in memoriam

2004-2007

My iPod, HP Apple iPod 20GB with Click Wheel - 4th Generation, passed away today. He enjoyed playing my eclectic mix of songs, from vivaldi to chemical brothers and everything in between (except right wing country and christian rock), as well as dozens of Podcasts in two languages. He also stored my term papers, outlines, cover letters, photos, bar review lectures.

my iPod is survived by a gray mini (my father's) and two black nanos (my mom's and sister's). In lieu of money, the family is accepting cash donations...for the new iPod

Murray's self-inflicted wounds

(© 2007 Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune)

His diatribe against Global Warming, Unions, and all things progressive, as well has his actions, may have hurt his beloved coal industry more than the fact that his mining practices killed 9 people.

According to the industry newsletter "Coal & Energy Price Report," the mine was near the end of its life, producing 604,000 tons in 2006, down from 1.6 million tons in 2005. Production dropped by more than half in the last 12 months.
Unwilling to just shut it down, Murray's company embarked on a new plan to extract every last bit from the mine. According to an expert quoted by a Salt Lake newspaper, the Crandall mine before the recent disaster was pulling out coal that should have been left standing to support the roof.
The operators used a tactic known as "retreat mining," where miners pull the remaining pillars of coal and collapse the mine behind them. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration may have allowed the mine to remove too much.

Then again, the Bush Administration officials weren't exactly doing a great job either. While the above article was basically an op-ed and the expert could be construed by the Murray-types as a highsight union boss...but not if those facts were the same as the ones by actual federal inspectors.

"I have been concerned about pulling pillars in this environment," Falk, a mine inspector for the Bureau of Land Management, wrote in February 2007, referring to the retreat mining going on in the mine - where huge blocks of coal left to support the roof are cut away, leaving the roof to fall in.
[...]
He was back days later. A major seismic bounce on March 10 had rocked the mine, blasting coal from the pillars, damaging tunnels and supports, and making it impossible for mining to continue, Falk wrote in an inspection report obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune.
It was a smaller version, and perhaps a harbinger, of the event that tore apart the mine Aug. 6, trapping a half-dozen miners inside, and it was never officially reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, as apparently required by federal rules.

But don't worry, people of Carbon County and Emery County.

Murray on Sunday described the layoffs - impacting all three of Murray's Utah mines - as temporary. Miners told The Salt Lake Tribune Saturday that 270 employees were to be laid off.
[...]
Miners who were at Murray's meetings with employees over the weekend said he lashed out at Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and The Tribune, pinning part of the blame for the layoffs on them.
[...]
Many residents of Carbon and Emery counties interviewed Sunday applauded Huntsman's intervention and blasted Murray.
"The governor was completely right," said Rae Lyn Peak.
Anita Brady, whose husband works at the Deer Creek mine, said those in the community "know how [Murray] runs his business . . . and it's not good. It's not the mines. It's the way they were mining them."
Danny Erickson of Wellington, a cousin of Don Erickson and one of the miners laid off Sunday, commended the governor rather than Murray for making sure the Tower mine is safe. The layoff, he said, "is just pushing more quickly to get out of mining."
Wellington said his 9-year-old daughter had already begged him to stop mining.
"I enjoy it, but it's not safe," he said.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Friday round-up

1. Like Karl Rove, today is my last day at work. And I have to turn in my badge and clear out my desk. Unlike Karl, I am going to Washington this fall (he will probably never leave) and work to fix our election laws (Karl will work to muddy them to avoid disclosure, maybe by working for Fred Thompson


2. The gang of Republithugs got together to kill the voucher referendum that will end their dreams of privatized education. I am with Bob, where's my car voucher? Rolly reports, you listen.
   

   About 20 lobbyists were summoned to a meeting Monday...
   ...held at the Utah Board of Realtors office and the lobbyists were put in the position of either committing to the pro-voucher campaign or rejecting a request from the very lawmakers they need to help pass their legislative agendas each year.
   The legislators hosting the meeting were House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy; House Majority Leader Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara; House Assistant Majority Whip Brad Dee, R-Ogden; Senate Majority Leader Curtis Bramble, R-Provo; and Senate Majority Assistant Whip Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse.
   [...]
   Most were lobbyists for business associations representing manufacturers, mining, homebuilders, small businesses, real estate agents, food retailers, trucking, the Chamber of Commerce, utilities and others.
   [...]
   They were asked to raise money for the effort and lend the names of their institutions in support of vouchers.
   The lobbyists have been summoned to a follow-up breakfast meeting Thursday at the Board of Realtors to report on their fund-raising progress.

   Nothing like a little blackmailing between lobbyists and legislators.


3. Speaking of vouchers, here's another good thing that will change if vouchers succeed--diversity.
   

   [A]ccording to a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center...
   ...the percentage of white students in Utah attending all-white schools decreased more than any other state in the nation - from 51 percent in 1993-94 to 14 percent in 2005-06.
   [...]
   "The world is not predominantly white," he said. "When students are exposed to the culture and language of ethnic minorities, it's a healthy thing because once they move out, they'll be facing a world that is more diverse than their communities."

   Sorry I just loved that last quote. It is true too. Why pretend the world is a little blond, blue eyed place filled with folks named Jensen or Christensen when even on your mission, you will learn otherwise?


4. Here's one surefire way to avoid future Crandall Canyons:
   

   Local officials on Thursday launched the Solar Salt Lake project, which was funded by a $200,000 cash grant plus at least another $200,000 in technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy. Salt Lake was one of 13 cities nationwide to receive funding as part of the Solar America Cities program.
   
   With that money and national expertise, Salt Lake city and county officials hope to reach grid parity between coal and solar energy by 2015. And if solar power is just as cheap as coal, local officials believe residential and commercial developers will pick the environmentally friendly choice.

can we stop calling it an accident?

From Dictionary.com:
ac·ci·dent (ˈæksɪdənt[ak-si-duhnt])–noun: ... 3) any event that happens unexpectedly...

Maintaining he cares deeply for his employees, Murray has accused the UMWA of using the collapses to criticize him and unionize his employees. The Deer Creek mine and the Emery mine are the only organized coal mines in Utah.
Mike Dalpiaz, international vice president of the UMWA office in Price, and the mayor of Helper, said the union had no strong interest in organizing the Crandall Canyon mine. He pointed to indications the mine was due to close soon anyway.

