Mary’s Nightmare Before Christmas

Poor Mary trails in every poll for this Saturday's Senate runoff in Louisiana.  The dynasty of the “Cajun Kennedys” is 99% assured of ending as the Pelican State electorate goes to the polls.

After three terms in office, Mary Landrieu has been consigned to a state of utter irrelevance.  Her expected loss to Bill Cassidy will mark the end of an era in a state the Democratic Party was convinced it would own in perpetuity.

Three days before the 2014 mid-term election, Landrieu was asked by NBC’s Chuck Todd why The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer struggles in her state.  Landrieu first said his energy policies run counter to Louisiana’s “pro-production” mindset, citing an angry response to his moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Finding a pile of shit nearby, Mary stepped right in it making the excuse that if she lost her seat to Cassidy it would be because of racism and sexism.

“I’ll be very honest with you. The South has not always been the friendliest place for African-Americans. It’s been a difficult time for the president to present himself in a very positive light as a leader.  It’s not always been a good place for women to present ourselves. It’s more of a conservative place,” said Landrieu.

Insulting voters days ahead of an election will likely be her undoing. 

After the mid-terms, Landrieu made a pathetic play for votes in the Senate by calling for a vote on the XL Keystone Pipeline.  For six years, she and every other Democrat blocked the bill.  Landrieu fooled no one with her purely political ploy.

They say she’s “gator bait” come Saturday.  More likely, a loup garou is going to emerge from the bayou and spirit her away.

Buh-bye Mary.  As we like to say in the South, “Bless her heart.”

Al Franken, Lizard People And The 2014 Midterms

On Monday, August 4, 2014 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will announce its endorsement of GOP businessman Mike McFadden in the Minnesota Senate race.

The race is emerging as potentially competitive, despite receiving less attention than other battleground contests. This week, University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato moved the Franken race into the "Leans Democratic" category, calling it a potential sleeper contest.  Unlike other targeted Democratic senators in 2014, Franken has maintained a solidly liberal voting record, rarely breaking with President Obama on high-profile issues. 

Sabato notes that six years ago, Franken won by the barest of margins (312 votes) against incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R) only after a lengthy recount process.  The process was derailed when it was discovered that Lucas Davenport had sullied the voting process by casting a write-in vote for Lizard People.

In an interview with MPR News Davenport said, "I don't know if you've heard the conspiracy theory about the Lizard Men.  A friend of mine, we didn't like the candidates, so we were at first going to write in “revolution”, because we thought that was good and to the point. And then, we thought the Lizard People would be even funnier, and there was kind of a running inside gag between some friends and I."

“Lizard People” refers to the conspiracy theory that there's a race of shape shifting lizards masquerading as humans who rule the world, but Davenport doesn't consider himself a believer.

McFadden still faces an Aug. 12 primary opponent in GOP state Rep. Jim Abeler.  McFadden talks about “unshackling the energy industry” by voting for the Keystone Pipeline and permitting the fast-tracking of 24 LNG plants.  He also favors limiting the stifling effects of government regulation.

He advocates “abolishing the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with a market-based system that provides coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. On immigration, he says he would first secure the borders and then implement a multistep path to citizenship. He says he will oppose any effort to change Social Security and Medicare benefits for those at or near retirement.”

Dear Minnesotans, in 1998 you elected a pro wrestler your governor.  In 2008 you elected Stuart Smalley your senator.  Howze about ya take 2014 seriously?

UPDATE:  A big ‘ol “Thank You” to Diogenes’ Middle Finger for linking to this post.

Joe Biden Is Full of Gas

Joe Biden gave a speech to Ukrainian legislators a few days ago. One statement really stood out to me:

And as you attempt to pursue energy security, there’s no reason why you cannot be energy secure. I mean there isn’t. It will take time. It takes some difficult decisions, but it’s collectively within your power and the power of Europe and the United States. And we stand ready to assist you in reaching that. Imagine where you’d be today if you were able to tell Russia: Keep your gas. It would be a very different world you’d be facing today. It’s within our power to alter that. It will take some time, but it’s within our power. Very difficult decisions, but within our power.

One of those "difficult decisions" that is "within our power", would be to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

Aside from reducing the carbon footprint of transporting crude oil and natural gas, and lessening the odds of catastrophic rail or highway accidents involving tankers and oil fires, it has been pointed out that a non military response to the Russian bear's expansionism, would be to provide eastern Europe with an alternate supplier of energy. Providing an alternate buyer to Russian energy would have the twofold effect of reducing the leverage Russia holds over those dependent on Russian oil and gas, and reducing the revenues to Russia, weakening their ability to finance their expansionist adventures.

"...we stand ready to assist you in reaching that. Imagine where you’d be today if you were able to tell Russia: Keep your gas. It would be a very different world you’d be facing today. It’s within our power to alter that..."

No, Joe. You and Barry are standing in the schoolhouse door of energy production, obstructionist at every turn. The record levels of energy production you like to brag about, that took place during your administration, were either federal lands whose development was started during earlier administrations, or on state and private lands you could not successfully obstruct.

