On 17 Nov 2006 09:55:19 -0800, wrote:


jJim McLaughlin wrote:
aspasia wrote:

SNIPS


*(Utilities have always been high in So.Calif. But special thanks must
go to Bush's Enron and other energy crook friends who were caught on
tape joking about shafting "Grandma Millie"" during the artificial
energy crisis in Calif a few years ago that was engineered right out
of the White House for the benefit of its great friends and
contributors. Suddenly plants were taken off line for "maintenance"
-- hmmm...what a coincidence. Law of supply and demand kicks in.
Also anybody can check out the precipitous drop in natural gas rates
when El Paso's monopoly ended.)



In the interest of honesty, a value sadly lacking in each of the major
political parties, please note that the Caifornia energy de regulation
was carried ot by STATE GOVERNMENT, led by Democrat Governor Grey Davis
(remember, he got recalled?) and a STATE LEGISLATURE which had both
houses controlled by Democrats.

While it makes a great urban legend, Bush had nothing to do with the
Enron theft in California.

Bush has a lot else to answer for, but the Enron rape of California
residential rate payors isn't his responsibility.


Don't you just hate it when those pesky facts get in the way?



Am I the only one that thinks it's hysterical that poster aspasia, who
claims to be so knowledgable of White House conspiracies and the causes
of California's past electric shortage, is the one that can't figure
out how much it costs to run a heater that has 100W printed on it?
Or that aspasia called the CA electric company and they couldn't give
an answer, either? LOL!

Elec. co. were quite right to require a wattage before quoting a
price. As it happens, I was on the phone with a nice lady who was
about to give me the info when I had to take an incoming call. I got
the info from a COURTEOUS poster on this NG, rather than call the
elec. co. again and push buttons till I got a human being.

Of course to get a quote, one needs -- as a COURTEOUS poster pointed
out, to get the KW/hr price for the locality.

As to poster's "hysterical" message above, he mixes Apples and
Oranges. This is a familiar tactic which involves conflating two or
more unrelated matters to create a gestalt which promotes the desired
profile.

It has been used politically to influence the Radical Religious Right,
which is not big on critical thinking.

Particularly during the last six years, this mindless practice has
been expertly exploited by Bush's Brain, aka Karl Rove.

The "conspirators" (for that is just what they are) have used their
expertise in manipulating the compliant media to disseminate loud,
but inaccurate information to the ignorant voter, who also is not
big on critical thinking.

1. by Republicans to ruin the career of a U.S. Senator, triple
amputee Vietnam veteran Max Cleland by juxtaposing his image with that
of Osama bin Laden.

2. by Republicans to blacken the reputation of a Vietnam war hero,
Senator Foot-in-Mouth Kerry by charging that he did not deserve the
Purple Heart -- this "Swift Boat" campaign funded in large part by a
wealthy Texan named Bob J. Perry. So barefaced was this smear that
the expression "to Swift Boat" has passed into the political lingo.

3. by Republicans during the 2000 Republican presidential primary to
damage candidate John McCain by suggesting that he sired a black
child out of wedlock (actually he and wife adopted an Asian orphan).
See Boston Globe story at: http://tinyurl.com/yl3rz2.

Are there similar examples of Democratic smear campaigns? This
Independent voter hasn't found any, but is open to FACTUAL instances.
Democrats, unfortunately, are too disorganized, and perhaps not amoral
enough, to mount the same Mafia-like, laser-guided,
loyalty-above-truth campaigns so expertly engineered by the monolithic
Rove-ian machine.