Apparently Safety Equals Loss Of Freedom

Rand Paul has been out of sight for some time - as the GOP field of Presidential contenders have been taking up a plurality of the news cycles - but that doesn't mean that he hasn't been using his canted philosophy and using it as a tool that could ultimately endanger people.

A senator who opposes federal regulation on philosophical grounds is single-handedly blocking legislation that would strengthen safety rules for oil and gas pipelines, a bill that even the pipeline industry and companies in his own state support.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s opposition to the bill hasn’t wavered even after a gas pipeline rupture last week shook people awake in three counties in his home state of Kentucky.

Paul, a tea party ally who shares with his father, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, a desire to shrink the role of the federal government, won’t discuss his role in stymieing the bill. But industry lobbyists, safety advocates and Senate aides said he is the only senator who is refusing to agree to procedures that would permit swift passage of the measure.

Officials familiar with Paul’s objections said he has told lobbyists and company officials that he’s not opposed to any specific part of the bill, just to the notion of additional federal regulation.

This is the same Rand Paul that is against energy saving lightbulbs and complains about how his toilet "doesn't work". This is what Modern Libertarianism looks like - sacrificing safety and efficiency in the name of a failed ideology that only worked in a fiction novel.

Living in the heart of what is known as Kentucky's Coal Fields, I have seen first-hand what happens when proper safety oversight is either rejected or is doesn't exist because of people like Rand "Accidents Happen" Paul. I saw what happened with safety regulations weren't followed properly at the Dotiki Mine in Webster County where one of my close friends was killed in a rock-fall.

Does Rand Paul care more about the companies rather than the people they employ? One would think so, but in the story above, the pipeline company agrees with the increase in safety regulation. So what are we to believe of Rand Paul and his alleged ideology if he won't even listen to the "job creators"?

Not Exactly A New Approach

Conservatives simply don't get it. If you want to have a broad approach to something, you bring in experts from ALL fields - and yes, that includes those with Hollywood ties.

Federal officials are hoping Cameron can help them come up with ideas on how to stop the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, officials said today.

The “Avatar” and “Titanic” director was among a group of scientists and other experts who met Tuesday with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies for a brainstorming session on stopping the massive oil leak.

The Canadian-born Cameron is considered an expert on underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies. “Avatar” and “Titanic” are the two highest-grossing films of all time.

BP, meanwhile, hopes to place a cap on a fractured oil pipe and contain the Gulf of Mexico spill within the next 24 hours, a top company official said.

"If everything goes well, within the next 24 hours, we could have this contained," BP's chief operating officer Doug Suttles told reporters in Louisiana.

Considering Cameron's expertise in underwater remote technology, I'm all for him being part of a larger panel doing to brainstorming and problem solving. However, conservatives are framing this like Obama and Cameron are the only ones in the room with their heads in their hands going "oh, shit, what are we going to do?"

But this isn't the first time Feds have used sci-fi writers to help shape specific policy and practices. The intelligence community has been using them for decades to help modify and craft national security procedures and how our defense departments will have to react to or prevent threats against our country.

The most prominent of these groups of authors is called Sigma.

Many SIGMA members are Ph.D.-level scientists and engineers; all are science fiction writers who have spent careers applying their technical and literary talents in exploring the future of science, technology, society and cultures. SIGMA provides a significant pool of talent for volunteer pro bono consultation with the Federal government and other organizations which need the imagination that only speculative writers can provide.

With sufficient notice, SIGMA can provide a panel of distinguished science fiction authors with real-world expertise ranging over physics, astrophysics, nuclear science, advanced weaponry, engineering, nanotechnology, biomedicine, human factors and a common element of practical futurism. Other members can be recruited as needed; a large pool of potential SIGMAns exists within the professional science fiction community.

I'm also reminded of the numerous occasions that Author C. Clarke consulted with NASA prior to new missions into space. Was this seen as out of the norm by conservatives? Likely there were a few that found this practice strange, but considering many of the most brilliant minds from the sci-fi genre have predicted most of what we now take for granted, this should come as a surprise to no one.

Again, this is all a matter of perception versus perspective. If you completely lack the proper perspective on any issue, you perception can be manipulated quite easily. This is a perfect example of such an issue.

