Alaska GOP Senator Smacks Jindal: "Monitoring Volcanoes is Critically Important"
"Recently there were some comments made about federal spending for volcano monitoring being wasteful," Murkowski said from the Senate floor, without naming Jindal directly. "I can assure you that monitoring volcanoes is critically important to the nation and especially to my home state of Alaska."
In Jindal's speech, he said: "While some of the projects in the bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending. It includes ... $140 million for something called 'volcano monitoring.' Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, DC."
The massive eruptions from Mount Redoubt were serious enough to cancel all airport service in and out of Anchorage for several hours -- even though the city is about 100 miles away from the volcano. Memo to Bobby Jindal: "Volcano monitoring" in some parts of the country is not all that dissimilar from "hurricane monitoring" on the Gulf Coast.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
So, this guy is the latest rising young "intellectual" in the GOP? We need more like him! Michael Steele, care to comment on the relative worth of volcano monitoring? All of America waits with bated breath!
March 31, 2009 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans = "Tokens R Us." :)
March 31, 2009 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not all Republicans. But the "regional republican party is currently stuck in this "we've got minorities too" mentality that is almost all for show. Depth is irrelevant.
March 31, 2009 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
I always get amused every four years at the Republican party at its national convention. They're trying oh so hard to be diverse and tolerant (hate that word) but it's just not in their genes. They'll herd the people of color into a group, so the tv cameras will show an impressive sight. Problem is:
1. There's not that many people of color.
2. You never know when the tv camera will pull away for a long shot and expose their tactic for all to see.
March 31, 2009 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Didn't they hire some black minstrel singers (or the equivalent) to get up on stage, shuffle around, maybe do some tap-dancing at the 2000 GOP convention? They are the masters of cynicism.
March 31, 2009 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
And of course, there was then-GOP Congressman J.C. Watts' story, told with no small amount of irony and bitterness, about how he was hailed at a downtown San Diego hotel by fellow convention delegates at the '96 event, only to learn upon approach that they had mistaken him for a room porter and wanted him to take their luggage upstairs.
March 31, 2009 8:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nothing is **real** to a Republican unless it involves or is happening to them. Otherwise everything else is irrelevant and immaterial. The rest of the country does not exist. These have got to be some of the dumbest people in America.
March 31, 2009 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's really true. I dislike generalizing, but for so many Repubs I know (and I live in a state with a lot of them), there is definitely the mentality of, "if it doesn't directly benefit me, it's 'wasteful government spending' ".
March 31, 2009 10:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
The other truth is that they'll always define a program as a tiny fraction of what it really is. This is a perfect example. The $140 million figure isn't the amount for "volcano monitoring." It's the total amount allocated to the US Geological Survey. They even enumerated like 5 other things the money was for and then used an "etc." I don't know how much will ultimately go to the monitoring, but I'm betting less than 10%.
Same story with the "maglev to Sin City" we heard so much about...the figure they used was the total amount for high-speed rail development. Of course in that instance the Vegas rail line was complete fiction, but that's not atypical either. Then there's "Pelosi's Mouse" and the fruit flies, and mormon crickets, and basically every single other example of "waste" we heard out of them. I can't think of a single one that wasn't misrepresented.
Then you can look at the larger picture, say John McCain's railing about earmarks. Any time people asked how he was going to cut spending, it was always about earmarks. Didn't matter that even if earmarks were reduced to zero it wouldn't be a drop in the bucket. Republicans always want to use the tiny things as grand symbols while they hide their fiscal irresponsibility in the big picture.
March 31, 2009 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Warning: Totally Off-topic!
Same thing applies to residents of NYC. I've lived in IL, IN, upstate NY, MA, KS, CA, IA, VA, MD, MO, AZ,. I've lived and travelled abroad in over a dozen countries. (Hey, I'm a really old guy!)
I went to college in western MA; about half the students were from NYC. Every weekend they talked about going to The City. I used to reply, "Oh, which one?" NYC pretends it is the center of the cultural universe, but doesn't even have a DaVinci in its art museums!
It does, however, have the Yankees and the most arrogant and obnoxious "fans" in baseball.
For all of its self-aggrandizing "sophistication", NYC is perhaps the most provincial metropolis on the face of the earth.
