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Ron Wyden: Nomex Ninny of the Year
Once again it is time to award our Nomex Ninny of the Year, a special honor that goes to politicians without a clue. Previous winners are Washington Goob Christine Gregoire and Montana Snitter Jon Tester [here].
This year’s illustrious Nomex Ninny designee is none other than Oregon Senior Senator, the Honorable Ron Wyden.
Ron’s flare for ignorance regarding forests has been highlighted in these digital pages before [here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and more].
Now Ron has stepped into the fray once more, with predictable stupidity, or worse.
With wildfire season approaching, Wyden demands outside review of Forest Service aerial tanker fleet
By Charles Pope, The Oregonian , March 27, 2012 [here]
WASHINGTON — Angered by what he sees as the Forest Service’s indifference and alarmed by the potential for catastrophic wildfires this year, Sen. Ron Wyden formally asked Tuesday for an outside review of the government’s plan for modernizing its aging fleet of aircraft for fighting fires.
The Oregon Democrat said he decided to ask for the General Accountability Office study after being convinced the Forest Service and Interior Department were not moving fast enough to develop a plan for replacing the fleet. The aerial tankers, which are crucial in fighting big fires, average 50 years old. The government contracts with two private operators for the planes. … [more]
This story is as old as the hills. The tanker fleet problem dates back to at least 2002 [here]. Congress (with Ron firmly seated in his seat) has dropped the ball innumerable times since then.
More importantly, last year the USFS effectively banned the use of aerial fire retardant [here], thanks to lawsuits brought by Wydenites [here].
Now the emergency drops by air tankers on raging forest fires will be water-only and relatively ineffective.
Even more to the point, the USFS now uses aerial incendiary devices in place of retardant to fight fires [here, here, here].
Get it? Fire retardant bad, napalm good.
The new method of fire fighting is to firebomb. With helicopters, not aerial tankers. Tankers aren’t needed anymore, just military attack helicopters carrying IEDs.
All thanks to fearless leaders like Ron Wyden, who would rather firebomb old-growth than put the fires out.
So, for his duplicity, his arsonism, his complicity in and endorsement of firebombing Oregon’s priceless heritage forests, we are proud to name Oregon’s (actually he lives in New York City) Senator Ron Wyden 2012 Nomex Ninny of the Year. It’s the least we could do.
Woodsy Wyden surveys Oregon forest for future firebombing.
by Foo Furb
Let’s be crystal clear about this.
Ron Wyden wants America’s forests to burn. That’s why he supported the ban on fire retardant. That’s why he supports firebombing old-growth.
His little dropping in the Oregonian is a feint, a mis-direction, to plant the false impression that he is somehow concerned about the deliberate destruction of our forests by catastrophic fire.
Don’t be fooled by the snakiest deceiver in the US Senate. He favors forest incineration. Always has, and he has not changed his stripes.
You can tell it’s a government operation — no stagged trousers, no suspenders, and everyone is posing with the exact same brand of (foreign built) chain saw with exactly the same length bars on them.
The wooden lectern (”forest products”) is the obvious give-away of course.
Congratulations, Ron! Another great award to display at the bookstore!