Letter to the Editor: Right wing misinformation

Dear Editor:

I write in response to a letter published by Martha Morrissy on August 26, 2021 titled, “Biden’s Destructive Policies.”

I am short of furious regarding statements made by Ms. Morrissy and her lack of checking facts before writing. I do appreciate and always will respect any person’s right and willingness to express their opinion, but I also value the facts and truth being told.

There isn’t enough space to comment on all that I would like to say so I’ll just mention two points she made.

First: “With a stroke of a pen, he shut down the XL pipeline that provided thousands of jobs and a safe, non-polluting way of transporting crude oil from Canada to Houston for refining.”

The following is from an article written for nrdc.org in January 2021, and I included the website (https://www.nrdc.org/stories/what-keystone-pipeline) so sources can be verified. The following has been copied directly from the article:

Will the pipeline create jobs?

The oil industry has lobbied hard to get KXL built by using false claims, political arm-twisting, and big bucks. When TC Energy said the pipeline would create nearly 119,000 jobs, a State Department report instead concluded the project would require fewer than 2,000 two-year construction jobs and that the number of jobs would hover around 35 after construction.

Will the pipeline lower gas prices?

Dirty energy lobbyists claimed developing tar sands would protect our national energy security and bring U.S. fuel prices down. But NRDC and its partners found the majority of Keystone XL oil would be sent to markets overseas (aided by a 2015 reversal of a ban on crude oil exports)—and could even lead to higher prices at U.S. pumps.

Leaks and the pipeline

Tar sands oil is thicker, more acidic, and more corrosive than lighter conventional crude, and this ups the likelihood that a pipeline carrying it will leak. Indeed, one study found that between 2007 and 2010, pipelines moving tar sands oil in Midwestern states spilled three times more per mile than the U.S. national average for pipelines carrying conventional crude. Since it first went into operation in 2010, TC Energy’s original Keystone Pipeline System has leaked more than a dozen times; one incident in North Dakota sent a 60-foot, 21,000-gallon geyser of tar sands oil spewing into the air. Most recently, on October 31, 2019, the Keystone tar sands pipeline was temporarily shut down after a spill in North Dakota of reportedly more than 378,000 gallons. And the risk that Keystone XL will spill has only been heightened: A study published in early 2020, co-authored by TC Energy’s own scientists, found that the anti-corrosion coating on pipes for the project is defective from being stored outside and exposed to the elements for the last decade.

Complicating matters, leaks can be difficult to detect. And when tar sands oil does spill, it’s more difficult to clean up than conventional crude because it immediately sinks to the bottom of the waterway. People and wildlife coming into contact with tar sands oil are exposed to toxic chemicals, and rivers and wetland environments are at particular risk from a spill. (For evidence, recall the 2010 tar sands oil spill in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a disaster that cost Enbridge more than a billion dollars in cleanup fees and took six years to settle in court.) Keystone XL would cross agriculturally important and environmentally sensitive areas, including hundreds of rivers, streams, aquifers, and water bodies. One is Nebraska’s Ogallala Aquifer, which provides drinking water for millions as well as 30 percent of America’s irrigation water. A spill would be devastating to the farms, ranches, and communities that depend on these crucial ecosystems.

Second statement made by Ms. Morrissy: “What country would abandon their allies in the battlefield? Yep, you guessed it. Biden and his inept State Department and Defense leaders who had no foresight and no conditions placed upon the enemy when exiting Afghanistan.”

Was it mentioned that the Afghan military failed to defend their own government? Was it mentioned that the process President Biden inherited was the result of presidents before him and Trump’s bargain with the Taliban that did not include the Afghanistan government? We, as private citizens, do not know the details of all that happened and chances are we never will.

The following is from businessinsider.com which explains some of the difficulties faced regarding the rescue of Afghans with SIV (Special Immigrate Visa). The following has been copied directly from the article:

“A former national security official blamed the Trump administration and former Trump adviser Stephen Miller’s “racist hysteria” for impeding the visa application process for Afghans who worked with the US.”

“Troye said she worked on the SIV issue but got “nowhere” because allies of President Donald Trump and Miller at the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, and other security agencies “made an already cumbersome SIV process even more challenging.”

She said many people within the administration believed the matter was urgent but that many were afraid to oppose the president’s allies, adding that there were “many closed door meetings” strategizing how to address the issue.

“Trump had FOUR years-while putting this plan in place-to evacuate these Afghan allies who were the lifelines for many of us who spent time in Afghanistan,” she said. “The process slowed to a trickle for reviews/other “priorities”-then came to a halt.””

“Miller is an advocate for strict immigration limits. In an appearance on Fox News Tuesday night, Miller said “those advocating for mass Afghan resettlement are doing so for political and not humanitarian reasons,” adding that it would also be too expensive.

“The United States of America never, ever, made a promise, written or unwritten, to the people of Afghanistan that if after 20 years, they were unable to secure their own country, that we would take them to ours. That is nonsense. That has never been US government policy,” Miller said.

Insider has reached out to Trump’s office and Troye for comment. Stephen Miller could not immediately be reached for comment.”

In conclusion, good and bad choices will be made. No president will be perfect, and America isn’t always perfect either. Villain, hero, or in-between, history gets to make that decision. When we make that decision, let’s present the facts too.

Kay Begich
Downey

Dear Editor:

Only a Trumpster and fake conservative would conveniently forget what the Donald did to our greatest (non-Jewish) Middle East ally, the Kurds, via another of his quid pro quo deals.

Let’s not forget that Trump united the Taliban to Camp David and has since boasted how the process was in motion and Biden couldn’t do anything to stop it.

At least Elsa Van Leuven provided us with a toll-free congressional phone number. I consider that constructive.

Gary Brody
Downey

Dear Editor:

When I first read in last week’s Patriot, “Circus Makes Stop in Downey” I was assuming with Covid restrictions they had limited the number of clowns to two, and were simply referring to Elsa Van Leuven and Martha Morrissey and their clownish notions about almost everything they write about. My mistake!

Matt Millard
Downey