EPA Official Resigns After 'Crucify Them' Remarks -- Networks Ignored It, Unlike the Bush Era
AP reports that EPA bureaucrat Al Armendariz has resigned after “Republicans targeted him” over his 2010 remarks on videotape comparing the agency’s enforcement strategy to Roman crucifixions. This was a hot story in conservative circles, but what about the liberal media? This resignation didn’t come from their coverage.
The crucifixion remarks – exposed on Wednesday by Sen. Jim Inhofe – drew no coverage on ABC, CBS, NBC, or the PBS NewsHour. NPR had no story on this, but mentioned EPA on Thursday’s Morning Edition on a gasoline blend with more ethanol. MSNBC offered nothing in their prime-time shows (where transcripts are included in Nexis). USA Today had nothing, and The New York Times kept it contained to their Green blog.
CNN touched on the story twice last Thursday – with a brief report on The Situation Room and a full report on John King USA. Candy Crowley played the Armendariz clip on Sunday’s State of the Union in an interview with two governors. The Washington Post had one story – on Saturday’s edition, page A-2.
"It is kind of like how the Romans used to conquer villages in the Mediterranean - they'd go into a little Turkish town somewhere and they'd find the first five guys they saw and they'd crucify them," Armendariz said on the 2010 tape. "Then that little town was really easy to manage for the next few years."
This is now how the networks covered George W. Bush’s EPA. For just one example, about 10 years ago, an EPA official named Eric Schaeffer resigned in protest of Bush policies. That resignation was reported with fervor by ABC, CBS, NBC, and by Brian Williams on MSNBC. Then George Stephanopoulos interviewed him one on one for "This Week."
ABC's Peter Jennings relayed Schaeffer's claims without any rebuttal, announcing on World News Tonight: "In Washington today an important officer at the Environmental Protection Agency resigned in protest. Eric Schaeffer was the EPA's chief regulatory official for 12 years. And he says, 'the Bush administration is destroying the agency's power to enforce the rules that keep corporations from polluting the environment.'"
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Comments
If the news makes Ears look bad, it isn't news!
Submitted by Mary Louise Turner on Mon, 04/30/2012 - 4:58pm.
It's the same stupid media trick, folks, that we've seen all too often. You know the drill; if there's news that reflects poorly on the Obama administration, the make believe media will dutifully play the role of ostrich. So what else is new?
stupid tricks
Submitted by Agnostic on Tue, 05/01/2012 - 10:02pm.
I agree that this is the normal but on the story itself I am kind of torn. I actually agree with the premise that he was trying to make. I have been answering to regulators of one sort or another since my last three years in the military (92-95) and one of the problems is that the most fair and knowledgeable of regulators is stuck answering to a fleet of Administrative people whose decisions are inconsistent, politically/financially motivated and create an element of the 'unknown' among companies that hurts the economy more than mere regulations alone.
If the EPA were to go in and impartially hammer companies that break laws there would be no need for more regulations. That being said, the EPA also came out with a methodology for creating standards that borders on insane. Basically they acknowledge that there are multiple methods for reducing pollutants and they are wanting to make the standard the best possible results if you combined every method. This was an Administrative decision driven by politicians and is aimed at shutting down all competition to government run facilities in certain industries.
Believe it or not, almost every regulator I have ever worked with wanted to help the company I represented get through the regulatory process. It was only when Administrators or Politicians got involved that issues became difficult.
When the White House orders
Submitted by celator on Mon, 04/30/2012 - 5:11pm.
When the White House orders the MSM to stay away from a news story, they stay away from it. They are well trained lemmings.
Tim, Let go of your bias...
Submitted by bigdaddy on Mon, 04/30/2012 - 5:33pm.
...as you showed in your earlier Wash Post story, "No Bias Here, Move Along People!"...
Obama crucifies this guy - but he'll also 'rise again'...
Submitted by Slyrr on Mon, 04/30/2012 - 6:01pm.
Looks like this guy, in a crowning irony, has become the 'sacrificial lamb' to protect the liberal messiah, Barack Obama. After his vile words about how he wants to 'crucify' oil companies, this man has now been crucified by Obama himself as a ploy to shield himself from any blowback that comes from this, the latest in a constant parade of PR disasters.
He will be set up on a cross and held up as the scapegoat to deflect attention away from 'The One' while he continues to campaign using our tax dollars to foot the bill.
Obama will send one of his surrogates (who hasn't embarrassed himself yet). The surrogate will be posed in front of the cameras of the media. The surrogate will then sneer, and chuckle, holding up his hands palm outward, shaking his head and say: 'OK - yeah. You caught us. But this guy was just ONE bad apple that somehow got through. He does not speak for Obama or represent the administration's feelings towards the oil industry. And now he's out - we gave him the old heave-ho! So everything's fine again people! Problem's all fixed! Go back to your lives, nothing more to see here!'
And the media, being the slaves to Obama that they are, will all nod and smile and let the matter drop. They'll return to shilling for Obama, winking and nodding the whole time.
And after a month or two, when they think everyone has stopped paying attention, they'll let this foul person in through the back door to keep 'crucifying' the oil industry. You see - liberals protect their crooks.
U NO DAT, Slyrr!!! I feel
Submitted by killa37 on Tue, 05/01/2012 - 1:14am.
U NO DAT, Slyrr!!! I feel exactly the same way!! Look at Van 'Red/Green' Jones..............look at Rev. Wright (do you not think that he still has some inside contact with the REGIME??)...........look at Hillary Rosen - do you think she's really 'out'??? And there are other examples too. The only person I can truely think of who was thrown under the bus, and 'just happened' to die at just the right time, was Boy Baraka's 'typical white grandmother'................
And as I posted on another thread a couple of days ago, most of these gubbermint 'regulators' are usually queebie-assed little yellow-belliled tilleys - and this twit is no exception. If they had to act like that in the 'real world', they'd be changing their BVD's all the time, because they are gutless without the power of the REGIME behind them. They ARE a reflection of their dear leader.
Track this clown
Submitted by nixon on Mon, 04/30/2012 - 6:55pm.
I'll bet He lands a decent job somewhere. Likely at our expense .
If not
Submitted by Dave the mailman on Mon, 04/30/2012 - 7:01pm.
If not at taxpayers expense, it'll be in one of Soros' well funded organizations....
Buh-bye!
Submitted by almostacowboy on Mon, 04/30/2012 - 9:44pm.
Please take several thousand EPA employees with you?
Holy Cow!!
Submitted by Boudin on Mon, 04/30/2012 - 9:48pm.
This guy dimwit has more integrity then most the dimwits in office! "Yeah"
I'm pretty sure he was
Submitted by killa37 on Tue, 05/01/2012 - 1:17am.
I'm pretty sure he was ORDERED to resign, Bou................in order to get this story out of the media. He's got no more integrity than any of the other pathetic pukes that are 'running the show'....................look for him to show up somewhere else.
And, HEY!!! He appears to be a 'minority', right?? Wassup wi'dat??? I wanna see some justice in the REGIME for makin' (Obamaspeak) a NON-white guy lose his job!!!!