Republicans Mock Volcano Monitoring

by Tex Norman⁽⁶³⁾

It was just last month that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (Republican) gave the official response for his party to the Obama stimulus package. Gov. Jindal mocked much of the targeted spending, including making up things that were not in the bill and then ridiculing expanded funding for " volcano monitoring. " This is just the latest example of anti-intellectualism popular among members of the Republican base.

You cant just say that Jindal was speaking for himself, because he was the selected spokesperson to give the Republican Partys official response to a major speech by Democratic Party President Barak Obama. No one, of course, can speak for each and every Republican, but they can, and Jindal did, speak for the official views of the Republican Party.

Jindal made fun of volcano monitoring and in his sneer you could see and hear that he thought volcano monitoring was so stupid that nobody would fail to see how wasteful and absurd it would be to spend tax payer money on this useless geologic program.

This Jindal speech mocking volcano monitoring took place in February of 2009, and one month later, this month, March 2009, Alaska 's Mount Redoubt erupted. Actually there were five volcanic explosions sending ash and steam as far as nine miles into the air and shutting down many flights at the Anchorage International Airport .

Jindal, as official spokesman for the Republican Party, mocked the project directly linked to this March 2009 eruption of Alaska 's Mount Redoubt . Scientists want to compare the 1989-1990 Mount Redoubt eruptions to the March 2009 eruptions. The mission is to track the movements of magma and seismic activities then and compare them to what is happening now, and to use this and similar data comparisons to learn how volcanoes go from dormant states to erupting, and to chart the drifting of these enormous clouds of ash. The mission, the goal, is to protect life, and property. Why is this funny? Why is this activity laughable?

One could make an argument that the stimulus bill should be so closely tied to job creation that every funded project would be one that was calculated to create the greatest number of jobs per dollar spent. The official spokesperson of the GOP could be saying, that some of these projects have merit and should be considered in other funding bills, but not in the stimulus package that is suppose to have one purpose only, to heal the economy by creating jobs, or saving jobs. Such an argument would cause people to pause and say, yeah, the Republicans make a good point. But this is not the point being pushed by the official spokespersons of the Republican Party. Instead, the GOP spokespersons go out and make fun of worthy projects with clear scientific purpose and direct benefit to our citizens and economy.

Article submitted Tuesday, March 24, 2009 & read 1476 times.

Tex Norman is a social worker, currently working at the Oklahoma DHS Abuse and Neglect hotline. He will have been married to Kathie for 40 years this August 2012. He has a son Ryan who earned a PhD from Princeton. Tex spends his free time working as an artist and writer. : http://texnormanartist.blogspot.com/ ... http://collagepoetrybytex.blogspot.com/

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» left by Anonymous (4 years 59 days ago.)

Great article Tex!!! And as usual right on the money.....it is the old addage , open mouth , insert foot. the spokesperson shoud feel a little stupid by now...I know I would. This things when they are put together, are well thought out by the Obama administration, as they cannot afford to make mistakes. The world is watching. And our president knows it, and so does his staff. I am a democrat for crying out loud, and of course I am going to Rah Rah my president, but I think what he has done so far, is to work!!! He is working his rear end off, to attempt to do the things he promised. I for one have high hopes for this young president. Great article, and well informed.....and I am glad you brought this up....it is soooooooo true!!!! Your fan, and friend in pen......Gary
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» left by Gary W. Halsey Sr. (4 years 59 days ago.)

Sorry, I forgot to put my name Gary W. Halsey Sr.

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