Unreported Extremists

I've met two Census workers in my neighborhood this month and both were very polite, not at all intrusive, and were generally nice people. I didn't feel threatened, like my personal liberties were be infringed upon, and the encounters left me with a sense that conservatives have really hyped these people up to be beasts to be feared.

Apparently there is still enough of that fear out there that Census workers have been attacked.

In response to inquiries by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Census Director Robert Groves said the bureau’s temporary workers knocking on doors to collect information have faced 29 threats involving a gun, four robberies and three instances of being held against their will or carjacked.

Bureau officials said the overall pattern and types of incidents are similar to the 2000 census, but cautioned this year’s figures are already much higher than ten years ago and include a mix of news accounts and formal reports to the bureau’s safety office.

The later paragraph is going to give conservatives somewhat of an "out" when they are faced with the task of responding to information regarding Census workers being attacked. However, the level of hatred towards Census workers by the likes of Glenn Beck, Michelle Bachman, and Michelle Malkin leads me to believe that they won't be talking about reports of these attacks, as they have - in more ways than one - invited them.

Think Progress has more.

The Root Cause

Liz Cheney, every channelling the inane blatherings of her father, was on television yesterday continuing the meme that "civilian trials will lead to more terrorist attacks".

What you have is a situation, unquestionably we went through a period in the nation's history we dealt with terrorism as law enforcement matter....As Attorney General Mukasey pointed out when we prosecuted and convicted people after the '93 World Trade Center bombing and East Africa bombing, what it got us was 9/11 and 3,000 dead Americans.

That's a rather flaccid thesis, as there was ample intelligence to support the fact that bin Laden was ready to carry out an attack within the first year of George W. Bush's initial term in office. So, to use Cheney's model for what does and what doesn't cause a terrorist attack, it would stand to reason that Bush's ignoring of a domestic agenda from January 20th 2001 up until Sept. 12 2001 was a cause of what happened on Sept. 11th.

The only difference between Liz's statements and mine is that there are multiple examples of how the later can be verified. From the Bush cabinet ignored warnings put forth by the intelligence community and advisers as early as five days after being sworn in as President.

I'm reminded of how John Brennan is being put under fire for calling out Republicans for politicizing terror. Isn't that precisely what Liz Cheney is doing?

The Fear That They Don't Feel

Ever since the Obama adminstration's Justice Department decided to try 5 Sept 11th terrorist in NYC Federal Court, the collecting, mouth-agape, shrieks from the entirity of the Republican party has drowned out any semblance of rational discourse.

But now that former members of the Bush administration Justice Department are backing Eric Holder's plan, it would appear that Republicans will have to consider the very real fact that they are now against people that they once stood hand-in-hand with.

The reality of the situation is this - there have been nearly 150 terrorists tried and convicted in the US Federal Court system. That's a pretty impressive track record that conservatives are ignoring. To them, they see this as a golden opportunity to fearmonger and stoke the fires of willful ignorance within members of the electorate that would rather be told what to think than exercise any brainpower.

If conservatives think that this trial will make NYC a target, did they not think the same for the GOP convention in Minneapolis last year? Certainly there's going to be media attention, but what about all the rallies that McCain and Palin held last year - were they not potential targets as well for terrorist action?

Still, With The ACORN Business?

It seems that most Republicans can't tell the difference between "voter fraud" and a "falsified registration". Not only that, they are still peddling this nonsense that Obama is somehow complicit in all this.

Sarah Palin, giving the same stump-speech to the willfully ignorant that bothered to show up to hear her speak in Bangor, Maine had this to say:

In this election, it’s a choice between a candidate who won’t disavow a group committing voter fraud, and a leader who won’t tolerate voter fraud

She continued:

We believe that America is not the problem, America is the solution

source

While the "talking points" regarding Obama and ACORN are not only flimsy, but patently false, it's still fun to watch Republicans completely avoid issues of merit.

Here's something interesting to consider.

When was the first time you heard about ACORN?

When I ask that question, most people say it was only within the last few months.

When asked if they thought Obama had something to do with the organization, many think that he works for them or actually created ACORN.

Also, it's these same people who get their news primarily from Fox.

Predictability at it's finest.