Knock! Knock! Hey, Greg Abbott, Are There Dangerous Chemicals in Your Damn Brain?
Okay, so you would think that a person has a right to know where businesses are storing dangerous chemicals. It seems like there ought to be some public information laws about that. However, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is blocking that information from the public.
Abbott says nope, you cannot see that information. But he has a solution.
“You know where they are if you drive around,” Abbott told reporters Tuesday. “You can ask every facility whether or not they have chemicals or not. You can ask them if they do, and they can tell you, well we do have chemicals or we don’t have chemicals, and if they do, they tell which ones they have.”
No. I. Am. Not. Kidding. Just go lookie, Cookie.
So, I’m supposed to drive around my neighborhood, my kids’ schools, my job, the city swimming pool, my church, and where I grocery shop, and knock on the door of some business and ask if they have dangerous chemicals there. One by one.
Seriously. He believes that. Because you can trust Big Bad Johnny’s Pool Cleaning, Fertilizer, and Whatnot, Inc. to tell you the damn truth. “Yes, ma’am, we got some nuclear stuff out back in rotting containers.”
No, no, he really, really said that —
But Abbott said homeowners who think they might live near stores of dangerous chemicals could simply ask the companies near their homes what substances are kept on site.
We used to be able to get this information, but the Texas Attorney General cut that off faster than double geared lightning.
Warning – don’t just sashay up to Billy Bob’s Transmission Repair and Carpet Cleaning and ask if they have chemicals.
“Just to make clear, you may not be able to walk on private property. But you can send an email or letter or notice to anyone who owns any kind of private property or facility, saying that under the community right to know law, you need to tell me within 10 days what chemicals you have,” Abbott said.
And do you know why Abbott won’t release this information? Terrorists. Because terrorists cannot send emails or drive around. They don’t have that checked on their driver’s license or gmail account.
The only damn terrorists are Republicans who are a wholly owned subsidiary of Big Business.
Damn idiots.
And when you ask them if they have any dangerous chemicals they would have to answer truthfully because if they didn’t answer truthfully then the A.G. would swoop down on them and tear their tongues out with white-hot tongs.
1Apparently Mr. Abbott is choosing to ignore decades old laws, many enacted during the Nixon and Reagan Administrations. Lord knows he is ignoring this administration
2http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/01/fact-sheet-executive-order-improving-chemical-facility-safety-and-securi
Not sure if the tree hit him too hard, or not hard enough. Not hard enough, I think.
3Can we sic Erin Brockovich on him?
4There ARE dangerous chemicals in the brain, as any biology or chemistry student would tell ya. Of course for some the quantities are so insignificantly small that even though they are there they represent no real danger. More of an insult than a danger.
5What if a resident of Middle Eastern descent drove around his neighborhood to knock on doors, to ask whether nearby businesses stored hazardous or dangerous chemicals? Out of concern for the safety of his children? What kind of answer would he get?
Or would he later be told down at the police station, “We’ll ask the questions around here.”
6I don’t believe that Greg Abbott has dangerous chemicals in his brain. I don’t believe Greg Abbott has a brain.
There may be dangerous chemicals in the cauliflower-like substance that he uses instead of a brain.
7Every time I think some Publican has plumbed the depths of degradation and contempt for the public, they prove me wrong by slipping deeper into the slime.
If he’d said that in front of me, it would take surgery to remove my foot from his [seat cushion].
8I have dangerous chemicals on my property and bet you do too and if anyone wanted to see them I’d take them to the laundry room and show them the wasp spray and ammonia or whatever. HOWEVER, I do not have them in huge quantities nor do I sell them. I kind of think that is the issue here. Or would be if Abbott weren’t trying to hide important information. Tell your friends when you are going around asking “are you registered to vote?” Tell them Abbott doesn’t intend to allow you or me to use the Freedom of Information Act.
9and when you ask them if they’re registered to vote, be prepared to discuss ANYTHING at all. I had an interesting day at Strange Brew and got into discussions about a recording company, gray water reclamation, vegan salad, Multiple Sclerosis, Hobby Lobby, and a strange theological discussion, among other things. You will not get bored when you ask if someone is registered to vote. Just take voter reg. cards with you, which I forgot.
10In Austin, we had the fire department visit our shop every year to record what chemicals we had. It would help them know what kind of fire they may have to deal with.
11Just ask the people of W. Virginia how that worked out for them.
12Oh Bruce. Maybe someone oughta mention that to Abbott’s office. I just looked at his FB page. Sigh. Phone banking tomorrow night.
13Faulty premise: Greg Abbott doesn’t HAVE any brains!
14😀
I can’t say ANYTHING I want so badly to say, it would be censored and I would be banned for life. If I could, I would go on and on with wholly inappropriate comments about Greg Abbott, Rick Perry, and all the rest of living brain donors we call Texas government.
There is a word for me; respectful. Not of them, but of my friends here. I would not subject ANYONE decent to my vitriolic pronouncements, no sir!
15People of Texas who DO have a brain. ORGANIZE and get Wendy Davis elected. End the reign of stupidity in the AG office NOW!
16Ab-butt has a dog in this fight. He has interests in some chemical companies. Plain as day!
17This story reminds me of the honorable Monsignor Cardinal Timothy whoever of New York, who, when interviewed, said that contraceptives can be bought just down any street, at any 7-11, thereby demonstrating that HIS brain stopped receiving information about 1958, when someone told him that rubbers could be had for $4.99. Yup. It’s deliberate STOOPID. Greg Abbott appears to be this guy’s alter ego. What is it about men in power that turns them into cabbages? I think that should be studied. Put them in big cages and feed them those chemicals…
18I’m with you, maggie – since Ab-BUTT is such a Rick Perry wannabe, I am sure he is taking a page outta Perry’s book (Rick Perry has a book? Um, yeah – a COLORING book!). See, you protect the Polluters who get paid to clean up their own messes by the Governor Perry they bought with their own money. Ok, now I gotta go click “donate” to Wendy Davis.
19Too bad the people in West didn’t ask. Or maybe they asked but weren’t given answers. Or maybe they got answers but those who could do something about it wouldn’t listen or act.
20Update: The produce department at the grocery store is a great place to pop the question: Are you registered to vote? Tonight got another business card and promise for support of Wendy and Leticia, and a very curious young woman who wanted to know who she should vote for and why. That was easy. There is something about saying “Are you registered to vote?” I guess it just catches them off guard. Try it. You’ll like it. It’s way more fun than sitting at a table with signs on it.
21A-Butt has a brain?
22From what I have gleaned at this salon, Abbott is carrying on the Perry tradition of
23“Live here at your own risk. We don’t need no steenkeen regulations.”
@Angelo_Frank The W VA government asked the chemical company and was told that they didn’t need to report those “other” chemicals because they weren’t on the “list”.
24Hmmm. I’ve seen some insults directed at cabbage and cauliflower, either of which is brainier than a TX Republican.
25Greg Abut gets his pay from Koch. Ask in Southlake Texas storage about their tier11 info and they slam the door.
26Chemical industry has the republicans in their pocket and don’t care about WEST or any thing else. There are more chemical storage areas in Texas than any other state in the union.
The AG investigated WEST chemical explosion and found no fault and no guilty parties. Couldn’t find a guilty party even though they had not reported the quantities of chemicals.