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Thank a Liberal

"If your workplace is safe; if your children go to school rather than being forced into labor; if you are paid a living wage, including overtime; if you enjoy a 40-hour week and you are allowed to join a union to protect your rights -- you can thank liberals. If your food is not poisoned and your water is drinkable -- you can thank liberals. If your parents are eligible for Medicare and Social Security, so they can grow old in dignity without bankrupting your family -- you can thank liberals. If our rivers are getting cleaner and our air isn't black with pollution; if our wilderness is protected and our countryside is still green -- you can thank liberals. If people of all races can share the same public facilities; if everyone has the right to vote; if couples fall in love and marry regardless of race; if we have finally begun to transcend a segregated society -- you can thank liberals. Progressive innovations like those and so many others were achieved by long, difficult struggles against entrenched power. What defined conservatism, and conservatives, was their opposition to every one of those advances. The country we know and love today was built by those victories for liberalism -- with the support of the American people."

- Joe Conason: Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth -

 

Bush's America: Lexington Flight Controller Had 2 Hours Sleep

Link to Story
Two congressmen called for an investigation into the staffing at airport control towers after investigators revealed that only one controller was on duty when Comair Flight 5191 crashed in Kentucky and that he had had just two hours of sleep between shifts. The controller had just enough time between shifts Saturday to meet the federal requirement of eight hours off, said National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman. "He advised our team that he got approximately two hours of sleep," Hersman said. Early Sunday, he clearing Flight 5191 for takeoff, then turned away to do administrative work, Hersman said. He didn't see the plane turn down a runway too short for it, try to take off and then crash in flames that killing 49 of the 50 people aboard. Thursday morning, as the investigation continued, hundreds of relatives of the victims gathered at the Lexington Opera House for a private memorial service. Also attending were some of the first emergency workers to reach the crash site, as well as family members of the only survivor, first officer James Polehinke, who remained hospitalized in critical condition. Much of the focus elsewhere was on the lone air traffic controller at Blue Grass Airport. The controller, a 17-year veteran whose name has not been released, worked from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, then returned to work at 11:30 p.m. on the same day to begin an eight-hour overnight shift. Federal rules since November 2005 have required two air traffic controllers on duty in towers, but aviation experts say single staffing is still common at small regional airports. In a letter dated Wednesday, Minnesota Rep. James Oberstar, the ranking Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Illinois Rep. Jerry Costello, ranking Democrat on the aviation subcommittee, asked the Transportation Department's acting inspector general to investigate how well the rule is being followed.
People might ask how we lay this at the feet of Bush. It's a simple equation. Bush is responsible for the Federal Aviation Administration and it's rules. One of the rules they have been following since Bush came into office is one of "doing more with less". The rules say that TWO air traffic controllers should have been on duty. But Bush doesn't follow the rules, he does what he damn well pleases. And if millionaires are going to get another tax break, costs need to be cut somewhere. Hence, only one air traffic controller with only 2 hours of sleep. And 49 dead Americans. The interesting thing is that only Democrats are calling for an investigation, doesn't the GOP care about dead Americans?
posted by HT4E