South America?

One wonders if, when they go to the dock to answer for their crimes, they will use that famous and unsuccessful defense used in Nuremberg "We were just following orders - this time, the orders of the environmentalist lobby."

[ Jean ] Ziegler, a sociology professor at the University of Geneva and the University of the Sorbonne in Paris, presented a report Thursday to the U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee saying a five-year moratorium on biofuel production would allow time for new technologies for using agricultural byproducts instead of food itself.

A Well Known Environmentalist Puppet

One of the problems with the Federal system of government is that Congressmen who have never been to an area can feel qualified to make policy, or force policy to be made about that area when the residents disagree.

That very complaint came up again this week when 93 members of Congress sent a letter to BLM trying to have 3 million acres of land put off limits to off road vehicles.

The letter comes at a pivotal time for eastern Utah public lands because the BLM in Moab is now taking public comment on a plan that would confine off-roaders to designated routes on public land just over the state line from Mesa County.

When the Moab BLM held a public meeting about its proposed management plan in Grand Junction last month, more than 100 people showed up, many to express their concerns about the potential for having their favorite places for unrestrained riding rendered inaccessible to motorized vehicles...

John Martin of the Western Slope ATV Association blasted the Congress members’ letter.

“Less than four of those people have ever been to Utah,” he said. “Three of them from Colorado [ Democrats Mark Udall, Diana DeGette and Ed Perlmutter ] are very well-known puppets of the environmental community, and we’re certainly not surprised by that kind of silliness by people who have never been out here.”

We find it interesting that John Salazar, whom we consider more of a "puppet" (if that is the right word) than Perlmutter, didn't sign the letter. Do you suppose he thought it might cost him votes? At this point in his Senatorial campaign, Mark Udall is far more interested in collecting out of state environmentalist money than he is fearful of losing ATV owner's votes.

Colorado Anti-War Left Blogger: Udall "An Embarrassment"

I'm not sure where this description would fit into a watcher's "Udall is not a moderate scorecard" ... but one anti-war blogger on the Colorado Left has dubbed Boulder liberal Rep. Mark Udall "an embarrassment":

I mean really ... Udall (and Perlmutter and Salazar) couldn't even screw up enough courage to vote against the MoveOn.org condemnation, but now Udall is introducing a mirror image proposal so the Dimocrats can play 'gottcha' with the Republicans?

For further understanding of Udall's folly, check out the commentary on The Colorado Index and Slapstick Politics for more details.

Hey, This Sounds Familiar

This is more in the great minds think alike category. Or, at least small minds, depending on your politics, lol.

Today, the Gazette echoed in more detail our A Lot of Fine Print post.

The point that we and the Gazette make is that Mark Udall and Ed Perlmutter threw any requirement for personal responsibility out the window when they sponsored legislation that bails out the folks who bet their fortunes that they could profit handsomely from the inflation in their McMansions.

The Gazette added value and additional points to our essay:

Is the government only going to intervene on behalf of at risk borrowers, leaving those who have already been foreclosed-upon out in the cold? If such assistance is predicated on the idea that these people are all the hapless victims of unscrupulous lenders, aren’t the already-foreclosed-upon entitled to something, as well? Will government aid be means tested, or also go to the couple earning $200,000 who bought a mansion during the boom times? Couldn’t the creation of this new government safety net actually encourage delinquencies and defaults, once people know Uncle Sam will help them out of the jam? And what unfortunate new precedent might we be setting? Will the government next come to the aid of those who get in over their heads with credit cards?

There was a good rationale for the savings & loan bailout. Decades before that debacle, the government had required savings & loans to provide government insurance on savings accounts. This sub-prime problem has no such rationale. The government has no business rescuing speculators, even those dumb enough to speculate on their own home, from their own greed.

FISA Vote

Once again Mark Udall, Ed Perlmutter, and Diana DeGette demonstrate with their votes a shallow understanding of history. They are each too pacifistic to want to learn about the issues and technologies that might one day save countless American lives without in any way damaging 4th amendment protections for US citizens. That's what this vote was about, and they were on the wrong side of it.

The House passed the new FISA bill. Our understanding of this bill is that it eliminates an accidental legal roadblock to surveillance involving communications that originate in one foreign country, pass through communications switching in the United States, and are directed to another foreign country.

Readers may not know this, but the US and other countries have been doing exactly this since radio and telegraph communications began. The Zimmerman Telegram was an attempt by WWI Germany to entice Mexico into attacking to retake the Southeastern US. It was transmitted through the undersea cable from Germany to the US and on to Mexico. The undersea cable passed through Britain and was intercepted and decoded there.

Had that not happened, many American lives might have been lost to a surprise attack by Mexico. It doesn't seem likely that Mexico would have won, but having the Telegram made it impossible for Germany and Mexico to try.

That is just one of many historic examples of the interception of messages between hostile entities whose means of transmission passed through a third country and were intercepted there.

Hey Mark: Keep taking photos with soldiers in uniform and maybe people won't notice your lack of knowledge on military matters. Dukakas can likely arrange a tank ride, too.

Thanks to SquareState which has a whole different take, if you have the stomach to read it. Pun intended.