The [Bush Administration's] Mine Safety and Health Administration has determined the United Mine Workers of America union cannot represent the families of six trapped coal miners in the agency's upcoming investigation of the Crandall Canyon mine disaster.

[A] mine in southern Illinois owned by Murray subsidiary American Coal Co. has had a significant number of recent violations.

The Galatia mine, which has about 850 workers and produced 7.2 million tons of coal in 2006, has 869 violations so far this year, leading one mining expert to believe the company is "just going for the production and not going for the safety."

A Deseret Morning News review...shows that while the White House requests increased slightly each year from the 2002 to 2006 fiscal years, the requests did not exceed or even match what Congress had approved in each prior year when adjusted for inflation.
Meanwhile, the number of coal-mine safety inspectors with the Mine Safety and Health Administration also decreased during those years.

[Indy's Channel 6 News] 9:21 pm EDT August 10, 2007 PRINCETON, Ind. -- Three people were killed Friday at the site of an air shaft under construction at the Gibson County Coal mine in southern Indiana, police said.

Associated Press 08.30.07, 11:52 AM ET WINNEMUCCA, Nev. -Rescue crews have recovered the body of a miner killed during a cave-in at an underground Nevada gold mine, authorities said.

Does all this still sound like an accident to you? Because it sure seems like a direct consequence to me.

Attorney General Orrin Hatch?

I have previously said that Hatch is pining for the Attorney General spot within the lame duck Bush Administration.

Now here is some "confirmation" from a trusted name in wingnut news:

White House officials are considering five names that "have kind of emerged" as possible candidates to take over the beleaguered Justice Department, according to a senior Bush administration official.

The official who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak more openly about the process declined to identify the five contenders who were being looked at "pretty seriously."
[...]
Interviews with current and former Justice Department officials, congressional aides, attorneys and other legal experts yielded as many as 24 names of possible, if highly speculative candidates for the attorney general's job.

When contacted Tuesday, several contenders asked to remain anonymous and flatly said they did not want the job. Others declined to comment.

"I love the Department of Justice — it's the most wonderful professional experience I've had in my life," said Ted Olson, a former solicitor general for the Bush administration who declined to say whether he has discussed the attorney general's job with the White House or whether he would accept the post if offered.

Similarly, George Terwilliger, a deputy attorney general under former President George H.W. Bush who has emerged as an often-mentioned contender, declined to comment.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who formerly chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, once said he would take the job if offered.

When asked if he would take the job of running the Justice Department, former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson sent word through a spokeswoman that "he's very happy in this role" as general counsel at PepsiCo.

Solicitor General Paul Clement could remain acting attorney general for an indefinite time after Gonzales leaves.

So the top five are 1) Ted Olson, 2) George Terwilliger, 3) Orrin Hatch, 4) Larry Thompson, and 5) Paul Clement. Let's review each [except Hatch, whom we have documented repeatedly as a GOP water-carrier].

Ted Olson argued Bush v. Gore before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was part of the crack investigative team that tried to take down Bill Clinton in the "Arkansas Project." His wife was on the plane that terrorists crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. Expect that to be the part Fox News focuses on.

Terwilliger also has Bush v. Gore street cred: he was a leader of President George W. Bush's legal team during the Florida election recount. Moreover, he also "oversaw the BCCI settlement, which saved the US some money in bailouts, but probably also increased the comfort level of the Saudis who had bankrolled the giant money-laundering scheme."

Larry Thompson is a corporate whore. Thompson "was the director of the Providian Financial Corporation, during the time when Providian paid over $400 million to settle charges of consumer and securities fraud. Thompson made $4.7 million dollar in the sale of Providian stock prior to the allegations. In 2002, Judicial Watch filed suit against Thompson for artificially inflating the stock price in order to illegally increase his earnings in the sale of stock." He is also the author of "the Thompson Memorandum written to help federal prosecutors decide whether to charge a corporation, rather than or in addition to individuals within the corporation, with criminal offenses. the guidelines were considered tough because they require that to claim cooperation, companies must (1) turn over materials from internal investigations, (2) waive attorney-client privilege, and (3) not provide targeted executive with company-paid lawyers. The guidelines were criticized for, among other things, "seriously eroding" attorney-client privilege. These guidelines were "eased" in December 2006 by Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty who issued a revised version of the memorandum." He is now Corporate Counsel for PrepsiCo. Look for Faux News to point out that he is black.

Paul Clement is the acting AG and was the Solicitor General, the attorney with the honor of representing the Administration before the US Supreme Court. He is very smart and a very good arguer. However, he has argued during the detainee cases (Rasul v. Bush etc.) that the Justices must "trust the executive to make the kind of quintessential military judgments that are involved in things like that." The government's interrogators understand that information obtained through coercion may be unreliable, Clement said, and they know that "the last thing you want to do is torture somebody or try to do something along those lines." When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted that some governments engage in "mild torture" to obtain information, Clement shot back: "Well, our executive doesn't." Clement has similarly outrageous views about unlimited executive power in the area of the US Attorneys.

Personally, I think Clement is the most dangerous man to have in the chair. Hatch will sound like Gonzales under tough questioning, but Clement could argue that the world is flat and make you believe it, if only for a moment. Terwilliger seems like the old school conservative wise man that Washington loves. Thompson and Olson are the ones that someone like Hatch would jump on the 9/11 or black/racist specious arguments to rally for. After all, he first tried calling Democrats racists for attacking Gonzales since Alberto is of Mexican descent.

Fire near my parents' home

(image courtesy of KSL.com)

This morning, my mom spotted smoke coming from over the hill, so she called my Dad asking how to turn on the sprinklers. He told her how to do it, but told her to get out of there. From his office in downtown, he could see smoke coming from the canyon. My dad reports to the children, "I talked to her about an hour ago and she was at the library. ... I don't see the smoke now, but she is not answering her cell phone (she said the battery was low) and I don't think she is home yet."