March 31, 2009 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh hey, us Californians do that too. When anyone says they're going to The City, we all know they mean San Francisco. If you hear someone actually SAY "San Francisco" or God forbid "Frisco" you know they're outsiders.
March 31, 2009 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Talk about SFO arrogance... in the '60s, the NBA Warriors wore jerseys which simply said "The City", as if there were no others...
March 31, 2009 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
And then they moved to Oakland, ignoring Getrude Stein's warning that there was no there, there.
March 31, 2009 8:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
So, having a DaVinci is the sine qua non of cultural excellence? I guess the NY MMA should just close its doors and sell off its tatty Monets, Degas, and Picassos. The shame, the shame....
Spoken like a true Red Sux fool...I mean, fan.
March 31, 2009 1:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
In 1999, I lived in Boston. On New Year's Eve of Y2K, my wife and I took the T down into the city center to join the party at her workplace, since the friends we'd invited over to our place had flaked out on us.
The atmosphere on the train was electric, as you'd expect for people experiencing a moment that wouldn't come again for 1,000 years. Dozens of generations before us and dozens after would never see such a moment. People were passing cups of champagne around and talking with total strangers like old friends. Then, out of the sheer, infectious exuberance of that night, the entire train (minus myself and my wife) joined together in voicing their joy...
By chanting "Yankees Suck".
March 31, 2009 5:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll be expecting those "Oh, those silly, squabbling, disorganized Republicans, they're not fit to govern, har! har! har!" stories from the MSM any time now.
Waiting . . .
Still waiting . . .
March 31, 2009 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ask, and you shall receive. From Politico:
President Barack Obama may or may not be able to save the U.S. auto industry, but his dramatic restricting plan is already having some effect: It’s sent the highly disciplined GOP message machine careening out of control.
OK, nothing in there about not being able to govern, but. . .
March 31, 2009 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is just silly! Governor Mister Black Guy is right! Everybody knows volcanoes are just a myth! It's really just a mean ol' witch making the mountain go KABOOOM!
I bet this Senator is a mean ol' witch!
I don't think witches should be allowed to be Senators!
March 31, 2009 10:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe he exorcise those troublesome mountains....
March 31, 2009 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's about time somebody in his party called him out on it.
March 31, 2009 10:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Welcome to the GOP, Gov. Macaca.
March 31, 2009 10:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, don't be too hard on Bobby, most of the liberal bloggers didn't quite understand the point of the monitoring either, thinking it was mostly for people on the ground. In fact, it is primarily for air traffic.
Several years ago a passenger airliner almost crashed after flying through the ash of an erupting volcano.
If there is a comparison to hurricane warnings, it is more like the warnings given to ships so they can adjust their route, or take evasive action. In other words it is a big government welfare program for big business! Why don't these welfare kings get their own monitoring equipment?
March 31, 2009 10:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, here's the distinction. Liberal bloggers didn't look at a term that they didn't full understand, such as "volcano monitoring," and reflexively ridicule it and declare it insignificant.
This is a hallmark of what passes for modern day conservatism. If it doesn't directly benefit the conservative, he/she can smirk and dismiss it as something silly:
Where does a lot of that earmark money end up anyway? [...] You’ve heard about some of these pet projects they really don’t make a whole lot of sense and sometimes these dollars go to projects that have little or nothing to do with the public good. Things like fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not.
March 31, 2009 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, volcanic eruptions are very hazardous to people on the ground. The sharp, angular particles are bad news for anybody's lungs if inhaled. Even if you cover your mouth and nose, you can feel the pinpricks of the ash on eyes and any exposed skin. On the rare occasion a cloud of volcanic ash has settled over Anchorage, the warnings to stay indoors have been very welcome.
March 31, 2009 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
The guy was a Rhodes scholar. He knows that volcano monitoring is important and necessary but he decided to cynically exploit the perceived ignorance of his audience for personal gain. I truly believe that this was Jindal's Macaca moment. Bye-bye Bobby.
March 31, 2009 10:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Amen. Dumb Republicans who actually believe the horseshit are bad enough, but the ones who are smart enough to know better and cynically parrot it anyway are even more offensive by far.
March 31, 2009 11:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting to look at the req's for a Rhodes:
* literary and scholastic attainments;
* energy to use one's talents to the full, as exemplified by fondness for and success in sports;
* truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship;
* moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one's fellow beings.
