Did Bush Engineer the Blackout?

[ScotTissue]

in the grand tradition of "Follow the $$$$," plainly it is energy companies that are going to benefit by the hysterical calls of "modernize the electricity grid." How many of those energy companies are based in Houston?

Did George Bush throw the switch yesterday at 4pm EST or what?

[slackmaster]

1. Yes, energy companies must be raking in the dough right now

I'm sure they all wanted this blackout to happen.

:tinfoilhat:

[dolstein]

2. Why, were unemployment figures announced yesterday?

NT

[Brian Sweat]

3. Are space aliens eating my underwear?

[Joe the Revelator]

8. and they don't stop coming

all this conspiracy theroy garbage needs to be toned down a bit. We're democrats for christ sake, not militia men

[ScotTissue]

10. Maybe.

[Brian Sweat]

4. Is Bigfoot responsible for the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa?

[ScotTissue]

9. Maybe.

[Brian Sweat]

5. Do you have any more stupid question.

[ScotTissue]

11. Maybe.

So, your answer is "no," huh?

[Brian Sweat]

16. No, my answer is not "no"

My answer is that I don't know, but that there is little evidence to support such a conclusion and that this was a stupid thread. If you had supported the question with two or three legitimate facts that would seem to point to the Bush Administration intentionally causing these blackouts, I might have cut you some slack. Just asking the question point blank with nothing to back it up reminds me of a supermarket tabloid.

[Eloriel]

21. Maybe he's thinking that DUers, usually a really well-informed bunch

Have already read some of the many threads with news and other items in them that lend support to such a theory.

IOW: You can put me in the "probably yes" category.

Eloriel

[Brian Sweat]

27. Is there a Bush conspiracy theory you don't believe?

Was Hillary involved in Vince Foster's death?

[Generic Other]

33. Any example of Bush telling the truth that we could use for comparison?

Our extreme mistrust is not based on nothing.

[Brian Sweat]

35. I don't trust the jerk anymore than you do,

but jumping to the conclusion that he caused the blackout without any evidence is silly. The lack of preperation on the part of his administration in the face of a golden opportunity to make Schleprock look presidential is a clear indicator to me that they were almost certainly not involved. If they had planned this, they would have been ready to have Schleprock look like he was ready to take charge and come the nations rescue in a time of need. Instead, he looked like he was ready for another round.

[NoKingGeorge]

6. Sure is funny timing

First I do not think Awol could initiate anything. He was chosen because he is easy to manipulate and has no intellectual capacity.

Our military can and does knock out pwer grids and there is no burning power stations etc. They can use graphite released from planes to do this. Has anyone seen black clouds released? Can any hikers find large quantities of graphite on the ground? The timing of not impacting the markets and no reports of over capacity (remember how the utilities come on and ask you to turn off some devices) also pretty good for media exposure = Cheney/neocons. Are things heating up for poodle today?

[TLM]

7. What better way to get more emergency non-bid contracts...

than a massive power outage?

They did the same crap in CA... blackouts get people to agree to some real stupid shit.

Now lets me guess that some Bush industry pal will get 10 or 15 billion in US tax $$$ in an undisclosed un-bid contract for upgrades to the grid.

on edit... read this...

http://www.geni.org/energy/library/media_coverage/KansasCityStar/3accbbb0_607.html

Black & Veatch proposal envisions national power grid
By DAN MARGOLIES - The Kansas City Star
Date: 06/07/2001 22:15

With the Bush energy plan emphasizing production, Black & Veatch has unveiled a $15 billion proposal to establish a national power grid and to build power plants close to their fuel sources.

<snip>


Black & Veatch and Siemens pitched TAG in April to the energy task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. The proposal dovetails with a recommendation in the Bush administration's energy plan, unveiled last month, to look at the possibility of establishing a national grid and to identify measures to remove transmission bottlenecks. Right now, TAG is an idea in search of a customer. And it is not clear the idea would win universal acceptance.

[SoCalDem]

24. Yep.. I posted this twice yesterday, and other than Salin, no one even

commented on it..

We now know for sure that these 3 companies WERE in on the "energry meetings", and we know that Enron, Reliant, Duke, and a few others that I cannot remember now were there as well..

If they were doing "good things" for the country, why all the secrecy ????

[aquart]

26. All privatized, right?

I figured we'd get an energy version of the Patriot Act as soon as this happened.

[snooper2]

12. No, It was Karl Rove..

Here is what happened....