I have told my Mom a million times to keep her cell phone ON and CHARGED. When ever I need to reach her, I never can via cell because it is either turned off or not charged fully. Generally, I don't even try her cell anymore. I called a couple of minutes ago at home and she didn't pick up. It is times like these when you need your freaking mobile phone working.

Here's a report from the Salt Lake Tribune:

a blaze...has consumed nearly 20 acres of grassland in east Salt Lake City's Emigration Canyon today.
Shortly before 1 p.m., firefighters believed they were getting the upper hand on the flames, having gotten aid from aerial fire-retardant and water drops.
KUTV reports that late this morning workers were grinding rebar at a new fire station site four miles up the canyon when sparks ignited nearby scrub oak. Flames quickly spread, at one point threatening several homes before firefighters reined in the fire.

KUTV has streaming video

KSL's Sandra Yi has a great line

It's a little bit ironic it was the construction of a fire house that started this fire, but authorities say that's exactly the reason why there needs to be a fire house up in Emigration Canyon.

The Yi's page has video of the blaze but I can't seem to get it to work on my computer.

It seems all is OK with my mother and with their house (where I lived from age 11-19) and others persons and property. I was just thinking about how glad I was that the County was building that fire station. If I hear anything more, I will update everyone.

UPDATE:My Mom just called and said all is
well. She used up all of her juice calling neighbors and telling them to get out/there's a fire etc.

There are literally fire trucks in their driveway and they told her to
park her car outward because she won't have time to back up. She invited some in to use the bathroom.

The smoke she said is mostly gone now but she saw actual flames over the hill. That is really freaking scary. She ran the sprinklers some and is back home.

Craig lied about not having an attorney

While most probably saw through the "if only I had known I should have gotten an attorney when I faced criminal charges" excuse, it is now clear that Sen. Larry Craig (R-his own private Idaho) was making a bald faced lie to his constituents and the media.

Thankfully, one newspaper checked out his stories.

As Craig apologized Tuesday afternoon for "the cloud placed over Idaho," he also acknowledged that he had told no one about his June 11 arrest for making sexual advances on an undercover police officer in the men's restroom of the Minneapolis airport.
But 11 days later, on June 22, Craig revisited the Minneapolis airport to complain about how he'd been treated by police and asking for someone with whom his lawyer could speak, according to police records. [emphasis added]
[...]
Court and arrest records released Tuesday show that Craig negotiated his plea over the telephone, then signed and returned it to the courts in the mail, much like a traffic ticket.
In his plea, signed and dated Aug. 1, but not recorded until Aug. 8, Craig agreed that by handling the matter through the mail, he was giving up a trial and his right to be present at the time of sentencing.

In my (meager) experience in Utah state courts, this plea by mail is typical for out of state defendants of minor crimes. The courtesy of telephonic pleas is afforded to people with attorneys who arrange such a thing and are not considered especially dangerous/likely to offend again.

It seems pretty dang obvious that Sen. Craig was doing everything a good defense attorney would suggest to avoid publicity and attention from his family, staff and Republican colleagues. Now it could also be true that he was trying to avoid Dan Popkey's investigative reporting by pleading, but it doesn't explain what he was doing in that notorious Minneapolis airport bathroom.

The airport restroom was so well known it was featured on an adult Web site that offers information about where men can link up for romantic encounters in both public and private locations.

If you read the plea agreement, it states what he is agreeing happened, and it even states that can "make no claim that I am innocent of the charge to which I am entering a plea of guilty,", as well as waiving his trail rights etc.

He had from June 11 until August 1 (when he signed in Washington) to seek counsel and advice. It is pretty clear from the circumstances of his plea and the events subsequent to his arrest but prior to his plea that he knew exactly what he was doing, thanks to legal counsel.

While the Senator might not go quietly into the night, as his Republican "friends" hoped he would, the facts are pretty clear that he was attempting to proposition (an undercover cop) in a public restroom for sexual activity.

Mitt Romney is a lying hipocrite, part 2,138

No I am not talking about making Sen. Larry Craig his Senate Co-chair only to yank his support video and compare him to Mark Foley...and Bill Clinton. I am talking about his claims that he is a budget balancing governor/businessman who will get our fiscal house in order thanks to going to Harvard Business School with George W. Bush and running Bain. Previously, I had pointed out that his no-tax cut claims were a myth hidden by regressive fee hikes. Now the media finally caught on.

When Mitt Romney wanted to balance the Massachusetts budget, the blind, mentally retarded and gun owners were asked to help pay.
The Republican managed to slash spending to eliminate a deficit pegged at $3 billion, but he also proposed or presided over a far-ranging series of fee hikes - a strategy that allowed him to maintain the no-new-taxes stance he now boasts about as he runs for president.
In all, then-Gov. Romney proposed creating 33 new fees and increasing 57 others - enough, he said, to pull in an extra $59 million for the cash-strapped state.
Horseback riding instructors, prisoners, those seeking training to combat domestic violence and used car shoppers were asked to dig a little deeper.
[...]
"For me, generally, a fee is something which applies to a subset of the population. A tax is something which is far more broadly applied," Romney said in 2003.

Mr. "lifelong hunter" also increased the gun licensing fee from $25 to $100. Maybe that's why the 250-million dollar man only went twice in his life. The article has more details of him sticking it to the little guy so he could claim the mantle of no-tax-raises and fiscal-conservative.

Larry Larry quite contrary

(Actual booking photos, courtesy of THE USA Today's Kathy Kiely)

without a shred of truth or evidence to the contrary, the Statesman has engaged in this witch hunt. In pleading guilty, I overreacted in Minneapolis, because of the stress of the Idaho Statesman’s investigation and the rumors it has fueled around Idaho. Again, that overreaction was a mistake, and I apologize for my misjudgment.

Shorter Sen. Craig: If it weren't for that newspaperman looking through my underwear drawers to find out whether or not it was true that I was gay, I wouldn't have propositioned myself to a undercover cop.

This line of defense is not as laughable as Bob Allen's "I'm racist, not gay" defense, but I guess that is why Bob Allen is state senator, and Larry Craig is a full senator (the previous "wide stance" defense didn't work).

This reminds me of another cartoonishly closeted character from a Tony Award-winning play, Ron, who's song is about as believable as Craig's version of events.

(Rod and John Tartaglia, singing "My girlfriend who lives in Cananda from Avenue Q. Image courtesy of Playbill.com)

ROD
Ohhhh...
I wish you could meet my girlfriend, my girlfriend who lives in Canada.
She couldn't be sweeter
I wish you could meet her,
My girlfriend who lives in Canada!

Her name is Alberta
She live in Vancouver
She cooks like my mother
And sucks like a Hoover.

I e-mail her every single day
Just to make sure that everything's okay.
It's a pity she lives so far away, in Canada!

Last week she was here, but she had the flu.
Too bad
'Cause I wanted to introduce her to you
It's so sad
There wasn't a thing that she could do
But stay in bed with her legs up over her head!
Oh!

I wish you could meet my girlfriend,
But you can't because she is in Canada.
I love her, I miss her, I can't wait to kiss her,
So soon I'll be off to Alberta!
I mean Vancouver!
Shit! Her name is Alberta, she lives in Vancou-

Both guys need to work on keeping their stories straight. Pleading guilty about a month after the incident means he had plenty of time to get an attorney or even just ask one. If it really was a misunderstanding, as he has claim, he would have fought it and not pled guilty ASAP.

This story looks to be staying around for a while. Even if the local media in Utah are pretending nothing is happening in Idaho.

UPDATE: The local media finally pick up the ball, thanks AP wire stories. Note, only the Trib has used this, no DesNews yet.

How has Hatch been good for Utah?

In a follow up to their Hatch-as-AG-candidate story, the Deseret News added some more quotes, one of which was laugh-out-loud funny:

"I don't make the decision on it. This is a decision the president is going to make," [Hatch campaign manager David] Hansen said, adding he had not heard anything from the senator about it and that Hatch is "more valuable to Utah as a senator."

Really? I call on anyone to name anything that Hatch has done that benefited Utah exclusively in his entire career in the Senate. Sure, he has changed copyright laws to protect a Utah company that was getting sued by Steven Spielberg et al. due to their "cleansing" of those directors' movies, but Orrin also changed copyright laws around so he could make a few more bucks on his terrible "musical" albums.

He may have raised cigarette taxes to pay for sCHIP with Ted Kennedy, but he also rakes in tons of money from tobacco lobbyists, which is odd considering smoking is supposed to be a sin for him.

Hatch has used his seniority and power from day one to help Orrin Hatch. He got his mission companions and other friends spots in the federal judiciary. He loves his front row seats at Jazz games...next to the players. He has tried to make every conceivable Republican scandal look not so bad, from Clarance Thomas to Alberto Gonzales.

Now Hatch is trying to cash in on all of this water carrying, despite the awe-shucks routine.

One Utah GOP insider said the rumor floating for months now has been that Hatch's office started spreading his name - though Hatch's office has been batting down the rumor as well.
"Most of us assume Hatch will be wheeled out of the Senate chamber on a gurney like Strom Thurmond," the insider said.

For at least since 1992, Hatch has gotten the praise while Bennett brings home the pork. Not that I think Bennett isn't also a partisan hack, but at least he has done something to help this state.

I have heard that his staff does great constituent service, much like his friend Ted Kennedy, but again, that should not be appropriated to Hatch himself. The only time he does constituent service is to help a drug dealing music friend of his get out jail in Dubai.

Like other media hungry senators, he is more interested in being on "Meet the Timmeh" than meeting the needs of Utahns. So please find me an instance where Hatch's presence in the Senate has helped out the Beehive State.

Hatch Begs to be a Bush Crony

UPDATE: Sen. Hatch give a non-denial denial.

David Hansen, Hatch's campaign manager, said Hatch has not received a call from the White House to fill the Cabinet spot.
"It is not going to happen," Hansen said.
Staffers in Hatch's Senate office said they knew nothing of a potential job switch. Hatch declined any media interviews Monday.
[...]
Hatch has said he doesn't believe the president would nominate him for the position but he also noted that he wouldn't turn down the president if he asked.

If you haven't been out of it this morning, by now you have surely heard that Alberto Gonzales finally resigned of Attorney General (he called Bush on Friday, Bush asked him to think about it, and then they announced on Monday, during which time they lied to reporters about it, naturally).

What you might have missed is the next phase in this saga... who is going to replace Gonzo? The rumor mill has DHS head Michael Chertoff, a Bush loyalist who was appointed to the DOJ in 2001, then to the 3rd circuit, and gave it up to head DHS. And besides the obvious terrible management of the agency during Katrina, Chertoff also has a number of other scandals under his watch waiting to surface.

With Chertoff hearings looking to be a gold-mine for Democrats in Congress, a smart White House would pick someone who was equally loyal and partisan but less likely to have contentious/embarrassing hearings. Enter Sen. Orrin Hatch:

Many Democrats — and some Republicans — had been calling for Gonzales' resignation for months based on his involvement, or lack thereof, of the Justice Department's firing of eight U.S. attorneys and the administration's policies on warrant-less wiretapping.
[...]
Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said on "Meet the Press" April 1 that Hatch was "actively running" to be Gonzales' replacement to which Hatch replied, "Oh come on, Pat." Hatch was just re-elected to another six-year Senate term in the 2006 election.
[...]
Hatch has repeatedly sided with the Justice Department and Gonzales' role as attorney general. He said in a statement issued Monday that Gonzales "has been the president's strong right arm in fighting terrorists using the tools of law enforcement, and he helped successfully protect the American homeland during his tenure."

"I hope that history will remember Attorney General Gonzales for his honorable service to his country, rather than for the absurd political theater to which some critics have subjected him," Hatch said in a statement. "He has overseen the Department of Justice's efforts to protect children from Internet predators, to combat human trafficking, and to prevent the spread of meth in our communities."

Hatch played coy in April, but now he is probably trying to add his name to the rumor mill and placing calls into the White House. One would think that a fellow Senator would be harder for Democratic Senators to vote against, especially one that had been there so long.

It would be great to have the GOP have to defend another open seat, and to watch Utah GOPers scramble to out-conservative each other for the spot. I have no illusions about a Democrat's chances in the inevitable election, but beating an 2 to 4-year Senator is a lot easier than beating 40 year Senator for life. That means better quality candidates would emerge on the Democratic side. Not to say that our last two were bad, but more folks would consider running and more folks would be willing to donate.

Bob Murray Loses Another Round

(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, courtesy of KSL.com)

See below for an update

Poor Bob Murray. He is so old school that he refused to listen to media consultants in the beginning who would have told him to STFU and get his mug off the TV. Murray talked his way into a mess, especially when the results on the ground got worse and worse for the miners trapped in Crandall Canyon and those 3 rescuers died.

Meanwhile, businessman-turned-ambassador-turned-governor Huntsman sat back and watched the implosion. Not until it was clear how badly everything had gone and how little chance there was of changing things around his Jon jr. begin to trash Murray in his own press conferences.

Rather than pointing out this Jon-y-come-lately and hindsight aspect, Murray went to the old school "we have be reckless with human life because that's the only way to make a profit" mentality:

"If you persist in your statements and course of action, you, Governor, are going to jeopardize 700 jobs in Carbon and Emery Counties," Murray said in a letter [PDF] obtained Friday by the Deseret Morning News.
"I cannot maintain them alone, and I definitely cannot do it if I am going to be your whipping-boy."

Yes, apparently Bob Murray employs all of Emery and Carbon Counties. It is this man's benevolence in allowing these rural men to work in his unsafe mines.

This from a man that is about to be sued by the miners' families to keep the mine from being sealed so that they can at the very least extract their loved ones bodies out from the rubble.

Not only is Murray's argument as ridiculous as it is specious, the miners' families seem to be echoing what Huntsman is saying:

the families feel Murray Energy Corp., the mine owner, has misled them about the effort to find, rescue or recover their loved ones - Kerry Allred, Don Erickson, Luis Alonso Hernandez, Juan Carlos Payan, Brandon Phillips and Manuel Sanchez.
[...]
"We don't intend to abandon them," [their attorney Colin] King said.
[...]
King cited several reasons for the families' perception that Murray Energy officials had given up on their loved ones.
He said the families were told repeatedly that a large-diameter drill rig capable of boring a hole big enough for a rescue capsule was en route to the mine, "but it never arrived on site and we're suspicious about those statements."
As early as Monday, King added, Olsen and the families had requested the full study done by eight outside experts brought in by Murray Energy and MSHA to evaluate the ground-control system used before the implosion that killed and injured the rescuers.
MSHA released only a three-paragraph statement from the expert panel that said it was too dangerous to send anyone underground to search for the missing miners.
King said "that may or may not be the case. I don't want to second-guess the experts. But we are upset that we were not provided a copy of the [full] report and they did not provide a reason why.
"We would like to see [the report] so we can analyze it and talk to our experts about how we can get in there and get these people out," he added, noting that he already has begun obtaining mining experts as consultants.
King asked Murray Energy officials whether there had been a major bump in March, as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, that forced the company to stop mining a long "barrier pillar" of coal adjacent to a large mined-out area. That barrier pillar was left to hold up the mountain overhead.
"Mr. Moore refused to answer," King said.
Was a report about this collapse filed with MSHA, as required by law? he asked.
"Moore refused to answer," King said, while MSHA official Jack Kuzar, who was brought in only recently from Pennsylvania to help with the operation, said he did not know.
"MSHA ought to know at this point," King contended.
Given all of these unsatisfactory responses, the lawyer added, "I can't imagine how [missing miners' spouses] Martha Sanchez and Nelda Erickson are even coping. You do what you have to do. But they need closure."

Mr. Murray is not arguing from a position of strength. He has shown his true colors during the course of this debacle and it isn't pretty. While Huntsman might not have been as "take charge" as others in similar disasters in PA and WV, he avoided having to say that the miners were alive when they were in fact all dead like Gov. Joe Machin did. Politically, Huntsman played this as well as he could without taking unnecessary risks.

Mr. Murray, the letter makes you look only worse as a megalomaniac ower-first businessman of a extraction industry. If I was your PR guy/atttorney, I would have never have let you send that letter.

But as a blogger, you are posting-gold. Keep it comming.

UPDATE:

Thanks, Mr. Murray!

Bob Murray made good on his threat to cut jobs in Utah's coal country early this morning.
The owner of three Utah mines met with workers at the Tower Mine in Carbon County at 7 a.m. today. During the meeting, Murray told workers he is shutting down the mine and offered workers there jobs at his other mines in Illinois and Ohio, several laid-off miners said.

He really doesn't think he has the upper hand, does he?

This reminds me of Dr. Evil holding the world hostage for "One MILLION dollars!"

The man gets more cartoonish by the minute. Yeah I am sure a x-th generation central Utah miner is going to pick up and move to Illinois or Ohio. This guy has no clue about our state, our people, or people in general.

the perfect job for Scott Jr.

(Photo Credit: © 2007 Rick Egan/Salt Lake Tribune)

I am sure Scott M. Matheson Jr. wishes he was in the governor's mansion as Governor, but I think the set up is actually best for both men. The son of the last Democratic governor, my friend and former Dean of my law school is best suited to be the head of this state mine safety commission. He is a brilliant thinker and able to argue and reason with others behind closed doors to come out with some great policy. That's his strength.

It is not giving speeches or shaking hands or being a physically commanding presence in a situation. It seems Jon Huntsman Jr. is better at that. So while Huntsman will get all the glory for taking leadership after sitting back and watching the Feds and Murray Energy's incompetence cost at least 3 miners their lives, Matheson will do the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

Matheson will skillfully find positions that pro-industry/mining region politicians (like Sen. Mike Dmitrich, D-Price), mining union officials, and experienced hands from the Sego mine disaster all agree on. The irony that Matheson would be the best at the real work of being a governor, but is bad at running for governor. Meanwhile, Huntsman is good at being the public face of the governor. I hope these two team up more for the sake of our state.

this post writes itself

(AP Photo/Courtesy of Robert Murray)

Mine owners like Bob "Mitch McConnell calls me one of the five finest men in America, and last I checked, he was sleeping with your boss" Murray are going to have a much less regulatory worries if the Bush Administration has its way

The Bush administration wants to quit requiring coal operators to prove that their surface mining will not damage streams, fish and wildlife.
Under proposed new regulations that it will put out Friday for public comment, strip mine operators would have to show only that they intend "to prevent, to the extent possible using the best technology currently available," such damage.
[...]
Interior officials have said that complying with that buffer zone requirement is impossible in "mountaintop removal mining," which involves shearing off the tops of ridges to expose a coal seam. Dirt and rock are pushed below, often into stream beds, a practice known as valley fill.

