It looks like Senator Mark Begich is channeling Sarah Palin these days.

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich released the following statement after a federal judge in Louisiana blocked a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects implemented by the Obama Administration after the Gulf oil spill disaster:

“Today’s decision by the Louisiana judge overturning the Obama Administration’s temporary ban on deepwater offshore oil and gas development shows the moratorium was overreaching. It should serve as a shot across the bow to the administration and Congress that American workers must continue to develop America’s energy resources within our borders.

“Companies demonstrating solid exploration and development plans and oil spill response plans should be able to develop our nation’s abundant oil. Lifting a ban on deepwater activity, which carries greater risk than low-pressure, shallow-water development like in Alaska, hopefully will get responsible exploratory drilling planned by Shell in Alaska’s Arctic waters back on track soon.

“As much as a tragedy as BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster is, we can’t let emotion overrule sound energy policy. Our country’s energy policy must include increased domestic oil and gas development as we transition to cleaner energy sources.”

Look I have lived in Alaska my entire life.  And I am well aware that our Democrats are not exactly latte drinking, Volvo driving, tree hugging liberals.  But they at least should be fucking Democrats!

When President Obama placed that moratorium on deep water drilling he was doing something that should have been done a LONG TIME AGO.  Clearly the oil industry has placed profits over the safety of our planet and until there is some serious new oversight put in place we should absolutely NOT allow anymore new wells to be drilled.

And do you know what? I would expect my Alaska Senator to be right on board with adopting that kind of cautious approach after the terrible devastation that we are witnessing in the Gulf of Mexico. 

No not Senator Lisa Murkowski, we know that she is prostituting herself to ANY energy company with a bulging billfold and a hard on for spoiling our pristine Alaska environment.

No I am talking about our token Democrat.  You know the guy who was supposed to bring a little progressive blue into our blood red Congressional delegation.  But instead I see him breaking away from our embattled President, and prostrating himself to the oil companies,  when Obama desperately needs all of the support he can get.

I have very little confidence that Shell oil is any more competent than BP was in performing deep water drilling more safely.  After all until THIS spill happened most people assumed that BP knew what they were doing.  It was only AFTER the Gulf began to hemorrhage oil that we learned just how careless BP has been for decades.

And really does this sound so very unreasonable?

Despite a late appeal from Shell that it would employ new safety measures in the wake of the Gulf spill, Salazar was unconvinced that the exploratory drilling even in the much shallower waters of the Arctic would be safe.

"He is suspending proposed exploratory drilling in the Arctic," an administration official said on condition of anonymity to talk before Salazar's report is officially released today. "He will not consider applications for permits to drill in the Arctic until 2011 because of the need for further information-gathering, evaluation of proposed drilling technology, and evaluation of oil-spill response capabilities for Arctic waters."

Apparently our Senator is jealous of all of the attention that Louisiana is getting from all around the world and is desperate for Alaska to have our very own environmental disaster.

Gee Senator are you also in favor of this little enterprise?

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PLEASE READ THIS POST!

Today the Senate votes on cloture concerning the Senate Health Care Bill.

"Cloture" is defined as: The only procedure by which the Senate can vote to place a time limit on consideration of a bill or other matter, and thereby overcome a filibuster. Under the cloture rule (Rule XXII), the Senate may limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional hours, but only by vote of three-fifths of the full Senate, normally 60 votes.

In other words if this does not pass tonight's crucial vote it will allow the Republicans to filibuster and play "rope a dope" with this thing in an attempt to run out the clock, or wear the Democrats down. This country has been waiting almost a century for health care reform and we CANNOT allow the Republicans, whose vote is bought and paid for by the insurance companies, to sabotage this important legislation again!

Please call your Senators and let them know that you want them to vote yes on cloture tonight!

Don't let it dissuade you that your Senator is a Republican, you still have a right to have your voice be heard.

I just called Senator Begich, who I know is going to vote YES on this, at 202-224-3004. And I also called Senator Murkowski, who I know is going to vote NO on this, at 202-224-6665. I got through right away on both calls, and I don't feel either one was a waste of my time because I exercised my rights as a citizen and now BOTH of my Senators know how I feel. Isn't that MY job as an American?

It may not change a damn thing, but at least I tried. And I encourage everybody who cares about this issue to do the same thing. You know that the Republicans are calling by the thousands in response to the fear mongering and bullshit, fed to them by Fox News and Sarah Palin. Should we do any less in the name of truth and honesty?

Do your senators know YOU feel yet? No? Well what are you waiting for? You can find contact information for your senators right here. Just take a moment and to call them up and tell them that a vote of yes on cloture is a vote that YOU support.

And then if you don't mind, please leave a comment right here so that visitors can see how many Americans support Health Care Reform in this country. When the Republicans again say that the American people have spoken out against this bill, we will have evidence here, and on other liberal blogs, that they are lying once again to their constituents.

