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Cheney Ordered Power Restored to Pipeline Pumping Station Before A Hospital

by Last Night in Little Rock

Showing that his four heart attacked golden heart is in the right place, VP Dick Cheney was not totally hiding during Katrina. He directed that power be restored to a pipeline pumping station in Southern Mississippi, at the expense of restoring power to a rural hospital first. The repair crews were diverted.

This was reported last Sunday in the Hattiesburg American: Power crews diverted / Restoring pipeline came first.

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina roared through South Mississippi knocking out electricity and communication systems, the White House ordered power restored to a pipeline that sends fuel to the Northeast.

That order--to restart two power substations in Collins that serve Colonial Pipeline Co.--delayed efforts by at least 24 hours to restore power to two rural hospitals and a number of water systems in the Pine Belt.

At the time, gasoline was in short supply across the country because of Katrina. Prices increased dramatically and lines formed at pumps across the South.

"I considered it a presidential directive to get those pipelines operating," said Jim Compton, general manager of the South Mississippi Electric Power Association - which distributes power that rural electric cooperatives sell to consumers and businesses.

"I reluctantly agreed to pull half our transmission line crews off other projects and made getting the transmission lines to the Collins substations a priority," Compton said. "Our people were told to work until it was done.

And what did it do to lower gas prices in the immediate short term? Apparently nothing. But Big Oil keeps getting its profits, and "we the people" were placed second, once again. The doctor in Gulfport, I surmise, was speaking for most of us.

Would you have delayed a gas price decrease, that took more than two weeks to materialize as it was, to save maybe $2 a tank to have power immediately restored to a rural hospital and water systems put out by the storm?

Depends upon where one's priorities lie. They want us all to "give," except Big Oil, which continues to suck us dry. Even before Katrina, Exxon-Mobil made record profits, thanks to the War in Iraq. After Katrina, prices were rising on gas already paid for and in the tanks, sometimes twice a day.

The real looters in the wake of Katrina were not even on the streets of New Orleans. They are all over America.

They arrest a 73 year old diabetic grandmother storm victim taking food that could not be bought as reported here, but have done nothing to the price gougers. And they will do nothing. Can't bite the hand that feeds.

And so it goes...

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    Re: Cheney Ordered Power Restored to Pipeline Pump (none / 0) (#1)
    by Lww on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:57 PM EST
    Hey "Last night in Little Rock", who are you anyway? Offspring of THE MASTER AND COMMANDER I presume? Cheney sucks, we got it......

    Re: Cheney Ordered Power Restored to Pipeline Pump (none / 0) (#2)
    by desertswine on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:58 PM EST
    That's our Dick "Dick" Cheney.

    Maybe, what with his ill-health and all, he looked at all the bother and effort involved in not looking like a total scumbag and just decided, to hell with it ?

    To LWW: Beat's me. I've usually been called someone whose parents weren't married. Just call me "one pissed off dude."

    Re: Cheney Ordered Power Restored to Pipeline Pump (none / 0) (#5)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:58 PM EST
    Let's play Wheel of Wingnut Responses (Aka logical fallacies.) LWW wins this round with a #32 personal attack!

    Showing that his four heart attacked golden heart is in the right place
    As distasteful as I find Cheney to be, what exactly is funny about mocking someone's heart condition?

    You're right, it isn't funny. Funny is watching his toes curl when he is hanging from his neck.

    Re: Cheney Ordered Power Restored to Pipeline Pump (none / 0) (#8)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:59 PM EST
    hat isn't said in the article is the condition of the hospitals' emergancy generators - they do have'em, you know. Two were woking and the medical center could have went on'em. Sounds like an attempt for a sensational story written by someone who doersn't understand about generators, and/or had an agenda. On the other hand:
    NEWS FLASH! Ex RNC Chief and Governor of Mississippi blocks power to fuel pump. Millions in the North East out of gas! Economy impact estimnated in billions! Panic spreading to other regions. Many Congressional leaders questioning relationship between Governor and Bush.


    You know PPJ, you can defend these guys all you want, until your little rapture comes to take you away, but the veneer is wearing a little thin. It would be one thing if this kind of behavior by these people was isolated incidences, but it's a daily activity. You know what they say, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck....