heath's blog

For two weeks or so, Sean Hannity has been trying his best convince his audience that oil companies and speculators have nothing to do with high gas prices.

And despite the fact that his party has held the White House for two terms and Congress for six of the last eight years, he wants you to believe that it's all the Democrats' fault that we're paying $4 a gallon for gas.

As part of his evidence, he keeps repeating this story that "China is drilling 60 miles off the coast of Florida" for oil in an area where he U.S. won't allow American companies to do the same.

Translation: Them foreigners are tryin' to git yer oil!

The only problem with this story is it's not true.

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From McClatchy Newspapers yesterday, entitled "GOP claim about Chines oil drilling off Cuba is untrue:"

"Yet no one can prove that the Chinese are drilling anywhere off Cuba's shoreline. The China-Cuba connection is "akin to urban legend," said Sen. Mel Martinez, a Republican from Florida who opposes drilling off the coast of his state but who backs exploration in ANWR."

"China is not drilling in Cuba's Gulf of Mexico waters, period," said Jorge Pinon, an energy fellow with the Center for Hemispheric Policy at the University of Miami and an expert in oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. Martinez cited Pinon's research when he took to the Senate floor Wednesday to set the record straight."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/40776.html
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Dick Cheney has also been repeating the lie.

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From AP yesterday:

"In a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Cheney said on Wednesday that waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, long off limits to oil companies, should be opened to drilling because China is already there pumping oil."

[...]

"Congressional Democrats pounced on the vice president's remarks and were backed up by independent energy experts, who called the assertion hyperbole at best and a falsehood at worst."

"Cheney's office said in a statement to The Associated Press that the vice president had erred."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080613/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney_oil_drilling_3
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I know what you're thinking. Hannity didn't lie - He was just misinformed! (Isn't that always the case with them?)

Then Sean would, no doubt, correct his misstatement after the truth got out all over the media Thursday.

So, wanting to see how he would do a retraction after multiple self-righteous declarations on the subject, I decided to tune into Sean's program today.

But, 5 minutes in, he's at it again.

"China is drilling 60 miles off the coast of Florida!"

Sean then punctuated his rant against lib'ruls with his usual exasperated "It's unbelievable!"

He couldn't have said it better.

Why does anyone continue to believe a word this guy says?

Air America Radio (airamerica.com) is pleased to present the debut this week of “American Afternoon” with guest host actor and activist RICHARD BELZER (Det. John Munch on Law & Order: SVU ).

“American Afternoon” will be featuring a series of well-known celebrity hosts with progressive perspectives. Confirmed guest hosts in the coming three weeks include: talk show host RON REAGAN, award-winning TV personality ROSEANNE BARR with Johnny Argent, and JOY BEHAR from “The View” on ABC-TV.

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Roseanne?

The one who writes those bizarre, rambling diatribes against Obama and who used to pal around with Paula Jones on her short-lived daytime talk show?

Are you trying to drive the audience away Mr. Green?

One from "The Journal" that I overlooked last week — a legislator's plan to create an "aborted fetus registry:"

article from:
http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/503967.html?nav=5006

"This year, 61 bills were introduced in the state Legislature attempting to change existing abortion laws. Delegates Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, and John Overington, R-Berkeley; and Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph, were among those to introduce the measures.

Legislators said they recognize that the initiatives are not likely to make much progress this year.

“That hasn’t been taken up, and the committee chairman isn’t going to have that on the agenda,” Overington said of House Bill 2149, for which he was the lead sponsor."

more on this at:
http://media.herald-dispatch.com/blog/issues/2008/02/pander-bears-on-loo...

(My column for Thursday)

Heath Harrison: Five years later, Wellstone's legacy lives on

Today is a somber day for democracy, as the five-year anniversary of Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone's death in a plane crash is observed.

Wellstone was the kind of leader rarely seen in Washington. A college professor with a history of activism, he was compelled to run for Senate upon hearing students repeatedly using "corrupt," "big money" and "phony" to describe what came to mind when thinking of politics.

