Hah! SacBee Nails Rick Perry's No-Regs Tour Of California, & The Guv Gets Seriously Pissy

[hatrack]

Perry's letter continued and he demanded an apology from The Bee on the behalf of West, Texas. "Additionally, publishing this on the very day our state and nation paused to honor and mourn those who died only compounds the pain and suffering of the many Texans who lost family and friends in this disaster. The Bee owes the community of West, Texas an immediate apology for your detestable attempt at satire."

Perry wasn't alone in his criticism of the cartoon. Ohman explained that "several readers" expressed their "varying levels of concern about the cartoon depicting Gov. Rick Perry's marketing of Texas' loose regulations, juxtaposed with the explosion of the fertilizer plant in West, Texas."

Ohman wrote that he was being accused of being "insensitive and tasteless". To which he responded: "Let's explore the question of tastelessness." He notes that the fertilizer plant had not been inspected by the state for seven years. Its last inspection was in 2006.

Gov. Perry travels the country, Ohman explained, describing Texas as a "state as free from high taxes and burdensome regulation". "One of the burdensome regulations he neglected to mention was the fact that his state hadn't really gotten around to checking out that fertilizer plant," Ohman wrote. Zoning laws are also lax to non-existent. "So when the plant exploded and killed 14 people, people started asking the inevitable questions about whether this tragedy could have been prevented," Ohman wrote.

EDIT

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/27/1205200/-West-Texas-explosion-political-cartoon-strikes-a-nerve-with-Rick-Perry

[AndyA]

1. Gov. Perry, like all Republicons, doesn't much care for facts or reality

Having low or no regulations or oversight eventually leads to disaster. Whether it's oil leaking out someplace where it shouldn't, destroying wildlife and the natural environment as well as making people sick, things exploding and killing people, or bad things getting into food that people eat then get sick from, a lack of regulation and inspection is not good for society overall.

Business loves it, but it seems the American taxpayer somehow always winds up on the hook repairing the damage, and any fines levied against the business are a fraction of the total cost of the damage done.

[kenichol]

2. Yup, it's good for profit, bad for people and other living things

This is the 'golden calf/bull' many worship today: profit at any cost.

[PearliePoo2]

3. Hey Perry...the Bee owes West an apology??

YOU are the one that should be apologizing profusely!
You're a clueless, anti-government, anti-regulation, uneducated asshole.

[Harry Monroe]

4. The guy's got blood on his hands and he has the audacity to ask for an apology?

[watoos]

5. Texas politicians voted against disaster aid for other states

but come crying to the federal government for aid for their state. This disaster was preventable. Most of the deaths were preventable if the fertilizer company had informed 1st responders what chemicals they had stored. With the chemicals they had on site there was only one method of putting out that fire, evacuate, and let it burn.

[xtraxritical]

8. This company's insurance company should foot the bill for all concerned.

[n2doc]

6. Here's Ohman's response, it is worth reading

Several readers wrote me this morning expressing varying levels of concern about the cartoon depicting Gov. Rick Perry's marketing of Texas' loose regulations, juxtaposed with the explosion of the fertilizer plant in West, Texas.

Their comments ranged from "you are a sick human being" to "insensitive and tasteless." I'm not sure I am clinically qualified to give myself a direct diagnosis, but I am pretty sure I am not a sick human being. Let's explore the question of tastelessness.

The Texas chemical plant had not been inspected by the state of Texas since 2006. That's seven years ago. You may have read in the news that Gov. Perry, during his business recruiting trips to California and Illinois, generally described his state as free from high taxes and burdensome regulation. One of the burdensome regulations he neglected to mention was the fact that his state hadn't really gotten around to checking out that fertilizer plant. Many Texas cities have little or no zoning, resulting in homes being permitted next to sparely inspected businesses that store explosive chemicals.

So when the plant exploded and killed 14 people, people started asking the inevitable questions about whether this tragedy could have been prevented.

Well, we're not going to know that now, exactly, but I doubt that more inspections and better zoning would have hurt.

Gov. Perry's name and the explosion have been linked for several news cycles. I didn't just make this all up. It's out there. There is a rather stunning report about all this on ProPublica, the investigative news website. I invite you to read it.


Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/04/25/5372555/rick-perry-explosion-cartoon-published.html

[rocktivity]

7. Foo-kin-bee-YOOO-tee-ful!

rocktivity

[hunter]

9. Not the first time stuff has exploded in Texas...

... and probably not the last.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

11. Nothing like showing science in a place that's anti-science....

There are people in Texas who would watch this, hear about the contractors killed and their FIRST THOUGHT would be. "They're with Jesus."

[hunter]

12. This should have been a wakeup call for BP.

If they'd cared maybe the Gulf oil spill wouldn't have happened.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

13. Some of the real asshole types CHEERED and LAUGHED at the spill,...

....thinking about how it pissed off the environmentalists.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

10. It wasn't that long ago when Republicans whined about criticism of Iraq,...

....claiming Liberals had forgotten about 9/11....

The BEST way of honoring the dead is to kick these people out of office.