She's Back!

She's Back!

Back in the running -- and most of us thought Fire Sales of James Watts were bad!

We ain't seen nothing yet, if the Trump-base gets their 'Ubetcha' way ...

Trump May Hand Sarah Palin Keys to Nation’s Public Lands, Wildlife

by Alex Formuzis, Environmental Working Group -- Nov 16, 2016

"Drill, baby, drill!"
[...]

News reports say Palin is on President-elect Donald Trump's short list to head the Interior Department. As secretary of the interior, she'd be in charge of overseeing oil drilling, uranium mining and other energy extraction on 500 million acres of public land, including iconic national parks like the Grand Canyon.

The pro-mining policies Trump and Palin could be expected to bring to Interior would mean EWG and other public land advocates would have to resume a fight we thought President Obama's administration settled in 2012.

Under President George W. Bush, the Interior Department tried to open up uranium mines near the south rim of the Canyon. It was a scheme that even The Arizona Republic, once a champion of the so-called “Wise Use” movement, denounced as “one of the seven blunders of the world.”
[...]

I couldn't believe all the Trumpites trumpeting the "fitness" of Sarah, when I first read this story earlier today. (Thankfully EWG appears to have removed them.)

Among other things (NPS, USFWS, etc. etc), the U.S. Department Interior ( https://www.doi.gov/ ) gives directives to the Bureau of Land Management ( https://www.blm.gov/ ), which happens to "manage 10% of the nation's surface area." This equates to "245 million public acres" managed to meet multiple concurrent missions:

"energy development, livestock grazing, mining, and timber harvesting); recreational activities and revenues; wild horse and burro management, [...] conservation of rangeland resources and more than 870 special units, such as wilderness areas, that are part of the BLM's 32 million-acre National Conservation Lands system; and the socio-economic impacts of public land management."  [ wikipedia: BLM ]

In other words, Caribou Barbie's New Playground.

Unless one of these other short-listers happen to get the Public Lands CEO-slot instead:

INTERIOR SECRETARY

* Sarah Palin, Republican former Alaska governor who ran for vice president in 2008
* Jan Brewer, former Arizona governor
* Forrest Lucas, founder of oil products company Lucas Oil
* Harold Hamm
* Robert Grady

"Tell President-elect Trump that you stand with science."
Take Action
-- signed the Union of Concerned Scientists

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jamess's picture

and armed for Bear ...

Everything That Is Wrong With The Republican Party in 1:48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXDS-MluJKQ

Game Change - Sarah's 'concession speech'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKv8hjMMxo8

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Cassiodorus's picture

I thought by your headline you meant Michelle Rhee.

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"there's something so especially sadistic about waving the flag of a country that you're actively destroying" -- Aaron Mate

jamess's picture

made you click.

Ms Rhee seems to be a fan of Vouchers

uh-oh.

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Yeah I clicked, and maybe clicked again.

[...] Since stepping down in late 2010, she founded the school-reform group StudentsFirst, which has since been folded into another group; advised Republican Florida Governor Rick Scott on education policy; and became the head of St. Hope Public Schools, a charter-school network founded by her husband, Sacramento, California, Mayor Kevin Johnson, and which has been accused of misappropriating federal grant money.

click! https://deadspin.com/the-man-who-helped-bring-down-donald-sterling-is-an-ass-1576960521/1617259572

Walpin says Rhee's request had no impact. Yet the feds' look-see into Johnson's operation was ultimately overwhelmed in 2009 by a partisan brouhaha between Congressional Republicans and the then-fledgling Obama administration: Walpin was a George W. Bush appointee and is a member of the conservative Federalist Society; Johnson was a rising Democrat who'd proclaimed on the Colbert Report that he was so tight with the newly elected president that his nickname was "Little Barack." Johnson was never formally charged with any crimes relating to Walpin's investigation. He was, however, suspended from receiving U.S. government grants, which caused problems beyond St. HOPE since he was mayor of Sacramento. To be removed from the no-grant list, Johnson and his organization agreed to repay hundreds of thousands of misused federal dollars. [...]

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Well, she will make a lot of money from this. Other than that, her party has an unerring instinct for choosing Axis II for their candidates: our Axis II candidates are just better educated. Same shit different day.