Meanwhile, Bob Murray has really been great to those families of the trapped miners

In an unsigned, written statement released Wednesday, the family of one trapped miner lashed out at Murray. The family members asked the Deseret Morning News not to use their names out of fear of recrimination.

"He very aggressively told the families to give up," the statement said.

After the Aug. 16 deadly collapse that killed three rescuers and injured six others, the statement said, Murray placed the blame on the families.

"He said to us that 'We are a team, all of us, to include you family members. We have made all of these decisions together. But last week I, no, let me correct that, we killed three people,"' the statement said.

But wait there is more

"I do think the way the families have been treated is unconscionable," [Gov. Jon] Huntsman [Jr.] said.
[...]
"I didn't desert anybody," Murray told The Associated Press. "I've been living on this mountain every day, living in a little trailer."

He said he rushed into the mine in his street clothes and began digging out the men, buried under 5 feet of coal, with his bare hands. "I never hesitated to go in there. I was the first man in and the last man out," he said.

Just like Rudy! was a 9/11 rescue worker because he spent a whole 28 hours at Ground Zero giving tours to big shots (Giuliani spent more time at Yankees games that fall). The brave Republican authoritarians.

At the beginning, Murray said that "not leave this mine until those men are rescued, dead or alive." but now he says the mine is going to be sealed and closed. "I can tell you right now, we are not going back into that mountain," he added. Which is it?

And why were they mining in this depleted mountain anyway?

Prices for coal are up, and more revenue came out of Utah's coal mines this year than any time in the past decade, according to the state's "Annual Review and Forecast of Utah Coal: Production." Production grew, along with the number of jobs in the mines, the report said.
[...]
New safety precautions may thin the line between the price Utah's hard-to-mine coal can fetch and what operators spend to mine it, the report also suggests.

And speaking of money

At a funeral Tuesday for one of the rescue workers who died, a friend of one of the trapped miners confronted Murray and accused him of skimping on the rescue efforts. He then handed Murray a dollar bill.

"This is just to help you out so you don't kill him," the man said.

Murray's head snapped back as if slapped. When the man wouldn't take back the bill, Murray threw the money on the ground. "I'll tell you what, son, you need to find out about the Lord," Murray said.

Murray isn't the only person to come out of this catastrophe with a PR mess on his hands

"Richard Stickler is a very competent MSHA official," Sen. Orrin Hatch said. "He has done his best to see that the job is done right. He cares greatly about these miners."
[...]
President Bush tapped the then-retired Stickler last year to head MSHA, but several senators balked, including [Ted] Kennedy [D-MA]- who charged that when Stickler was a senior manager at a mine in West Virginia, the injury rate was three times the national average.
Kennedy also argued that when Stickler ran the Marianna mine, the injury rate climbed "dramatically" and that mines he managed before heading the Pennsylvania Bureau of Deep Mining had a total of 3,000 safety violations.
MSHA and Stickler's supporters dispute those statistics. Stickler also said current laws were "adequate" when asked about changing regulations with the MINER Act, a sweeping overhaul of mine laws that passed overwhelmingly last year.
The Senate twice sent Stickler's nomination back to Bush.
But when Congress left town last October for a break, Bush used his power to temporarily put Stickler in charge of MSHA. His recess appointment ends this year.

The only one looking good hear is the Governor.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. asked the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration today to immediately inspect two additional mines owned by Murray Energy Corp. in Carbon County...
[...]
Huntsman also is preparing to appoint an independent investigation committee to make recommendations to ensure safety in Utah mines, his office said.
"These additional inspections are only the beginning of a larger investigation that needs to be conducted in Utah's deep mines to secure safety for our miners," Huntsman said in the release. "We must do all we can, at every level, to be prepared for a catastrophe like this one. This is the least we can do to ensure that the lives lost have not been in vain."

UPDATE:

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. today named his former political opponent, Scott Matheson Jr., to lead the newly formed Utah Mine Safety Commission that will consider what the state's role should be in protecting coal miners.
[...]
Utah ceded mine safety to the federal government in 1977, a decision that the governor said may be reconsidered.
[...]
During the taping of the governor's monthly news conference broadcast on KUED Channel 7, Huntsman said he's "not sure anyone cares what (Murray) has to say right now."

The more you read about all this, the worse you feel, but you have to keep reading...and praying.

(Thanks to Katie Halper for all the great Murray quotes)

Romney sweeps up the crumbs

(Photo Credit: Chris Glass © 2004)

After several trips to Utah to raise money from big donors, Mitt is coming back to take small contributions from the little people. Shows his priorities doesn't it?

His visit is part of a nationwide "Rally for Romney" effort announced Wednesday. Events are being held in more than 40 cities in 20 states through September. The Utah rally is set for Sept. 28 at the Salt Palace Convention Center, from 2 to 8 p.m.

Participants will be asked to call family and friends for smaller contributions, money that Romney told the Deseret Morning News is key to his campaign.

"I'll tell you, to raise the money you need to run for president, you've got to get donors who will write $100 checks or $50 checks to be part of your campaign," Romney said in a recent interview.
[...]
...This year, Romney has collected big checks in Salt Lake City, St. George, Logan and Deer Valley.

But the problem with big-money donors, Romney said, is that "you run out of them. So I've got to broaden the base of my supporters to people who haven't given before and who are willing to write what to some are small checks but to them are large checks."

The problem with big-money donors isn't just that there are fewer of them, but that it distorts your policies towards them. And Romney's big money first hasn't been so successful.

Sure he has raised the most money ($44M)...among Republicans, but he has been spending it hand over fist to get the Ames straw poll victory he needed, as well as leads in IA and NH. Obama has the most cash on hand ($36.2M) of any candidate And he did it my getting near 260,000 donors. "$9.7 million of the $33 million he raised in the second quarter of 2007 came in increments of less than $200"...that's right a third of all his money last quarter.

