US Person travels to the 2nd annual Netroots Convention to be held in Pittsburgh, PA next week. He tells Persona Non Grata he will post from the convention, time and interest permitting. Unlike 94% of other blogs on the net (Harper's Index), Persona Non Grata is updated regularly to bring you, the rational nonconformist, more high impact blog. Watch for the image at left for US Person's report from the convention. (That's him emerging from the world egg!)Dateline: City of Champions (aka Pittsburg, PA) Former President Bill Clinton demonstrated his facility with statistics during an hour long impromptu speech to
attendees of the Netroots Convention Thursday night while defending his administration's failure to pass health care reform. He said health care reform is a "political imperative" for the current Democratic administration. He explained that the political culture of the nation has changed dramatically since he served in the White House. The nation is much more "communitarian" in seeking solutions to social problems, in contrast to the political history of dividing the electorate according to class and race. An example of the old politics is the organized outrage at the proposed health care reforms. One apparently irate town hall member told her representative that passing health care reform was tantamount to turning America "into another Russia". Clinton said the opposition is reduced to these sensational tactics because it's parliamentary weapons of filibuster and committee control are gone.Instead the Repugnants hope to "mortify" conservative Democrats into opposing reform. Clinton said this was easy to do because the problem is complex, hard to analyze from a cost standpoint, and the profit producing status quo is defended by powerful business interests. But the essential message must be unchanged: the current system is not working for all Americans, and it puts the US at a competitive disadvantage with other countries that have more efficient socialized systems. Clinton assured his listeners, "the worse thing to do is nothing" regardless of what particular features a reform bill has. He concluded his remarks by telling bloggers they have a "staggering" role to play in achieving an historic reform that could usher in an decades long era of progressive government.
More: The power of the blogosphere was on display at the Netroots confab were Senator Arlen Spector was confronted by bloggers attending the Pennsylvania Leadership Forum on Friday. The recent crossover was asked about the distortion by his former party members of the death with dignity provisions of health reform legislation. Repugnants were filling the air with irrational horror stories about how the government was going to try and save money by "killing grandma". In realty the proposal is to provide end of life counseling, if patients want it. Most insurance plans do not pay for such counseling. Senator Spector was forced to acknowledge the scare mongering of his former party members, and offered to call Senator Grassely (R-IA), one of the perpetrators, about the propaganda. Spector placed the call live from the Forum, but Grassely was not available. Senator Grassely has apparently backed off the absurd claim since the call from Spector.
Final: The people and culture of Appalachia continue to be assaulted by coal companies which are literally blowing their environment to bits with 3 million pounds of high explosives every day. Appalachia community activists at the convention say they have "hit a wall" with their local and federal representatives who know that it is political suicide to oppose coal companies like Massey Energy blowing up mountain tops to extract coal. The Coal River valley is being turned into a "national sacrifice zone" to supply the nation's dependence on the cheap and abundant fossil fuel to generate 42.6% of our electricity. There have been 470
decapitations and 1700 headwater streams buried because the Regime changed by executive action the definition of a single word in the Clean Water Act regulations: fill. Consequently, The dumping of the waste (also called overburden) into mountain streams does not require a Corps of Engineers permit. 44 refused to issue new regulations restoring the old definition of fill that would include mining waste. Companies have spent $11 million in lobbying Capital Hill for the push on the ACES energy bill and have seen the desired results. Coal is still favored as the base load energy source well into the future. Coal provided by mountain top removal is estimated to only 5% of the total burned to create power. Stopping the burning of coal all together is a lost battle, but there is something environmental activists can do. Lobby their legislators to co-sponsor bills pending in Congress that make coal extraction less damaging. HB 1310 proposes to restore clean water protections gutted by the Regime. S 696, the Appalachia Restoration Act will require the clean of up of mountain top mining wastes, eliminating the artificially low price of coal.Appalachian residents for their part are willing to continue to mine coal underground despite the many hazards to life and health. They would like to see some economic development not dependant on their traditional masters. The Coal River Mountain, slated for decapitation, is proposed as the site for a large wind farm. Estimated county tax revenue from such a farm is $1.6 million/year compared to $100,000 for a strip mine. Go to http://www.ilovemountains.org/ to get connected to the fight because you are already connected (via an electric wire) to the problem.
photos: US Person