|
Banned
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Locobot
From this month's Harper's index:......
........-Days after Katrina hit that Dick Cheney's office ordered an electric company to restore power to two oil pipelines: 1
-Days after the hurricane that the White House authorized sending federal troops to New Orleans: 4
|
Quote:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...102801086.html
Full Text: U.S. v. Libby Indictment
Office of Special Counsel
Friday, October 28, 2005; 1:49 PM
20. On or about July 10, 2003, LIBBY spoke to NBC Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert to complain about press coverage of LIBBY by an MSNBC reporter. LIBBY did not discuss Wilson's wife with Russert.
|
A MSM with the "liberal bias" that many have posted about on these threads, would not have buried this story, as they actually did. Most are reading about it here, for the first time.
Mr. Libby was caught in the act of "enforcing", when he called Tim Russert to complain about unfavorable coverage by Russert's colleague, broadcaster Chris Matthews, about the Bush-Cheney administration, during the investigation of a larger act of "enforcing", directed at Wilson and his wife, Plame.
Quote:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ariann...se_b_9921.html
.......Why is no one in the mainstream media talking about the most troubling aspect of the latest Russert revelations -- the fact that Libby had called him to bitch about Chris Matthews -- and what it reveals about the cozy, symbiotic relationship between those in power and those in the media? Over the last decade, far too many reporters have forgotten that their mission is to uncover the truth, not to do the bidding of the powers-that-be.
Why did Libby (whom Purdum says Russert had no "particular prior relationship" with) call Russert to complain about Matthews? Why didn't he call Matthews himself or Hardball's executive producer? Or why didn't Libby call the president of NBC News to voice his complaints? Why did he pick Russert?
And why didn't Russert, in his role as NBC's Washington bureau chief, say to Libby, "If there is a factual error, let us know and we can correct it"? Instead, as Russert told Brian Williams following Fitzgerald's press conference: "I immediately called the president of NBC News and shared the complaint."
Was the goal to get Matthews to back off? Was the message to Russert: enforce the rules of the fraternity or risk losing your access?....
........So it's no surprise to learn that Dick Cheney -- no fan of the limelight -- has appeared on Meet the Press (hosted by Russert) no less than 10 times since becoming Vice President but, during that same time, has not made a single appearance on MTP competitor This Week with George Stephanopoulos -- unlike Rumsfeld, Rice, Card, et al who have appeared on both.
After all, even the High Priest of Journalism can't offer his viewers the confessions of those who don't show up.
|
Contrary to what Bush-Cheney supporters post here, the MSM has been sufficiently intimidated by Cheney and his thug, Libby, to limit it's criticism and it's distribution of news reports like the two that I am quoting [below]. That is what the current status quo is all about. The muzzling of the press and of any potential open dissent of criminal, Bush-Cheney policies is business, "as usual". Scooter's indicment, and news reports like these are a hopeful sign that the tide is finally turning...
I hope, for the future of my country, that it is not happening too late!
Quote:
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/a...WS05/509110304
Originally published September 11, 2005
Power crews diverted
Restoring pipeline came first
By Nikki Davis Maute
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina roared through South Mississippi knocking out electricity and communication systems, the White House ordered power restored to a pipeline that sends fuel to the Northeast.
That order - to restart two power substations in Collins that serve Colonial Pipeline Co. - delayed efforts by at least 24 hours to restore power to two rural hospitals and a number of water systems in the Pine Belt.
At the time, gasoline was in short supply across the country because of Katrina. Prices increased dramatically and lines formed at pumps across the South.
"I considered it a presidential directive to get those pipelines operating," said Jim Compton, general manager of the South Mississippi Electric Power Association - which distributes power that rural electric cooperatives sell to consumers and businesses.
"I reluctantly agreed to pull half our transmission line crews off other projects and made getting the transmission lines to the Collins substations a priority," Compton said. "Our people were told to work until it was done.
"They did it in 16 hours, and I consider the effort unprecedented."
Katrina slammed into South Mississippi and Southeast Louisiana on Aug. 29, causing widespread devastation and plunging most of the area - including regional medical centers and rural hospitals - into darkness.
The storm also knocked out two power substations in Collins, just north of Hattiesburg. The substations were crucial to Atlanta-based Colonial Pipeline, which moves gasoline and diesel fuel from Texas, through Louisiana and Mississippi and up to the Northeast.
"We were led to believe a national emergency was created when the pipelines were shut down," Compton said.
<b>White House call</b>
Dan Jordan, manager of Southern Pines Electric Power Association, said Vice President Dick Cheney's office called and left voice mails twice shortly after the storm struck, saying the Collins substations needed power restored immediately.
Jordan dated the first call the night of Aug. 30 and the second call the morning of Aug. 31. Southern Pines supplies electricity to the substation that powers the Colonial pipeline.
Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Mike Callahan said the U.S. Department of Energy called him on Aug. 31. Callahan said department officials said opening the fuel line was a national priority.
Cheney's office referred calls about the pipeline to the Department of Homeland Security. Calls there were referred to Kirk Whitworth, who would not take a telephone message and required questions in the form of an e-mail.