Karl Rove is tired of seeing the news reports of troops dead every day, so we need more troops. He tries to get other countries to help but he's screwed them over so bad he has no luck. Rummy, Osama, Karl, Condi, and Colin Bowell all get together and decide they need some slave labor to work over in Iraq so they can have celebrations with Chimpy showing the troops coming home. The only problem is where to find the slave troop labor. Rummy reminds him of the movie "Canadian Bacon", and Rove comes up with a brilliant idea. We will sabatoge the power grid in the Northeast and blame it on Canada. Once the people find out they will be furious. Then, he'll explain they are massing troops on our border and say that fighting between Canadian and American troops in Afghanistan has broke out. He knows Wolf Blitzer will have a field day. So, we invade and conquer Canada with a small army of 3000 troops and annex the whole country. We then force the Canadians into a draft and send them to Iraq. Finally, Chimpy gets his picture op with the 10's of thousands of American troops coming home.

Anyway, I read on the Internet somewhere that was the reason. :tinfoilhat:

[never cry wolf]

22. Whew,

thank God i made it back thru international falls last sunday. fort francis may put up some stiff resistance what with the paper mill there and all. freakin country to the north prints everything double, in FRENCH no less. unpatriotic subversive bastards, ehh????

on edit: need to preview first

[meegbear]

13. No ...

they would have waited for ...

1. The arrest of Riduan Isamuddin, the terrorist arrested in Thailand to drop out of the headlines

2. A really hot day to make people swelter

Then he can use it for some kind of justification to do something

[Jacobin]

14. I have an email from a Nigerian gentleman I would like to forward to you

I'm too busy to work on it, but it seems his grandfather was left $20 million U.S. and he must have a trusted friend in the U.S. who can deposit the funds for him in a U.S. bank account. However, he needs $2,500 for a plane ticket wired to him. As soon as he gets here, you can open the account and split the money with him. I would do it, but as I mentioned, I'm kinda busy right now.

BTW, the media is picking up the story that SmirkCo and GOPers in congress voted down a dem proposal in 2001 to spend $350 million to upgradge the power grid because of a report that said an outage such as the one which occurred is likely. Somehow, I don't think he would have wanted this to happen on his watch.

It's another failure and one that they can't attribute to terrissshs.

[zbdent]

15. Of course, El Fatbo blames it on the liberals

who don't want it in their back yard (gee, eminent domain of impoverished areas never happens?) I don't hear too many rich people demanding that a nuclear power plant be built upwind and upstream from their palatial estates.

Liberals, who want to keep from spending any money to upgrade ancient equipment? Last I remember, new equipment costs money, and with privatization of anything, the bottom line is improving efficiency and equipment, not profits, right?

Liberals, who did ask to be included in the discussion of where the Dept. of Energy was going, instead of being handed a thousand page report and told to come back within 48 hours with your detailed analysis and rebuttal, complete with research and notes.

[zbdent]

17. My question is this: Are the electric companies going

to blame this on another "July Blizzard"?

(A few years ago, one Ohio energy company did blame it on a "great blizzard of July"; they claimed that the data entry person keyed in the wrong code, silly minimum wager!)

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

18. I guess Bush must have control of everything in the universe

Anything that happens - good or bad - must have been caused by Bush.

Just a little while ago our e-mail went down. Dammit Bush, cut it out!

[GregW]

19. No. Next question...

[MindPilot]

20. It had to have been Clinton's penis.

He was probably swinging it around trying to interfere with the just and courageous installation of a muscleheaded govenator in CA, and hit a transmission line.

If you think about it, it is the only explanation that really makes sense.

:silly:

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

23. I hear you

I was hoping to borrow Clinton's penis to help me pick horse races this weekend.

[never cry wolf]

25. taint no way

just look as shrub's "press conference." if this were a planned event he would have been prepped better. this caught him and his handlers completely unawares.

[diplomats]

30. I agree completely

Bush's press conference was so bad the WH could not possibly have been expecting this.

[DoYouEverWonder]

34. They don't tell him on purpose

That way he can really act surprised.

No one wants a loose cannon like him to know what's really going on.

[VermontDem2004]

28. No

because it was unexpected, if it was expected like 9/11, they wouldn't of had to sober him up to make him look decent for his speech last night. If 9/11 was an unexpected attack, they would of had to sober Bush up. Because when there are no plans, Bush drinks till he is drunk.

[ohmyman1]

29. Rush's thoughts

It was clinton's fault

[Brian Sweat]

32. Really?

I just cannot believe Rush would blame this on Clinton.


</sarcasm>

[Melinda]

31. I do not understand how this "event" can help Bush w/voters.

AS explained in other threads (NYT and Greg Palast) Bush* and the GOP opposed and ultimately killed prescient dem legislation in 2001 to upgrade the grids.

If it's determined that the grid failed, then this moumental disaster is clearly the Bush* maladministrations fault.

GOP logic: Clinton's failure to get OBL = 911; ergo this one is on Bush.