Open Thread For October 20, 2017

General Kelly: Trump ‘Bravely’ Picked Up The Phone. The article does a great job of pointing out how phony and two-faced Trump and his enablers were on this. Including Kelly.

Back In The Real World, Rethugs Pave Way For Tax Giveaway To The Rich.  They are a criminal enterprise, wholly owned by the Koch Brothers.

What Environmental Racism In Delaware Looks Like.  We always knew it, this categorizes how bad it is. Here’s what the General Assembly should, IMHO, do starting in January:

• Require chemical facilities to use safer chemicals and technologies.
• Make these facilities share their emergency response plans with the nearby communities.
• Ensure that large chemical facilities constantly monitor and publicly report their emissions and health hazards.
• Prevent the construction of new or expanded facilities near homes and schools. And conversely, avoid building new homes and schools near chemical facilities.
• Require the reporting of health-impact assessments that look into the effect hazardous chemical exposures have on the communities.
• Strengthen the enforcement of current environmental and workplace safety regulations.
• Create and enforce stricter car emission standards and limit heavy-duty traffic and idling in residential areas.

Weaselly DNREC response?:  “Spokeswoman Andrea Wojcik said in a statement that the department is “concerned that people in those communities may well get the impression that their cancers are a result of environmental factors and not other factors.”  This has been the state response for forever. It was crafted when DuPont and other companies wanted to maintain the fiction that their toxic products contributed nothing to identified cancer clusters throughout NCC. Instead, it’s too many cigarettes, too many subs and pizza, too much hooch. Anything but environmental racism. This meme was consistently pushed by the cadre of legislators who worked for DuPont. Joe DiPinto was one of the most persistent peddlers of this meme. We now see just how far DuPont would go to poison people for profit and shift the blame elsewhere. And that’s just one example. Meanwhile, our state agency charged with preventing this talks about cigs and hoagies.  Hey, at least the General Assembly made sure that the wealthy families of these serial poisoners won’t have to pay Estate Tax. Gee, that’s something.

Rethugs Close To Despoiling Arctic. Because they can. And oil.

White Racist Group Beats People, Airs The Beatings Online, Goes Unpunished. Terrorism inflicted on Americans. Law enforcement doesn’t give a shit.

Trump’s Announced Opioid Plan Doesn’t Exist. Aides have a week to come up with one.  It will be the best opioid plan ever.

What do you want to talk about?