Susan Castiglione, senior manager of corporate and public affairs with Colonial Pipeline, did not return phone calls.
<b>Compton said workers who were trying to restore substations that power two rural hospitals - Stone County Hospital in Wiggins and George County Hospital in Lucedale - worked instead on the Colonial Pipeline project.
The move caused power to be restored at least 24 hours later than planned.</b>
Mindy Osborn, emergency room coordinator at Stone County Hospital, said the power was not restored until six days after the storm on Sept. 4. She didn't have the number of patients who were hospitalized during the week after the storm.
"Oh, yes, 24 hours earlier would have been a help," Osborn said.
Compton said workers who were trying to restore power to some rural water systems also were taken off their jobs and placed on the Colonial Pipeline project. Compton did not name specific water systems affected............
.....Nevertheless, Callahan said he drove to Compton's office on U.S. 49 North in Hattiesburg to tell him about the call from the Department of Energy. Callahan said he would support whatever decision Compton made.
<b>Callahan said energy officials told him gasoline and diesel fuel needed to flow through the pipeline to avert a national crisis from the inability to meet fuel needs in the Northeast.
Callahan said the process of getting the pipelines flowing would be difficult and that there was a chance the voltage required to do so would knock out the system - including power to Wesley Medical Center in Hattiesburg.
With Forrest General Hospital operating on generators, Wesley was the only hospital operating with full electric power in the Pine Belt in the days following Katrina.</b>
"Our concern was that if Wesley went down, it would be a national crisis for Mississippi," Callahan said. "We knew it would take three to four days to get Forrest General Hospital's power restored and we did not want to lose Wesley."
Compton, though, followed the White House's directive.
Nathan Brown, manager of power supply for the electric association, was responsible for overseeing the delicate operation of starting the 5,000-horsepower pumps at the pipeline.
Engineers with Southern Co., the parent company of Mississippi Power Co., did a dual analysis of what it would take to restore power and Brown worked with Southern Co. engineers on the best and quickest way to restore power.
Work began at 10 a.m. Sept. 1 and power was restored at 2 a.m. Sept. 2 - a 16-hour job.
<b>Night work</b>
A good bit of the work took place at night.
Line foreman Matt Ready was in charge of one of the teams that worked to power the substations and the pipeline. Ready's shift started at 6 a.m. Sept. 1; he received word about the job four hours later and saw it to completion.
"We were told to stay with it until we got power restored," Ready said. "We had real safety issues because there were fires in the trees on the lines and broken power poles."
Ready described working on the lines in the dark like attempting to clear fallen trees out of a yard with a flashlight and a chain saw.
"Everything was dangerous," he said.
Ready said the crew members did not learn they were restoring power to pipelines until after the job was done.
How did they feel about that?
"Is this on the record?" Ready asked. "Well, then, we are all glad we were able to help out."
Compton said he was happy to support the national effort. But he said it was a difficult decision to make because of the potential impact in the region had the plan not worked and the area's power restoration was set back days.
"It was my decision to balance what was most important to people in South Mississippi with this all-of-a-sudden national crisis of not enough gas or diesel fuel," Compton said.
"In the future, the federal government needs to give us guidelines if this is such a national emergency so that I can work that in my plans."
|
The following is editorial comment from the same publication.
Quote:
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/a...509140317/1014
Article published Sep 14, 2005
'Diversion' raises many questions
It was all pomp and circumstance in Collins Tuesday.
A number of federal officials - including Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta - traveled to Collins to heap praise on workers who labored to restore power to the Colonial Pipeline four days after Katrina ravaged South Mississippi.
But here's the rub: The project was undertaken - at the request of the White House - for the express purpose of providing fuel to the northeast United States. It also delayed the restoration of electricity to rural hospitals - Stone County Hospital in Wiggins and George County Hospital in Lucedale - by at least 24 hours, as well as the restoration of a number of water systems powered by the South Mississippi Electric Power Association.
Moreover, there was a very real risk that the voltage required to get the pipelines flowing would knock out power to Wesley Medical Center in Hattiesburg. Given the multiple problems Forrest General Hospital was experiencing, the area's looming health care crisis could have become a tragedy if power had been cut to Wesley.
Was the national gasoline crisis so serious that it necessitated restoring pipelines for Colonial immediately?
And did this issue take precedence over the needs of hurricane-ravaged South Mississippians?
Or is this one more example of the federal government's failure to comprehend the height, length and breadth of the challenges confronting our region?
You can't fault the effort of Jim Compton, general manager of the South Mississippi Electric Power Association, and his crew. In fact, what they accomplished - restoring electricity to the substations that power the pipeline, in 16 hours - was extraordinary.
You can't even fault Compton's decision to divert his crews from other projects to the pipeline. Compton said he believed it was "a presidential directive to get those pipelines operating."
But one thing is perfectly clear: The last thing South Mississippi needed - especially at the height of the Katrina disaster - was a diversion of any and all available resources and manpower.
|
Last edited by host; 11-01-2005 at 09:44 PM..
|