How powerful will THAT be in the next election cycle?

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

Namaste my friends

Gryphen

Update: It looks like the teabaggers are admitting defeat.

We have heard a lot of outrage over the past several weeks from Tea Party Patriots around the country that no matter how loud we protest, no matter how often we go to DC, no matter how large our crowds are, Congress is not listening to us. We have heard that Sen. Blanche Lincoln's office is getting phone calls 15 - 1 asking her to vote NO on cloture and against the health care bill. Despite what their constituents want, Congress appears to be doing what they want rather than representing us.
...
We understand your outrage and frustration. We are working on plans to change tactics while keeping the pressure on the Senate for Health Care, Cap and Trade, and the Central Valley Water issue. We will continue to work on those plans over the week of Thanksgiving. Stay posted as we work with local coordinators to announce additional plans and ideas.

See? Sometimes the good guys DO win. Keep up those phone calls and e-mails. Now is not the time to rest on our laurels.

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan attempts to slither away from the responsibility of his job while laying blame on our new Senator for the city's troubles

Apparently taking a page right out of Sarah Palin's fake bestseller, "Going Rogue", our chin-deficient mayor has decided that "by God NOTHING is his fault either"!

"Mr. Family Values-ass groper" has discovered, what EVERY OTHER candidate for mayor already knew, the city has some financial problems.

So of course the choices in such a predicament are simply, cut costs while raising more money. In other words trim some city services that will not have a huge impact on the citizens while raising a few taxes.

But wait, I forgot. Chin-less is one of those "teabagger" morons who believes that raising taxes, even a little bit, is like wiping your ass with the American flag, and then setting it on fire, while reading from the Qur'an.

So if that option is not available what is a slimy, responsibility shirking, political coward to do? Well of course you blame everything on the LAST administration. Duh!

Of course in THIS case the last mayor is now our current, newly minted Senator. In fact he still has that new, just out of the box, new Senator smell. (I know, I sniffed him!)

So in other words, the guy Dan Sullivan wants to vilify for leaving the city unable to pay its bills, is the same guy who is now responsible for bringing federal money to Alaska to help us pay our bills. That is just like keying a guys car at a party, right before you ask him for a ride home because you are too drunk to drive. So not bright.

And it is even worse because, as it turns out, Sullivan is lying about Begich's responsibility for the problem. Yeah I know, you could have knocked me over with a feather too. A Republican politician in Alaska lying? Who could have seen THAT coming?

Here let my friend Shannyn Moore explain it to you in more detail.

"Hello, my name is Bob. I am a little insecure in my manhood so I brought this gun to a town hall meeting. Why is that so wrong?"

About a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style rifle, milled among protesters outside the convention center where President Barack Obama was giving a speech Monday - the latest incident in which protesters have openly displayed firearms near the president.

Gun-rights advocates say they're exercising their constitutional right to bear arms and protest, while those who argue for more gun control say it could be a disaster waiting to happen.

Phoenix police said the gun-toters at Monday's event, including the man carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle slung over his shoulder, didn't need permits. No crimes were committed, and no one was arrested.

The man with the rifle declined to be identified but told The Arizona Republic that he was carrying the assault weapon because he could. ``In Arizona, I still have some freedoms,'' he said.

I am sorry, but WTF?

Since when do we allow people to come ANYWHERE near our President while packing heat? When did THAT become okay?

Was it when we dared to elect a black man to office?

You know maybe I am missing something here, but considering the incredible amount of racism that we have been exposed to lately, I would say that with an African American President in office that it is EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO KEEP ASSHOLES WITH GUNS AWAY FROM HIM! I am sorry, was I yelling?

Well somebody needs to yell. This is absolute bullshit!

And don't hand me that second amendment crap either. I have no problem with you owning a gun. Just keep it away from our President! Is that too much to ask?

Jesus!

And do you know what? It is not just happening around Obama, it is happening EVERYWHERE.

I saw a bunch of morons with holsters attached to their hips during Sarah Palin's last picnic in Anchorage, and again outside of the Egan Center when they were voting on the stimulus money, and again outside of the De'Naina Center when Senator Begich was inside talking about health care reform. Why? Were they frightened of something?

Look I live in Alaska, I have SEEN people walking around the streets of Anchorage with holsters before. But THIS is different. These guys all dress in the same t-shirts bragging about their 2nd amendment rights and mill around the crowd just waiting for somebody to give them shit about it.

These guys are looking for trouble. And somebody is going to get hurt.

And it will not be President Obama.

Or Senator Begich.

It will be somebodies child, or their wife, or just some guy walking around minding his own business. And when that happens just wait and see how well that 2nd amendment argument holds up in court with the family of a dead child sitting across the room from you.

And see how much that now confiscated weapon protects you while serving time in prison for manslaughter.