Lazy Journalism

You know, I don't envy journalists. If you do your job properly, it can be a difficult task between fact checking and research, multiple sources and looking for the scoop. So imagine my surprise when I saw this from the LA Times:
Mississippi officials blast BP, U.S. government as oil hits coast -
Gov. Haley Barbour condemns a lack of resources; Rep. Gene Taylor is 'dumbfounded' by 'wasted effort, wasted money and stupidity.'

Yes, Heehaw reject Haley Barbour is pointing fingers at the federal government for the lack of response and failure to capture the oil offshore before hitting Mississippi's shores. Rep. Gene Taylor, whom I've written about before regarding the BP disaster, was equally outraged:

At a news conference Monday, Barbour said that "the plan we agreed to with the unified command and BP wasn't being given the resources to be totally effective." As a result, he said, "there continues to be more oil in the [Mississippi] Sound than we have the capacity to deal with, unless we get lucky."

Speaking at the same event, Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), whose district lies on the coast, said he flew over the spill Saturday and "was dumbfounded by the amount of wasted effort, wasted money and stupidity that I saw."

I scanned the rest of the article for mention of Barbour's dismissal of the oil spill, tar balls and it's non-toxicity. I looked for quotes from Gene Taylor saying the oil would evaporate within a week. But I saw nothing. The two actors were being reported on, were shaking their fists at the evil government, but there was no perspective. There was no ironic twist being that said actors shrugged their shoulders two months ago, with Barbour especially whining about the media making such a big deal about the spill it would hurt his state's tourism.

So I e-mailed Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Richard Fausset, the authors of the article.

Subject: Re: Mississippi officials blast BP, U.S. government as oil hits coast

From: [Broadway Carl]

Date: June 29, 2010 10:31:39 AM EDT

To: richard.fausset@latimes.com, molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

Dear Mrs. Hennessy-Fiske and Mr. Fausset,

Perhaps a little perspective on Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Rep. Gene Taylor would have behooved your article of June 29th, "Mississippi officials blast BP, U.S. government as oil hits coast," such as the fact that for weeks, Barbour has been downplaying the oil spill in an attempt to get tourists to go to the beaches, or that he's had 6,000 National Guard troops at his disposal to prepare for the oncoming oil slick and has only deployed 58. Or that's he's called the oil not unlike a food mousse and not poisonous. Now he's singing a different tune that the oil has reached his shores.

Or Rep. Gene Taylor, who said the oil would evaporate within a week during the first few days of the disaster, also calling it chocolate mousse in consistency.

For these men to dismiss this catastrophe weeks ago when it first began and now turn their flippancy to blaming and finger pointing is absolutely disgusting and should be called out.

[Broadway Carl]

Mr. Fausset was kind enough to respond:

From: Fausset, Richard 

Subject: RE: Mississippi officials blast BP, U.S. government as oil hits coast

Date: June 29, 2010 4:54:12 PM EDT

To: [Broadway Carl]

Mr. [Broadway Carl]:

Hi there. I agree that I should have mentioned Barber's earlier downplaying of the spill. My bad.

Richard Fausset

LA Times Atlanta bureau

That's it. No update on the web article. Sigh. At least he answered his e-mail.

Hey, Rep. Gene Taylor! Hey, Brian Martin!

Just rainbows and chocolate milk, huh? This will all evaporate within a week, huh?



You guys have been awfully silent these last couple of weeks since those asinine statements. What say you now? You should resign from office just for being that fucking stupid.

(H/T Bob Cesca)

Rainbows and Chocolate Milk, eh Rep. Taylor and Lackey Brian Martin?

Thick oil pools in the waters along Louisiana’s coast. Governor Bobby Jindal toured oil impacted marshlands by boat on May 19, 2010, near Pass a Loutre.



Eerily silent from the Taylor camp. Perhaps Brian Martin has seen the error of his ways. Still waiting for an apology.

Hey, Congressional Aide Brian Martin...

... where are your smart ass comments now?


Still defending Rep. Taylor's "rainbows and chocolate milk" bullshit, or have you decided that this is actually a serious disaster? Oh, but I forgot, you "know a lot more about what is going on in the Gulf than" I do.

Asshole.

Hey Rep. Taylor, How's That Evaporation Thing Workin' Out For Ya?

A novel but risky attempt to use a 100-ton steel-and-concrete box to cover a deepwater oil well gushing toxic crude into the Gulf of Mexico was aborted Saturday after ice crystals encased it, an ominous development as thick blobs of tar began washing up on Alabama's white sand beaches.

The setback left the mission to cap the ruptured well in doubt. It had taken about two weeks to build the box and three days to cart it 50 miles out then slowly lower it to the well a mile below the surface, but the frozen depths were too much for it to handle.

Last week, Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS) had the bright idea of letting nature take its course. After all, he thought that if we left it alone, it would all naturally "evaporate within a week." Of course, Taylor ignored the fact that the BP spill wasn't over and still leaking 5,000 barrels of oil a day, but hey, leave it alone and all will be well, right? I even received comments from one Brian Martin (a Taylor aide who didn't disclose his affiliation with Taylor) who ridiculed me - called me a moron - and actually accused me of wanting this oil spill for political purposes because I said the issue wasn't over since the leak was and is still active.

"You are both morons... You should be mocking all the Chicken Littles who predicted that the coastal areas of 4 states would be covered with heavy crude by now... You... are cheering for the oil spill because you want this to end very badly for the coastal environment for political reasons."

Hey, Brian?  How's that evaporation thing workin' out for ya? You can contact Brian Martin at 202-225-5772 and ask him the same question.  Maybe he'll be a little more contrite, but I highly doubt it.

Rep. Gene Taylor Aide Calls Concerned Citizens "Morons"

Earlier today, I blogged about Rep. Gene Taylor (R-MS), his comment about the BP oil spill looking like rainbows and chocolate milk and mocked it for it's flippancy. A silly thing to say because at the very least it sounds juvenile and dismisses the seriousness of the situation in the Gulf, and at worst it's a deliberate attempt to mislead his constituency and downplay the event. Frequent reader Wolfe Tone added that we were on the same wavelength in the comments section.

I soon thereafter received this comment:

Brian Martin said...

You are both morons. Rainbow sheen = broken down to the point of evaporation and degradation.

Chocolate milk = emulsified oil-water mix being broken down by waves and sun.

So those are useful descriptions from a 13-year Coast Guard veteran.

You should be mocking all the Chicken Littles who predicted that the coastal areas of 4 states would be covered with heavy crude by now.

Not thinking anything of it except that it was some random wingnut, I responded with the fact that he failed to address the spill being far from over with a conservative estimate of 200,000 gallons leaking per day, destruction of the local fishing industry, the wildlife and environmental repercussions, and other assorted things that right wingers don't care about. I also hoped he'd come back to apologize when the inevitable coastal areas actually would be "covered in crude."

My friend, Wolfe Tone however, was a little more curious and in a matter of a few mouse clicks was able to obtain a Washington DC internet service provider, Google the names and VOILÁ! Brian Martin works for Rep. Gene Taylor. And he called us morons because we understand the gravity of the situation, unlike his boss.

The next time Brian Martin decides to respond to blogs criticizing the Representative who employs him, he should have the sense to either A) use a pseudonym or B) have the professional courtesy of full disclosure. It kind of puts your credibility in question. ...Moron.

Rainbows and Chocolate Milk

Really, folks. What's the big deal? Doesn't everyone like pretty rainbows and yummy chocolate milk?

"This isn’t Katrina. It’s not Armageddon,” [Republican Missisippi Rep. Gene] Taylor said. “A lot of people are scared and I don’t think they should be."

He described the spill as a light, rainbow sheen with patches that look like chocolate milk.

Mmmm... chocolate milk. Delicious. And his remedy is to let nature take its course and let the oil "break up naturally." Trust Taylor. He said it'll "evaporate within a week."

This is an elected official, folks.

CORRECTION: Rep. Taylor is a Democrat. Sad, huh?