Wellstone's message remains refreshing in today's era, in which politicians of both parties routinely favor big money interests over constituents.

"Politics is not about money or power or games or winning for the sake of winning. Politics is about the improvement of people's lives, lessening human suffering, advancing the cause of peace of justice in our world," Wellstone often said.

more at:
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/opinions/x1435347915

Cable provider decides to air anti-McConnell ad
The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Kentucky's largest cable television provider has switched course in deciding to air a commercial claiming Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell inappropriately helped a nonprofit group obtain $8.3 million in grants because of its ties to a lobbyist who is a former McConnell assistant.
[...]
The ad claims that McConnell inappropriately helped a Kentucky nonprofit group, Voice for Humanity, obtain $8.3 million in grants to distribute digital voice recorders in Afghanistan and Nigeria because the group, based in Lexington, was represented by McConnell's former chief of staff, Hunter Bates.

The ad notes that Bates helped McConnell raise $120,000 in campaign funds. The ad goes on to say that while supporting grants for the company, McConnell voted against purchasing body armor for troops in Iraq.

The commercial has the look and feel of Apple iPod ads - complete with silhouetted images of Afghan tribesmen dancing with ear buds in their ears and automatic weapons in their hands.

more:
http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/170954.html

Naturalists from state parks to visit Creation Museum
The Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. --
Carey Tichenor has decided to see in person what he's up against.
Tichenor, chief naturalist in the Kentucky Department of Parks, is planning a trip to the Creation Museum in northern Kentucky. The trip became something of a necessity after three months of people who visited the museum challenging Tichenor and other naturalists when they tried to teach visitors about the ancient natural history of Kentucky's parks, Tichenor said.

"Visitors are asking, 'Well, it said this at the Creation Museum, but you all are saying something different,' " Tichenor said.

The Creation Museum, which presents the Bible's creation story as fact supported by science, was opened in late May in Petersburg by the Answers in Genesis Christian ministry. And there might be millions of years of difference between what a tourist is told one day at the museum and the next day at a state park.

more at:
http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/165082.html

Fairness Doctrine hammered 309-115
By Alexander Bolton
June 28, 2007
The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from using taxpayer dollars to impose the Fairness Doctrine on broadcasters who feature conservative radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
By a vote of 309-115, lawmakers amended the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill to bar the FCC from requiring broadcasters to balance conservative content with liberal programming such as Air America.
The vote count was partly a testament to the influence that radio hosts wield in many congressional districts.
more at:
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/fairness-doctrine-hammered-309-115-2...
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warning-this story was written by a hack-this paragraph is a good example:
"Conservatives fear that forcing stations to make equal time for liberal talk radio would slash profits and pressure radio executives to scale back on conservative programming to avoid escalating costs and interference from government regulators. Opponents of the Fairness Doctrine argue that radio stations would suffer financially if forced to air liberal as well as conservative programs because liberal talk radio has not proven popular or profitable. For example, Air America, liberals’ answer to “The Rush Limbaugh Show” and Michael Medved, filed for bankruptcy in October."

"It was a simple question that required critical thinking. And how I was let down. Some callers were absolutely stuck in a so-called, self-styled progressive/liberal posture that was neither and as inane as anything exhibited by the right. It seems they wanted to discuss the validity and legitimacy of Catholicism and/or the Church as opposed to the subject at hand.

I made it real simple. Even the Boeotian could decipher yesterday’s critical thinking exercise. Are Catholics being defamed or libeled disproportionately more than other faiths? Furthermore, Bill Donohue made it clear that he wasn’t a theologian, was not going to discuss theological issues (e.g. The Eucharist, The Trinity) and found it appropriate for others to disagree with the Vatican’s positions on political issues. Such was fair game."
http://www.airamerica.com/node/4035#comment

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They fired Sam for this crap?!? Time for more complaint e-mails?