Are you serious about what you told the Ukrainians, Joe? Then show them that there's a prayer that we could have the capability, at least some time in the future, of providing them energy independence from the Russian bear. Convince your boss to take out his pen and sign the damn pipeline agreement and then, discuss the kind of infrastructure needed to provide liquified natural gas to our allies. You know. The kinds of facilities that your supporters on the Left oppose whenever they're proposed.

Show the political will to do the right thing, Joe, if you have any dreams of becoming the Leader of the Free World. Start now, and twist the arm of your lame duck boss and actually do something useful and facilitate the thousands of jobs the pipeline will create. Or just mouth the words and stand idly by while the world goes to hell in a handbasket.

Choice is yours.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Obama Lies About Keystone (Again)

By Proof

I don't know how many people caught it, but the latest lame public excuse Barack the Pathetic put up about the many delays in approving the Keystone pipeline was:

“But these are how we make these decisions.”

No. They're. Not.

For those of you just joining the program, or have been in a coma for the last five years of the Obama administration, Obama has been dithering and delaying the very simple decision of permitting the Keystone pipeline to extend between the United States and Canada. Or, more precisely, the extension of the Keystone pipeline. As we noted here (A Tale of Two Pipelines) , the Keystone XL is an extension of the original Keystone pipeline, built in 2009 after receiving approval from the Bush administration, in 2008, to proceed. That phase of the pipeline was completed in June 2010.

There is no indication that it took so much as a year to get that pipeline approved, much less having the president ignore environmental study after study which found nothing to bar it.

So, if the Bush (admittedly more competent) administration could get approval in less than a year, what does Obama the Bumbler mean by

“But these are how we make these decisions"?

Well, he certainly can't mean the American people or even the American government, because both acted more quickly the first time. The only way to find even a kernel of truth in what he said, is to parse the word "we". If by "we", he means "craven, spineless politicians enthralled and beholden to special interest groups and lobbyists"...maybe.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Obama’s XL Pipeline Etch A Sketch: The Knobs Do Nothing

In a March 22, 2012 Gallup Poll, asked as part of its annual Environment Survey, 57% of Americans approve of construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.  Forty-four percent of Democrats and 51% of independents approve as well.  That polling information is the chief reason for the current occupier of the Oval Office to “shake up” his XL pipeline decision.

In an “etch a sketch” moment of his own, the errand boy sent by grocery clerks announced that he would speed up the permit process for the southern section of the pipeline—just in time for the presidential election.  No obvious political expediency in evidence here.  Meh.

Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) says when Obama stands in Cushing for his photo-op that he’s pulling a fast one on Americans.

 

In an interview with KJRH, Sullivan, Chairman of the House Energy and Power Subcommittee, said, “President Obama claiming credit for speeding up the Keystone pipeline is like Al Gore saying he invented the Internet—it is claiming credit where credit isn't due. This is clearly an attempt to deflect attention from $4 gas and his failed energy policies, and Oklahomans won't buy it.  The southern portion of Keystone XL doesn’t cross international lines and doesn’t need presidential approval.  In fact, this administration has done everything in their power to delay the Keystone process—just last week the President personally lobbied members of Congress to vote against it,” Sullivan stated.

“Simply put, the southern portion of keystone—from Cushing, OK to the Gulf Coast—is being built in spite of the Obama Administration, not because of them.  This portion of the pipeline does require numerous permits, but those come from state authorities, army corps of engineers and fish and wildlife services, not the president,” he concluded.

Here’s an excerpt of an Op-Ed which appears in today’s The Oklahoman:

"Forgive us, sir, if we don’t share your grudging acceptance of fossil fuel as some “temporary” alternative to the energy sources you prefer. It’s not that we dislike wind power. Lord knows we have plenty of wind. Suburban Oklahomans have embraced wind for their electricity, just as their homesteading ancestors embraced windmills on treeless plains. The head of a national wind energy trade association is a former member of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry."

"She loves wind power. But she also gets the criticality of hydrocarbons. Do you?"

"Mr. President, it’s not that we don’t want a bridge to a future that doesn’t rely on imported oil. In fact, we think a key truss on that bridge is a fossil fuel called natural gas. We have lots of it, but your administration seems keen on restricting its exploration."

"In the town that fossil fuel built, we don’t feel trapped in the past, as you put it the other day. We not flat earthers. We’re deep earthers. We don’t cling to our rotary rigs or nodding donkeys (pumpjacks). We recognize their necessity."

"State Rep. Lee Denney, who represents the area you’ll visit in Cushing, notes that a future without oil and gas exists only in your head, not in reality."

"So demagogue all you want about under-taxed oil barons. Just remember that you didn’t arrive here on a solar-powered aircraft. What flows in and out of the Pipeline Crossroads of the World is oil. Getting it to Cushing is expensive and risky."

"Eighty-two years ago, on March 26, 1930, the rumbling at a drilling rig in southeast Oklahoma City turned to a roar. Terrified roughnecks fled when high-pressure natural gas sent pipes and rocks into the air. It took 11 days to tame the Wild Mary Sudik well. But tame it we did."

"Eight decades later we’re still taming hydrocarbons around here, in the town that fossil fuel built."

Linked at Proof Positive and Say Anything.