Evidently, in getting past item 3, Jindal was a smooth talker.
In my observation and experience, "sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship" are not typical hallmarks of the intellectually gifted. In that respect, Jindal probably is representative of the norm for such scholars. Rachel Maddow is an outlier. The question is the overall effectiveness of the filter in rule 3. One would expect the norm for Rhodes scholars to tilt more toward Maddow.
Thanks.
mp
March 31, 2009 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
He graduated with honors in biology from Brown, so while you'd certainly hope he'd be somewhat scientific literate, the reality is it's not always so. I've certainly known MD's with a very poor understanding of science.
It's kind of like the classic Bush conundrum, is he just an idiot, or a liar faking being an idiot for popular appeal. My guess is a mix, but how much of each is hard to fathom.
March 31, 2009 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is heresy to some and truth to others, but once he had his Christian conversion experience, he could dismiss rational thought and take everything on faith. I'll bet not thinking is easier and such a relief for his Rhodes Scholar brain that he mistook it for divine energy. He's refused to think ever since then, but is pretty sure he's snared that eternal life program. Afterall, he has shown his devotion to faith over reason on national TV. In their eyes, he is now a hero of their Faith.
March 31, 2009 1:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe he thought God would be on the case, monitoring the volcanoes, etc., and letting ol' Bobby know when the lava'd flow. Funny that there are no killer floods, storms, volcanoes, etc., in the atheistic Northeast. God must be into irony.
March 31, 2009 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
God's a liberal, his son was a socialist.
March 31, 2009 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
To me, the takeaway here is where was Senator Murkowski immediately after Gov. Jindal's speech?
Destiny and Kristin above mentioned a general attitude of if it's not happening now, it's not "real" attributed to Republicans. Unfortunately, far too many people are way too shortsighted in much the same way, Republican or Democrat.
My point is, that the senator should have spoken up before the Mt Redoubt eruption and explained why this was important in the bill. Of course, had Redoubt not erupted her silence was tacit approval of the "official" Republican talking points expressed by Jindal and she was "on the team."
So, what we really have is a case study in ongoing political hypocrisy. Sadly, nothing unusual here.
March 31, 2009 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent point.
I wonder whether Obama's approval ratings stem, in part, from the fact that he appears to be doing exactly what he said he would during the campaign.
Politicians are hypocrites because they perceive hypocrisy to be necessary (and given how nuanced positions get ground down into meaningless drivel by the shouters on cable tv, you can sort of understand why).
But there's a reason people like Russ Feingold continue to get returned to Washington, and it's not because the people of Wisconsin are a bunch of crazy liberals. He's seen as principled.
Maybe there's a lesson in there?
Nah.
March 31, 2009 12:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Paul Wellstone too. So many Minnesotans said "I don't always agree with him, but I always respect that he stands up for what he believes in."
March 31, 2009 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. Wellstone is the epitome of what I was thinking about.
March 31, 2009 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
The primary reason for monitoring volcanoes is for the schools which are near volcanoes. Schools around volcanoes in Washington, Hawaii, and Alaska have periodic evacuation drills. Those kids could use as much warning as possible.
March 31, 2009 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not to mention that in Washington there are quite a few people living right on lahars and other volcanic deposits that have come down the mountain. Not too bright, but early warning definitely helps.
March 31, 2009 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Given that you can see Mt. St. Helens vent steam from here in the center of downtown Portland, keeping an eye on volcanos is kinda a big deal.
March 31, 2009 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Brown University is trying to phrase their disavowal of all things Jindal...
Try: "it is impossible to find words to express our regret that this nimrod has our degree on his wall".
March 31, 2009 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, we know Louisiana's not experienced any natural disasters, so who needs all that science? That's for nerds.
Stephen Colbert said it well in the Table of Contents for his I Am America book -- the Science chapter is subtitled:
Thanks for the nukes -- now go away
March 31, 2009 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
Look, the $140 million for volcano monitoring is a GOP/Bobby Jindal myth. Here's what the language in the bill actually says
http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2009/02/fact_checking_the_republican_r.php
In other words, it's money for the USGS for facilities, and volcano monitoring is only one component of what the USGS does. Is volcano monitoring important? Yes. But so are many other monitoring and research programs done by the USGS, which impact a broader segment of society than volcanoes.