The campaign ad Utah Republican Party press release Deseret News article ends with this information: "Utahns can sign up to attend the rally by calling 801-961-4070. For more information, go to the Internet at www.mittromney.com/rally." Go to the Internet at? That is even worse than "Log on to"... how hard is it to say "visit" or "go to" without saying the Internet or Online. If you see www. or .com, people who would go to that website know it is on the Internet.

I wonder if I would get kicked out if I brought a sign for someone like Obama or just wore a anti-Bush T-shirt. I also look forward to the local press inflating Romney's crowd numbers. Let's see if he can get more than Obama did with his last minute roadside rally. I have a feeling it will be underwhelming.

After all, this is the map that Chris Bowers made culling all the recent state by state polling from three different polling firms on a Romney vs. Clinton matchup:

Republicans for puppy torture

There really is no other valid explanation for the fact that twice now Republicans in the Utah legislature have used their majority to impose procedural blocks on a popular bill to make animal abuse a third degree felony... But let's look at their excuses:

During the regular session, it was the old "saved by the bell" excuse (aka oh look at the time, we will have to vote on that next session, they promised), which Gov. Huntsman called them on. This special session, they have a new one

Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, argued that the bill could potentially ruin the life of someone "who does a one-time stupid thing," and proposed an alternative that would make animal torture a felony on a second offense committed within five years.
Sen. Jon Greiner, a Republican who is Ogden's police chief, said the Legislature may be making it a crime to drop an animal off near a shelter if the shelter happens to be closed.
He also noted other crimes - child abuse, sexual abuse of a minor, assault of a police officer, and assault of a school employee - that are Class A misdemeanors under Utah law.
"How do we get to a third degree felony [for animal torture] when we don't have enough respect for human life, sexually abused children, that we don't have a higher standard of care for them?" asked Greiner.
The argument didn't wash with [Rhonda] Kamper [who's small black terrier-Chihuahua mix Henry lost an eye when her now-ex-husband chased the dog with a leaf blower, stuffed him in an oven and cooked him for five minutes at 200 degrees].
"They're the lawmakers. If they have a problem with child abuse being a Class A misdemeanor, then change the law," she said.
Greiner suggested jettisoning the bill until January, and the Senate approved the motion 18-11.

As JM Bell pointed out, Michael Vick is a first time offender and will be pleading guilty to federal felony charges on Monday (and faces state felony charges as well). So would Sen. Christensen advocate giving Vick a second chance to hang, drown, and electrocute dogs?

And seriously, what's up with Ogden Republicans? They all love torturing animals? Commenters, please give me any good reason to vote against Henry's law.

SLC mayor's race ad watch

First there's Ralph Becker's who was up first on TV and whose I saw first on TV.

My wife really disliked the ending. She said, "that [Blueprint man cartoon] really ruined the whole thing." It has low production values, just a series of photos and voice over, but it again hones the message that all of Ralph's ad money (be it for mailings or TV) goes for: I AM A DEMOCRAT!!! (and big name Democrats support me) My wife noted the big names and was impressed. She might think the ending is hokey, but the endorsement's stuck with her.

Speaking of hokey, have you seen Dave Buhler's ads? Man he has a lot of them. I have seen two different ones, but there are tons more on YouTube, if you can bear it.

First off, what is the deal with the Dave Letterman T-shirt? Letterman was sort of cool in maybe 1994! And old men with pot bellies don't look good in Ts, shorts and Tevas. He looks a little silly even before you notice the puppet squirrel on his shoulder. Plus, these ads talk about all the things he did on the city council, failing to note his other experience, as a state senator in the REPUBLICAN leadership. Gee, I wonder why.

Here's the next one. And I am glad he is wearing a suit this time, but the shades, please. And in general, I guess they are going for an homage to the Apple ads, but it doesn't really work if there aren't two people bantering back and forth. The small print lines are clever and a bit corny but I am a corny guy.

But the thing that troubles me is the misappropriation of the line that launched arch-conservative Ben Stein's acting career.

It is a good way for people to remember Dave's name, but it might violate IP law. Stein is an attorney I think, so I hope pointing this out will apprise him of what's going on. I don't think he has made claims like the "let's get ready to rumble" guy but I haven't exactly followed Stein's career closely.

OK back on topic. Final grades: Becker B, Buhler C+. Buhler's ad have more content of what he did on the city council than Christensen and suffer from none of the sloganeering, but is very dorky. Becker's is pretty clear cut in its messaging, but the Blueprint man ending is a bit jarring.

Why do Leavitt and Bush hate children?

ex-Gov. Leavitt is doing the bidding of his overlord president, George W. Bush, and fighting the "good fight"

The Bush administration, continuing its fight to stop states from expanding the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, has adopted new standards that would make it much more difficult...to extend coverage to children in middle-income families.

Administration officials outlined the new standards in a letter sent to state health officials on Friday evening, in the middle of a month-long Congressional recess. In interviews, they said the changes were aimed at returning the Children’s Health Insurance Program to its original focus on low-income children and to make sure the program did not become a substitute for private health coverage.

After learning of the new policy, some state officials said today that it could cripple their efforts to cover more children by imposing standards that could not be met.

Sure, children will get health care, but what about the poor suffering health insurance companies? FDL has the horrible details of the Bush-Leavitt plan.

If you are not angry now, how about his tale?

An illegal immigrant who took refuge in a Chicago church for a year to avoid being separated from her U.S.-born son has been deported to Mexico, the church’s pastor said.
[...]
Her 8-year-old son, Saul, is now living with Coleman’s family. During a news conference in Los Angeles after Arellano’s arrest, the boy hid behind the pastor’s wife and wiped away tears.

The boy will be separated from his mother because he was born in the US and per the 14th Amendment, he is a US citizen. This is the consequences of "enforcement" and conservative-nativist "family values." (H/T as always, FDL)

How Republicans plan to win in 08

Quick, what's the number one issue on Americans minds now? Iraq right? Well if Republicans have their way:

"I think the defining issue in '08 is going to be Hillary Clinton."

-- Senate Min. Leader Mitch McConnell, Louisville Courier-Journal, 8/5

That's right the same McConnell that is getting blasted at home about the war with ads, protesters, and sinking popularity rankings.

