What we always knew: Pombo lies.
Well, maybe not lies. At best it is bullshit. This theme comes up again and again. PomboWatch has another take on the subtle way of doing it, called stacking the deck.
The Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson sent out a press release where they give Pombo the credit of calling him a liar... Liars know the difference between truth and not truth, bullshitters don't care. Their headline: "It's Endangered Species Day, Pombo must be lying."
While the rest of the country is celebrating Endangered Species Day at the bipartisan invitation of the U.S. Senate, Congressman Richard Pombo (R-CA) is busy sending out press releases attacking the Endangered Species Act. The press has repeatedly caught Pombo lying about endangered species. Whether it's killer elderberry beetles, rampaging kit foxes, insidious manatees, or fierce flower-loving flies, Mr. Pombo just can't talk about endangered species without lying.
Just remember these words of truth from one of those "radical members of the environmental industry" as Pombo love to label them. Oh, I foget, he lies. Maybe it should be those "visionary environmental workers for a better world."
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posted by Wes @ 7:25 AM
7 Comments:
I just read in the Modesto Bee about the League of Conservation Voters endorsing McCloskey. Pombo's response? Here is from his new campaign manager, Carl Fogliani:
"It doesn't surprise us that extreme liberal groups are supporting Pete McCloskey," said Pombo campaign manager Carl Fogliani.
Is that their only response? That anyone disagreeing with their far right agenda is "an extreme liberal". Besides, what is an "extreme liberal" anyway? Seems that have worn out the "liberal" phrase, so they have to embellish it to have any effect. Soon they will wear out "extreme liberal". What's next, "super-stupendous ultra liberal"? "Mega-liberal"?
Anyway, here is what an "extreme liberal" group like League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has to say:
Across the nation, voters care deeply about clean air, safe water and protected public lands. We need and deserve an Administration and Congress that upholds these basic American values.
LCV works to separate fact from rhetoric, and show where our elected officials took action to protect the environment and where they merely paid lip service.
Wow, I am stunned! That sounds so ultra mega super humongous overly extreme uber-liberal, I don't know what to say!!
I don't understand the lie in this case. Pombo's press release says the U.S. Management and Budget office assessed the ESA as not performing, and the link he provided goes right to that office's "not performing" conclusion.
As a life-long Democrat I would like to see Pombo go down. He's wrong on immigration, wrong on energy supply, and wrong on almost everything else, but when it comes to the ESA, I'm afraid he's right. That law is a disaster - for people and for species. It's only a matter of time before it gets overhauled. I just hope it's not before November so he can't claim a victory.
Here's the rest of the Center for Biological Diversity's press release. This ought to clarify what was wrong with Pombo's press release.
This afternoon the Endangered Species Day grinch sent out a press release informing the world that "The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) concludes that the ESA is Not Performing (emphasis original). Very dramatic. In fact, the OMB has never conducted a study of the Endangered Species Act and it did not conclude the Act is underperforming. Pombo lied.
A quick look at the OMB report reveals that it was a study of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service performance measures and monitoring programs, not species' recovery rates. The OMB concluded that the agency does not have adequate performance measures or monitoring programs and thus its performance level can not be determined:
"While the program has a clear purpose, the program lacks long-term outcome and annual output-oriented performance measures to assess results. In the past, the program has reported annual performance measures that are more long-term in nature, such as species recovered. The program has not measured key aspects of the program, such as effectiveness of Habitat Conservation Plans."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/summary.10003713.2005.html
Ironically, Mr. Pombo is great proponent of so-called Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs). Had he bothered to read the study instead of lying about it, perhaps he'd caution against the proliferation of HCPs without adequate monitoring. At any rate, the report is not about species recovery trends and it certainly did not conclude "that the ESA is not performing."
Shame on you, Mr. Pombo.
Kieran Suckling
Policy Director
Center for Biological Diversity
Tucson, AZ 85702
(520) 623-5252 x305
Thanks, Matt. But if there are no performance measures in a government program, or any program for that matter, isn't that a good sign that it's probably not performing? And when I went to the link you gave above (from CBD) the first line says "Not Performing." I guess this is beside the point about Pombo, but if were going to beat him we have to come up with better stuff than this. Like I said, he's probably right on this. Either way "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire" press releases only hurt the credibility of our efforts to beat this guy. We need to get smarter.
I agree. Citing Kieran Suckling...a convicted shoplifter and criminal trespasser...as an unimpeachable judge of who is lying is a mistake. We will never appeal to the green republicans we need to convince if we use guys like him to do our work. Is ANYONE going to check facts and sources before we let ourselves get sucked into the maelstrom of charges that we are malcontents uninterested in truth and only driven by Pombo hatred? We have legitimate beefs...let's make them...or we won't be taken seriously.
If you don't like the Center for Biological Diversity, then check the examples on PomboWatch. Wes checked the facts there himself. Actually, go to PomboWatch and do a search on the term "bullshit". It will give you several examples of the way that Pombo plays fast and loose with the truth.
Then, when you are done, pay attention to what he is sending out in terms of his own press releases. Is it not OK to identify where and when some steps over the boundries? This is not a swiftboat attack. There are a multiplicity of examples.
As for Kieran Suckling, there is a very good background piece on him in LA Weekly, Novermber 20, 2002. He does not hide the fact that he once had one lifestyle. Now, another. Maybe the ability to change can be an example for Pombo. Or then, it could get Kieran a shot on Oprah.
VPO, Extreme Liberal? I am not sure what Pombo's guy means by that. Perhaps we should ask Steve Filson?
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