To debate only the validity buys into their frame that it was $140 M for one thing, volcano monitoring. It wasn't and isn't.
March 31, 2009 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Republicans have hated the USGS for a long time; the USGS is a source of independent thinking and smart people ... therefore the Republicans want to cut their funding.
Republicans are not just anti-science now but anti-Nature .... the ocean, the atmosphere and now the magma disobey Republican wishes ... clearly Mt Redoubt is a Democrat ...
Bad Volcano ! Right wing radio blowhards will excoriate you now
By the way : that is a great handle, WineDarkSea ... do you read Patrick O'Brian ?
March 31, 2009 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Whether it's true know-nothingism or a sneak attack on science and scientists masquerading as know-nothingism, I'll leave it to others to argue. It's of a piece with St. John McCain's attack on Grizzly Bear research: "I don't know if it was a criminal issue or a paternity issue". Eff you, John.
I'm not familiar with Patrick O'Brien's work. I'll look into him, though. I took WineDarkSea from an old translation of The Odyssey. The image stuck with me.
March 31, 2009 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's anti-intellectualism and it's insecurity. If you're smart, there's something untrustworthy about you. If you're smart and a man, you're untrustworthy and a wimp. If you're smart and a woman, you're untrustworthy and you must be a closeted lesbian.
They're insecure about their own intellect, AND, their masculinity.
And that's the end of my sweeping (and probably inaccurate) generalizations about Republicans.
March 31, 2009 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Unscientific assessment but kind of rings true. The one that kills me (possibly literally), is the war on meat inspectors. Namby pamby nerds in white coats pointing out that your children and elderly may die from a burger.
March 31, 2009 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's even weirder is that the USGS is a pretty important organization that often helps people who go after minerals and oil, and those who want to build something somewhere (flood risk, natural disaster risk, soil type--so basically the USGS is a tool for economic growth. Yes, they also research environmental issues as well, but they seem to me to be a pretty balanced organization very important to the U.S.
If Jindal's going to go after someone, why go after the USGS? Especially since their drainage/topo/flood maps are essential for his home state.
March 31, 2009 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've noticed that since 01/20/09, every Republican hypocrite is against government spending, wateful or necessary. But for the eight years prior to that, they had their snouts in the trough with that Reaganesque "deficits dont matter" attitude.
Now deficits are all that matter to them.
March 31, 2009 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
And you're surprised?
March 31, 2009 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Two suggestions where the Republicans could find a LOT of wasted money. 1) Medicare prescription program. Let's negotiate the price of drugs. 2) Okay, this should have been #1, but I have lazy tendencies. Contracts in Iraq. What if we were sure the services were provided before we paid for them, or the military did more things for themselves. I don't know, cooking maybe? Electrical work?
March 31, 2009 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Water quick! Panee lao!
March 31, 2009 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
When have Republicans ever let fear of hypocrisy stand in the way of their agenda?
March 31, 2009 11:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
When will Caribou Barbie weigh in? After all, she did say "thanks but no thanks" to that extraordinary level of pork her state receives.
LOL
March 31, 2009 11:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah can just look out her window to see that the volcano is OK, smartie!
March 31, 2009 12:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're talking about me! Because I'm pretty! Yay!
March 31, 2009 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I second the comment above: where was the good Senator from Alaska when Jindal gave his speech? But I also want to know, who at RNC wrote and vetted the infamous volcano line before he delivered it?
March 31, 2009 12:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
My guess: M.C. Steele and his Fabulous Traveling Circus
March 31, 2009 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nah. No one in the RNC pays any attention to Steele. He's just a figurehead, and a very shiny one at that.
March 31, 2009 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Looks like Little Piyush picked the wrong hobby-horse to ride on....
March 31, 2009 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Every time some home in Malibu or in the Hamptons washes into the sea it's because some stupid people ignored the science coming out of USGS. Geohazards are very costly to the country in damages from hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, avalanches, forest fires, erosion, and volcanoes. Public water supplies are dependent on preserving and monitoring the volume and purity of aquifers, lakes, rivers, wetlands, and streams. Do you want to know how pollution migrates underground? Do you want to know if there are hazardous levels of radon in your basements? Our economy depends on knowing have much available resources we still have (coal, oil, gas, etc.) Do you want an up-to-date topographic map for hiking or choosing a place to live?