At first I thought this was a GOP fantasy, but then I realized it was a real strategy.

On conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh's show Wednesday, Rove predicted the New York Democrat would win her party's nomination but said she was "fatally flawed" and would ultimately lose the race for the White House.

"There is no frontrunner who has entered the primary season with negatives as high as she has in the history of modern polling," said Rove

For her part, Hillary spun this as Rove is "obsessed with" her because she and her husband are the only ones who have been able to beat "these guys."

Here's Rove's plan in a nutshell: keep the story on Hillary and keep her negatives up. Sadly, the media will happily play along with stories about the Clinton's sex lives, the 1990's "scandals," Hillary's sealed WH records (when Bush sr.'s and Reagan's are still sealed thanks to George W.), and even her clothing/hair choices.

The idea doesn't sound that unreasonable when you consider that is exactly what Rove did to Al Gore and John Kerry. The races became about those men's supposed flaws rather than George W. Bush's.

Sen. Clinton is right to say that the Right Wing Attack Machine will do the same thing to whomever the nominee is. But the question is, who has more built-in fodder?

It is true that Hillary/Bill drives conservatives as nuts as Karl Rove/George W. Bush drives liberals nuts. But that doesn't mean that a base election will mean either a 2004 type GOP victory or 2006 type Democratic one.

Personally, I am tired of my party nominating the same old candidate who checks off all the boxes for the party's interest groups but doesn't really excite anyone. Gore and Kerry were exactly those types. Hillary to me looks to be the same type. Granted, professional woman really are excited about her and will rally towards her when she is inevitably attacked.

Nevertheless, the dramatic change that someone like Obama represents (whether or not he would actually change things) seems like just what the country needs right now. His negatives are, according to right wing groups: his middle name, his attendance at a school in a Muslim country when he was 3-6 years old, his willingness to talk to America-hating dictators like Kim Jung-Il, his willingness to take nukes off the table, (and that is half-black).

The first two have tried and failed miserably. The last one is a covert attack line that must be used very carefully since racism isn't very hip these days. The middle two are ones that Hillary and other Washington establishment types seem to think are a big deal, but I bet polling would say that these are mainstream American positions.

Generally, it will be much harder for Republicans to make the election about Barrack Obama than it will be for them to make it about Hillary Clinton or John Edwards' hair.

direct mail diagnosis

Yesterday, I got a few interesting pieces of mail, mailers from Keith Christensen and Ralph Becker (as well as my diploma). What a contrast in styles.

Both were the same size (~10x5)when they arrived, but Ralph's was thin colored paper that was actually folded in half. Keith went for the heavier card stock with half the surface area as Becker's.

Ralph's front page headline "Salt Lake City Democrats like Christine Johnson & Scott McCoy support Ralph Becker for Mayor" (with photos of both standing shoulder to shoulder with Ralph. This is a great way to say "Democrat" as soon as possible without sounding too strained (i.e. not "Democrats like Christine Johnson and Scott McCoy...") It is a not to subtle hint that Becker is also a Democrat.

Keith opts for another I-can-ride-a-nice-bicycle-in-my-campaign-jersey motif. This time with what I assume is his family also riding near by. The tag line? "Fighting crime starts at the street level." Get it, he is riding on the street so he must somehow be fighting crime by wearing that cool jersey and expensive road bike. In smaller print, his campaign "explains" that "Solid leadership and vision can be deterrents to crime." Really? I thought strict enforcement, harsh penalties, strong communities, and good economic conditions deter crime. I have trouble imagining a would be criminal saying/thinking "I would rob that bank, but Mayor Christensen's strong leadership and vision make me think twice."

While neither mailing has any real policy stuff on it, Keith is pretending to give policy-based reasons for voting for him. Ralph opts for the more crass (but possibly more effective) "Ralph Becker is a Democrat. Other big-name Democrats and liberals support him, so you should too."

So let's go to Keith's backside and Ralph's inside (I will get to Ralph's back in a bit). Keith will keep us SLCers safe by "insit[ing] that our police and fire fighters have the tools, technology and facilities needed to protect all our citizens." Who except Dennis Kucinich wouldn't do that as mayor? His campaign promised me details, so here goes. "Keith knows we can only attract the highest quality [first responders] to serve our community by offering them competitive salaries, improved training opportunities, and the most cutting-edge technology." But guess what? Firefighter's (via their local union) have endorsed Jenny Wilson.

What kind of technology? Haz-Mat suits? Computer programs to get at fire risk? Compstat-style software to target crime-ridden neighborhoods? What kind of training opportunities don't our police fire and EMTs not have currently?

Public safety will be his top budget priority, and apparently the City's budget is $660M...that is about all I learned here. For a "I would be a good wonky mayor" he doesn't have much specifics, nor does he point to where one might find specifics.

On Ralph's inside, we see more of the same "These Salt Lake Democrats are voting for Ralph Becker because they know he'll stand up and fight for Salt Lake City values." And there is a list of all his endorsements and a brief bio. I dislike this sentence. It plays into the right-wing use of the word "values" as in LaVar Christensen's claim that a vote for Jim Matheson was a vote for "San Francisco values." And also, I am really sick of the word "fight" in Democratic sloganeering. It is straight out of the Bob Schrum playbook, who is 0-8 in presidential campaigns. "[S]tand up" is good, but I would prefer to connote the idea of being tough and sticking up for our city. How about "...they know he won't back down against anyone who want to harm our city." And then you can talk about leading the fight against vouchers, and for ethics, and for making and keeping SLC "green."

Ralph has a fake clipboard which gives a rundown of the bullet point vagaries of his plans for the city, but then points readers to the details on his website and gives people a number (if they are old and afraid of the InterTubes). It even includes a friendly reminder about when election day is.

Now for the back of the mailer. It has a still from the cartoon "Blueprint man" that Ralph's campaign put on YouTube and even has the temerity to ask for money, a lawn sign placement, or volunteers.

Overall, here are my grades: Keith's second mailer: C+(still too vague if you are running on competence and policy-know-how), Ralph's: B+ (maybe too much stuff on there to distract, but good use endorsements by the only gay and lesbian legislators to show how liberal of a Democrat you are).