Sierra Blanca Redux...or "Dean dumped waste on me..."

[MercutioATC]

What happens to the oil in your car when you take it to the service station to be changed?

You pay a fee and the garage disposes of it properly, right?

How do you KNOW? Is it your responsibility to check to make sure that the oil is being properly disposed of or do you reason that the service station has accepted a fee from you and they have a place to dispose of it?

Maine and Vermont needed a place to store nuclear waste. Texas was willing to take it. An agreement was reached whereby Maine and Vermont would pay a fee and Texas would store the waste properly (are we seeing the analogy?).

Texas had the responsibility to locate a site for the repository. The Texas legislature appointed a commission which chose Sierra Blanca. Maine and Vermont had no voice in the decision and no reason to second-guess the legally appointed commission that made the decision. In fact, Maine and Vermont knew that there was a safeguard built into the system, the necessity of Federal approval. At the Federal level, it was determined that Sierra Blanca was not an adequate site and no waste was held there (the safeguard worked).

To spin this into a "Dean dumps waste on poor Hispanics who have no political voice" is just that, spin. Blame the Texas commission who tried to locate the site in Sierra Blanca, but Maine and Vermont did nothing wrong.

[MercutioATC]

1. Shameless kick

If it doesn't work, I'll let this one die a rapid death. I did, however, think it was appropriate with the resurgance of "Sierra Blanca" posts.

[JNelson6563]

2. I didn't know anything about this

Is someone actually saying that a screw-up in and by Texas was Dean's doing? How Bush-like! Just like Clinton is responsible for Bush's deficits!

Julie

[MercutioATC]

3. Some anti-Dean folks here are saying that Dean's at fault for this...

They claim he's guilty of "dumping nuclear waste on poor Hispanics".

I've just never seen the logic in that position. I know that there are people who don't hear the other side of the arguement, so I wanted to put it out there.

[acerbic]

4. I don't understand why the normal DU rules can't be applied even now

...to the discussion about the candidates. It's not like all criticism of Democrats has ever been prohibited: if somebody e.g. didn't like Clinton because of NAFTA or the welfare reform, it could be discussed, but if you just spammed wingnut propaganda shyte from Liesmax or Moonie Times and ranted about "Clinton body count" or other freeper stuff, you'd probably be banned pretty quickly.

Happy times for freepers: right now outright lies, absurd exaggerations and spams from wingnut sources can be repeated freely if it's about the candidates. Why couldn't that kind of thing still be stopped but criticism based on at least some measure of reality still be allowed, just as before? :shrug:

[VermontDem2004]

5. I looked at dozens of articles long before

but Paul Wellstone had a voice and demanded they change the site, I couldn't find one article where Dean said anything. I just wanted to know if he approved the site, was busy doing other stuff, or actually wanted the site moved somewhere else.

[CWebster]

6. Bernie Sanders, the most progressive member of the house:

http://www.house.gov/bernie/statements/1998-07-29-texas.html

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

7. I'm a notorious Dean-basher

Even I wouldn't go that far :)