Every natural disaster is costlier than the previous one because politicians let developers build where they have no business being. If you don't build a town in a flood zone you don't have to rebuild over and over and it costs taxpayers nothing.
Economists completely ignore the economic impact of keeping wetlands and forests intact. If there were healthy wetlands around New Orleans Katrina might not have been much of a problem. Wetlands are the nurseries for about 70% of the fish we eat. They purify our drinking water, soak up flood waters, replenish aquifers, are habitat for important species, and are useful for recreation.
USGS is one of our most important agencies and it's been underfunded for a long time and its staff has been decimated by privatization. We ignore what the earth is telling us at our peril.
March 31, 2009 1:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I totally agree with your comments.
We should be putting a price tag on these important "services" performed by the environment, and include the costs of increased risk of disasters.
Want to develop that marsh land? Sure, now pay a few billion to insure for the city being wiped out. Not interested anymore? I didn't think so.
Basically developers and other indutry get to exploit our resources, including environmental "services", but we pick up the cost, including to human lives, but also in funds to repair all the damage. Let's bill the Katrina damage to oil and coal companies (global warming) and industry which removed wet lands which can blunt the impact of storms. Once people are hit with the bill, they'll stop destroying the planet.
March 31, 2009 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
A pompeian-like ash now covers Bobby's national political aspirations due to several recent Vesuvian-esque missteps. I'm trying to work in a "pillar of salt" reference too. More to follow.
March 31, 2009 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Murkowski needs to understand that if you sleep with the party of know nothings, no state is safe from the possible negative consequences of their failed political philosophy.
March 31, 2009 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bobby Jindal brought a briefcase to school in junior high school that he tucked under his coat and tie. He still has his "Facts of Life" lunchbox and his matching Garanimals pajamas in the Governor's mansion.
March 31, 2009 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Other wasteful projects listed by Jindal besides volcano monitoring:
- Schools for poor people
- Teachers and other bloodsucking state employees
- the IRS
- The Justice Dept.
- The State Dept.
- Those idiots at the EPA
Anyone who tries to regulate the banks or our food supply. The private sector does a great job of monitoring themselves.
March 31, 2009 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Was he eating any pistachios when he declared the FDA was a waste of resources?
March 31, 2009 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Catholic convert Jindal claims to have performed an exorcism in college. Move over drug addicts, booze hounds and cooze hounds--this is the model of the new Republican.
March 31, 2009 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
We really should eliminate those wasteful monitoring activities of the USGS!
So dump the volcano monitoring! And pull the plug on earthquake monitoring, it's another USGS boondoggle! And what about floodwater monitoring? USGS is involved in that, as well, cut their budget!
Wee! That felt good!
So who else is in the wasteful "monitoring" business? Holey crapoly! Look at this, NOAA is wasting our money on "hurricane monitoring" AND "storm cell/tornado monitoring"! And there's the FDA doing "food safety monitoring" AND "drug safety monitoring"! Stop wasting all that taxpayers money!
I'll feel so glad when all that waste is stopped. Feel safer, too!
March 31, 2009 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ol' Bobby just couldn't resist the "eruption of spending" metaphor. He shoulda stuck with the spotted owl.
March 31, 2009 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Volcano monitoring. I'll bet the people who lived near Mt St Helens wish they had a good program. Like all earmarks that are labeled as pork, whether they are worthwhile depends on who is looking at it. For someone from a state with an active volcano, it probably is, just like someone from a farm state with giant pig farms has a serious, valid reason for a study on the issues around pig manure disposal. It all depends whose ox is being gored. It's the same with the consensus that Congress is bad and needs widespread turnover. All except for my congressman who's OK. The problem is everyone else's congressman. The real issue with the earmarks is not so much if they are reasonable spending, but the way they are placed into the spending bill, and whether they fit into the overall spending priorities we have with the money available. Should we spend it on road repair or pig smell? How about education or lighthouse repair? Priorities.
March 31, 2009 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Today's Republican's April Fool's presentation of a counter budget should be another nail in their coffin of irrelevancy. This could be the most painful joke played on the party faithful going back to Herbert Hoover.
April 1, 2009 9:30 AM | Reply | Permalink