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Song of the lark's picture

Thank goodness she will only serve half the term.

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Lily O Lady's picture

her to quit?

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Wink's picture

Mama Grizzly if I'd like to be the next Sec. of the Earth the only thing I could think of was how many of you tree huggin' Librul futhermuckers could I kill every day. Thank you, Mr. President.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

Can we PLEASE stop jumping up and down at every trail balloon, misdirection, rumor, and any other leak coming from unsourced reports about Trump's cabinet?

Look, John Bolton, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, et al, may all get jobs with Trump (although IMO Bolton is highly unlikely), but until these people are actually announced this is all just bullshit DC gamesmanship.

Don't fall for it.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

jamess's picture

If people don't make Noise about it, BEFORE the official pick,

then we are consigning ourselves to the whims of the Pickers.

Complaining after-the-fact does little, to reverse the decision. (See Steve Bannon)

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lunachickie's picture

Good advice is being given to you. You won't change these obvious trial balloons with more noise of your own. On the other hand, your continuous reactions to them may only please those who wish to drown you in the noise and overwhelm you with bullshit.

Just sayin'...

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lotlizard's picture

That’s an advance warning I can get behind.

Rand Paul heroically warns Trump against hiring neocons

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elenacarlena's picture

If you don't want to read it, don't read it.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

Just a warning not to be duped by beltway innuendo.

But hey, right back atcha: if you don't like what I write (or more accurately what you falsely think I write) then just don't read me either.

I'd actually kind of appreciate that to tell you the truth.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

elenacarlena's picture

Spam spread dessert assagio_strawberry_cheesecake[1].jpg

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jamess's picture

Looks tasty!

What venue can I find that.

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elenacarlena's picture

Then again, if you have that kind of large available, that's no sacrifice.

Caution: Food pron ahead. I'm starving! http://tastyislandhawaii.com/2010/02/23/hawaii-kai-eats-assaggio-italian...

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thanatokephaloides's picture

(1) The slice should encompass at least 90 degrees of arc between the radii upon which it was cut; and

(2) The candle should definitely be a Roman one!

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Lily O Lady's picture

successful with Trump?

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Pluto's Republic's picture

…Goldman Sachs to run the US Treasury.

There were a few scattered groans, but Democrats were not yet tuned in to the "who's who" among the financial elite in service to Our Oligarchs.

"Keep your enemies close," I rationalized. "They have the experienced to fix this."

Obama had better advice: "Hit them hard and hit them fast and it will go right over their heads."

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

I thought T rump would pick progressive Dem's and Independents to fill all his cabinet positions. Oh shit that was Bernie, Anyway there is no one Trump could pick that would surprise me except maybe a true progressive but I will save my judgement until after they are made official.

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elenacarlena's picture

When I read the headline I thought you meant HRC and thought, "Oh no, what is she up to now?"

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She spoke at a Children's Defense Fund gathering about wanting to "crawl up with a book forever after losing" or something like that. But no she didn't, instead she's out inciting sheeple to fight and never give up. Baaah!

The event was called Against the Odds, that is what the status quo thinks is okay, house odds against children growing up healthy means healthy tax write-offs for charity pros. They are gamblers, with people's lives, "that's the system".

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elenacarlena's picture

level of corruption.

I find it very interesting - and by interesting I mean suspicious - that this "fighter," who clearly wanted to be President so much that she risked her health and everything in the pursuit of her heart's desire, suddenly is lying down about the results of this election. Now she's out giving wimpy little speeches? Even Gore managed to rouse himself sufficiently to challenge at least one state.

Perhaps if there was an investigation of the voting machines to see if Trump hacked her, said investigation would reveal that the machines had also been hacked during the primaries?

It's too bad, because we really need an redesign of the voting machines, with paper ballots once and for all. I thought perhaps she'd make that happen, for herself but as a side benefit for the rest of us.

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in the popular vote, is the estimate last I heard. Electoral College votes on the 19th then it's really over until next time. In the meantime and after we are supposed to keep fighting, always fighting. WTF

LOL I just decided to add Jerry to my sig, because I quote him so much. Thanks.

Peace

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Well, they are crazy, but I don't think that's their plan.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

like Alaska. Look at the Federal Public Land map, what a coincidence those same parts in California are some of the poorest, R voters mostly. If California stays at maximum frack like the Ds have it now, why not get something back for the people? How ironic if Donald does what Jerry would never think of, give some of the oil profits back to the people, not the politicians. LOL

Peace

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riverlover's picture

Coal country plus federal lands.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Department, not Interior Department.

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"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

riverlover's picture

TY, duckpin. They really are stupid, if we ever get to write a new Constitution. Land is land is land, forest may be more important as a carbon sink than agricultural land.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

thanatokephaloides's picture

US Forest Service, Agriculture Department, not Interior Department.

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

I don't think so, but thanks for joining in my little thought experiment. What if Native Americans ran the Bureau of Land Management? That's another one I like to dream about. Cheers

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jamess's picture

the Bureau of Indian Affairs

is run by the DOI too.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Also, I approve your sentiment.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

EdMass's picture

at the overwhelming Gubmint holdings in the West.

Why? For what purpose?

That's one big f'g National Park.

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Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!

Firesign Theater

Stop the War!

thanatokephaloides's picture

I am actually more alarmed at the overwhelming Gubmint holdings in the West.

Why? For what purpose?

Most of that land has never belonged to anybody but the Feds under the USA. No conspiracies involved; most of that land just isn't suitable to be lived on, and the pioneers knew it.

Nonetheless, from State to State, the reasons why do vary. In Colorado, for example, much of those holdings are National Forests. They need to remain National Forests because if privatized, they would cease to be effective as watershed for the rest of the State. Under private exploitation, our once-forested mountains would start looking like those of Afghanistan, and our prairies would become like those of Wyoming (see below). The experience of the once-privatized forests of Nevada, now non-existent, has driven this. Colorado's forests are fairly fragile, and the mountains they grow on are the only real source of the all-important surface water which sustains the people and their livelihoods. And without the forests, those mountains lose their effectiveness as watersheds; less water falls to begin with, and less of it stays in the systems where we need it to be.

In Wyoming, most of the Federal holdings are never-homesteaded prairie lands with no surface water at all. They couldn't give these lands away under homesteading (i.e., prior to 1976) because of no trees and no surface water. Pioneer-age people knew that such land was only valuable for light grazing and mineral extraction; better and cheaper by far to lease those aspects from the Feds than pay taxes on property ownership. Plus, you can't live very long without surface water, as we're finding out the hard way today. The exceptions are such parts of Wyoming which are inhabited today -- less than 15% of the State. This scenario is also why Colorado, itself 50% Federally owned, has at least 8 Counties (Pueblo, El Paso, Douglas, Arapahoe, Jefferson, Denver, Boulder) which each have more inhabitants than all of Wyoming!

Nevada: Much the same. Alkali-ridden sagebrush prairies without surface water. Homesteaders and pioneers avoided such with good reason. And once the minerals were mined out, most of the privatized land simply reverted to the Feds, as the Counties had no hope of ever having those lands paying taxes ever again. Federal PILT (Payments In Lieu Of Taxes) was a better and more reliable source for County needs, so Nevada's Counties opted for it once the mines petered out.

You get the idea. East of the 102nd Meridian, the prairies were rich, plow-friendly lands with ample surface water supplies. During homesteading, farmer pioneers scarfed those lands up with a quickness. (Note Iowa and Illinois on your map.) West of that Meridian, surface water becomes scarcer and dryland farming (crop growth without extensive irrigation) is impossible, as we re-learned in the years between World War I and World War II. So it becomes obvious which prairies got homesteaded and which ones didn't. This situation was intensified after the passage of the Federal Land Management Act of 1976, which ended all traditional homesteading in the country. Land which the Feds couldn't give away they sure as fuck couldn't sell at market land prices.

Also, please remember that most Indian Reservation land appears as Federally owned under this map, even though they really should not appear as such (they rightfully belong to the Native Nations, not the Feds, but the Rez lands are "managed" by the DOI, so they show). The part of the continental/contiguous USA west of the 102nd Meridian is far richer in Reservations than the part east of it.

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides