Atlanta Gas Crisis Chicanery
What has happened to investigative reporting?
For example:
1. Why has no mention of Governor Perdue's taxpayer-financed European vacation made the headlines during the gas shortage?
2. Why has no one mentioned the curiously convenient link between the gas shortage and the past week's recent repeal of the off-shore drilling ban in the gulf?
3. Why has no one pointed out, prior to the Bush administration, hurricanes that visit the gulf on a fairly consistent yearly basis have NEVER caused gas shortages of this magnitude? Sorry, but not even Katrina, which did far more damage, caused a gas shortage. Yes, the price of gas went up considerably as a result of Katrina, but there was no gas shortage in the Atlanta area.
4. Can someone explain why the only stations that seemed to have gas (during a two hour twenty mile radius tour of my home in Cobb County) were RaceTrac and Quick Trip? Does it escape notice that Texaco, Shell, BP, and dozens of other brand stations in Cobb County were ALL miraculously dry simultaneously? How does that happen?
5. How do hundreds, if not thousands, of gas stations suddenly go dry at virtually the same time in a specific geographic area? Drivers have reported no major issues in Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida ... and Southern and Coastal Georgia. If it really were a pipeline or transportation issue for the southeast ... does it not stand to reason that more areas would be affected?
6. If the shortage was real ... How is it that our Governor, who is not up for reelection ... takes a vacation and does not show enough leadership to cancel major weekend events that bring in tens of thousands of additional vehicles to the state? Did it not occur to anyone in our government that a travel ban on out of state visitors might be a good idea so that locals could use what little gas was left to get in to work on Monday?
7. Does anyone else find it curious that Saxby Chambliss is vehemently blaming congressional Democrats for the gas crisis during an election year ... and (if you have been paying attention to what Congress is debating) during the same week the off-shore drilling ban was up for a Congressional vote? Anyone even consider that there may be a political scam happening?
8. How is it possible that Saxby was at the ready to post professionally produced web videos blasting the Democrats for the gas crisis within days of its start? Could it be he knew it was about to happen?
9. Has anyone considered the possibility this is all a power play on behalf of the Republicans? ... Saxby is up for re-election this year and is scared shitless because he's up against a strong Democratic opponent in Jim Martin. How convenient would it be for Saxby to be able to claim, "I helped solve the gas crisis created by the Democrats!"
10. Why has no one randomly tested service station reservoirs to verify they are in fact empty?
Nothing like this has ever happened before as a result of storms in the gulf ... and to give some bullshit answer about "pipeline and delivery options" being limited in Georgia is absolute nonsense. Again, nothing like this has ever happened before as a result of storms in the gulf. There is something downright crooked at the root of this crisis, and someone needs to start asking questions. There are far too many convenient excuses being thrown around, and some of us want real answers.
It's time for someone in the media to do their damned job and expose this crisis for the political / big business collusion that it is. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.
