They were saying last night on the local weather that it form in 9 minutes and the people only had 20 minutes to high tail it to safety. 6 city blocks wide and stayed on the ground for 6 miles.
Joplin Congressman Bill Long (R) Made Fun of Tornado Test Warnings, Wanted to Sell HAM Frequencies
I hate to politicize tragedies, but sometimes they shed light on the irresponsibility of those who are responsible for the well-being of our nation.
Take Billy Long for example. He is the classic wise-ass cowboy Republican Congressman who once said "Get out the crying towel" to people who don't have health insurance. Ironically, David Catanese, now a reporter for Politico, made a prescient prediction in that article:
...throughout his humorous and off-the-cuff repertoire, Long has a tendency to make some statements that could come back to haunt him.
Well, here comes the haunting...
Last year, Billy Long tweeted another one of his wise-ass comments, making fun of Joplin's preparedness drills for tornadoes:
In fact, he even irked "Bungalow Bill" a conservative blogger from the area who proudly touts that he has been featured by the likes of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.
Actually I have to agree with Bungalow Bill on both his major points here:
War of the Worlds Part Duex, a F4 tornado, which some claim was a multi-vortex tornado, has taken out a large section of homes and businesses in Long’s own home district. How many lives were saved all because the state of Missouri has a day to remind people of procedures that may save their lives. This was no time for inspiration from Bozo (Billy Long).
Last night’s storm also reminds of the importance of first responders on HAM radios, mobilizing injury prevention and first response before and after the storm. Long’s co-sponsorship of HR607, the federal emergency broadband bill, weakens this first responder network by removing valuable HAM frequencies that were used yesterday to spot tornadoes, get people to take shelter, and mobilize emergency efforts, but Long’s bill he co-sponsored would make it harder for these HAM radio operators to perform this valuable service.
Bungalow Bill's full article is here. It's pretty good...and damning to Billy Long.
Oh snap, did he just say Billy Long co-sponsored a bill to sell off the frequencies used by HAM radio operators to help protect the public? Yes he did. Later in the article, he apparently trid to pawn it off on Peter King, who "asked him to co-sponsor the bill". So...does that mean Mr. Long didn't even care enough to know what the bill was about, let alone the details of it? Not surprising.
So, Billy Long makes fun of Tornado Warnings, then sponsors a bill to cut the HAM radio networks which help provide the National Weather Service and local authorities spotter reports on what is going on. I have to wonder if he will ever be held accountable for this irresponsibility...seems like he's already pissed off some of his base.
This all just goes to show that yet again, these wise-ass Republicans can be counted on for either dishonesty, incompetence, or both.
p.s. Hey Billy, it's Deux...not Duex buddy. But I'm sure you pronounce either "duh".
Update... Wow, I get back home after grabbing lunch and I find out I've made my first trip to the rec list! Thank you everyone, I'm honored and humbled...especially knowing the crowd of great writers here on dKos.
USAToday Compares Climate Change Deniers To Birthers
Is there a pent up wave of sanity ready to overtop the Republican/Teahadist/Fox dam of reality denial? If you are a glass-half-full person like myself, then you might think so. We have seen the utter collapse of the Birther movement since the president released his long form birth certificate. We are seeing a vast majority of the nation rejecting the idea that we need to lower taxes on the wealthy, especially if it means messing with Medicare and Medicaid.
The reality that gay citizens are really no different from any other citizen and should not be singled out for different treatment is gaining strength both in the courts and the public. Recent decisions in courts have demolished, as a finding of fact, most of the arguments against adoption and marriage for gay citizens. In the world of public opinion the issue of marriage equality is polling above 50% for the first time and shows no sign of going the other way.
Today we see another sign that things may be on the change.USAToday has published and editorial that is comparing climate change deniers to Birthers. This is a big step because the denial of climate change has been going into high gear among Republicans and while it is to be expected in that many of the positions of the modern Republican party are flatly contrary to reality, the numbers of them have an affect on public sentiment that allows these kinds of things a legitimacy they do not deserve
From the USAToday editorial:
Late last week, the nation's pre-eminent scientific advisory group, the National Research Council arm of the National Academy of Sciences, issued a report called "America's Climate Choices." As scientific reports go, its key findings were straightforward and unequivocal: "Climate change is occurring, is very likely caused primarily by human activities, and poses significant risks to humans and the environment." Among those risks in the USA: more intense and frequent heat waves, threats to coastal communities from rising sea levels, and greater drying of the arid Southwest.
Coincidentally, USA TODAY's Dan Vergano reported Monday, a statistics journal retracted a federally funded study that had become a touchstone among climate-change deniers. The retraction followed complaints of plagiarism and use of unreliable sources, such as Wikipedia.
Taken together, these developments ought to leave the deniers in the same position as the "birthers," who continue to challenge President Obama's American citizenship — a vocal minority that refuses to accept overwhelming evidence.
That is exactly right. And it is not as though Republicans, prior to this administration, were so vehemently opposed to the ideas that would help to alleviate this problem. Cap and Trade is a Republican idea. It was used very effectively and efficiently to end acid rain, and it could be used now to reduce greenhouse gasses.
Even folks like John Huntsman who is probably going to run for president from the Republican party has said
“All I know is 90 percent of the scientists say climate change is occurring. If 90 percent of the oncological community said something was causing cancer we’d listen to them.”
The fact that there are prominent Republicans like the deranged Sen. Inhofe who insist that it is a hoax makes it a hoax no more than when Rep. Louie Gohmert insists that there are terror anchor babies being born in the U.S.
Our nation and our world face real problems and they are only exacerbated by denying the reality of them for political purposes or campaign donations. A aide in the criminal Bush Administration once quipped:
The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." ... "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.
That was a time of incredible hubris where the assumption was that American Exceptionalism allows the US to do things that don’t match the reality of the world. It has fired Republican know-nothingism and brought us to where we are today.
Still I see reason for hope. With things like the USAToday editorial and the widening shame of being compared to Birthers in the context of beliefs that are not supported by data we might see an awakening in the public to understand that just because there is a small group who get a lot of air time on their TV machines, that does not make what they say true.
Hopefully this awakening will continue and grow. The fact is there are a lot of issues that everyone should be paying attention to and having fights over what is and what is not a fact does nothing to fix them.
For today, I am going to indulge in a little hope. It is probably doomed to be squashed by a giant foot like Bambi in Bambi v. Godzilla, but until that scaly, horny foot comes down, I see a bright spot.
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