Sen. Dorgan to Retire

[TheBigA]

Just read that North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan has announced he will retire at the end of his term. My only comment is "good riddens." He has done nothing positive for broadcasters during his term, and really became a vocal critic after the overtold story in Minot several years ago. He brought that investigation to the federal level, holding Congressional hearings on the matter, and was very unhappy when he wasn't able to punish Clear Channel. He was never satisfied with the results of the investigation, and simply hasn't been able to understand how changes in federal policy in areas like Homeland Security actually limited broadcasters in dealing with local disasters like the one in Minot.

 

[SeanMGilbow]

Just read that North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan has announced he will retire at the end of his term. My only comment is "good riddens." He has done nothing positive for broadcasters during his term, and really became a vocal critic after the overtold story in Minot several years ago. He brought that investigation to the federal level, holding Congressional hearings on the matter, and was very unhappy when he wasn't able to punish Clear Channel. He was never satisfied with the results of the investigation, and simply hasn't been able to understand how changes in federal policy in areas like Homeland Security actually limited broadcasters in dealing with local disasters like the one in Minot.

I would never have heard about Dorgan if it weren't for Ed Schultz, who is being overwhelmed with pleas for him to run for Dorgran's seat.

Dorgan was a factor in getting progressive talkers like Big Eddie out on the airwaves.

He has been a strong supporter of American workers, especially in the industrial and agricultural sectors. He was also working on making it possible for Americans to re-import, and thus save money on, prescription drugs from Canada. Unfortunately, this did not get into the Senate health care bill.

But that is for another topic area.

For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the situation in Minot, here is an article from The New York Times on the subject:

http://faculty.msb.edu/homak/HomaHelpSite/WebHelp/Clear_Channel_-_Single_Voice_in_Minot.htm

Here are the two sentences from the article which should give readers some pause:

In January 2002, a train derailment at 1 a.m. spilled a vast white cloud of suffocating anhydrous ammonia fertilizer over Minot. One person died.

The police were unable to reach anyone by phone at the local radio station, KCJB, that is the designated emergency broadcaster. Station employees had to be roused from their homes, causing a big delay.

Like the fact that TheBigA doesn't know how to spell "riddance," his ignorance of the real issue involving Minot is indicated by the fact he (or she) is not from that area. Of course, we don't know that since TheBigA posts anonymously.

I'm sure the family and friends of the person who died would feel TheBigA is completely out of touch with the situation in Minot.

As for Senator Dorgan, I wish him well. And as for Big Eddie, I know whatever decision he makes on running for Dorgan's seat will be for the best.

Prediction: This post will result in a series of posts between TheBigA and myself which will result in the topic being taken outside and eventually deleted. Which, in the words of George W. Bush, would mean "Mission accomplished."

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Politics has always been a rowdy sport throughout the history of our "experiment in self government". Today's era has a factor that really drives me bonkers. We have developed a political atmosphere where everyone is supposed to be totally, absolutely, dogmatically, unadulterated conservative, or..... totally, absolutely, dogmatically, unadulterated liberal. And this is an era where the caucus for each group meets, and whatever the caucus votes to be their policy, all members of that caucus have to take some kind of blood oath to never break ranks.

I haven't close followed Dorgan and do not know what drives him, but it begins to sound to me that he has committed the sin of being pragmatic on some issues. My, my, my! How un-American can you get!

I hope that I live long enough to see the day come when we allow our elected officials to once again be thinking people with individual political personalities rather than the robotic, lockstep automated voting-switch-pushers that populate Washington and many of our state legislatures.

Sean: I've read various accounts of what happened in Minot. As much as some of us would like to tie the albatross around the neck of Clear Channel, I read some reports that were not flattering to the local disaster management folks and the police. I get the idea it was a "mixed mess".

 

[TheBigA]

Like the fact that TheBigA doesn't know how to spell "riddance," his ignorance of the real issue involving Minot is indicated by the fact he (or she) is not from that area.

Huh? What are you talking about?

Let me ask you a simple question: Why does the sworn Congressional testimony given on the incident not match the quote you posted? I've read all the stories reported about Minot, and none of them are the same, except they all blame Clear Channel, as though they caused the accident. None of the articles asked why such a train was routed through a populated area in the first place.

The one person who died lived at the point of impact. There is nothing a radio station could have done that would have saved that person's life. The ONLY thing a radio station could have done was to tell people to stay indoors. That's not something you have to do in Minot at 1AM in the middle of January. They're all indoors asleep, where it's warm, with their radios OFF.

The one interesting postscript is that the entire Minot cluster has been for sale for four years. Maybe Dorgan will take his pension and buy a few radio stations, and show us all how dumb we are.

 

[TomT]

The real story, from folks who seem to have inside knowledge is that:

1. The local emergency center had their own EAS generator, & a link to the local station. They could have generated an alert themselves. Unfortunately the generator was not set up & no-one had been trained to use it.

2. Contrary to various reports, the local CC cluster was manned at that time of night. However, the emergency center did not have or did not use the direct line to the control room, but instead dialed the main switch board number. Which was, of course, shut off at that time of night.

3. The CC board operator tried to call the emergency center for information, but by that time, the lines were jammed and he couldn't through.

4. As mentioned, this all happened in the middle of the night, so very few people would have been listening. Of course, had the system worked, and the emergency center issued a warning through the direct link, then the stations could have continued to run announcements about what was happening for those folks in the immediate area of the derailment.

Let's face it, EAS is, and has been a mess because the Feds have never committed any resources to it for hardened communications links as well as training for the emergency folks who need to be the ones originating the alerts. Instead, they rely on broadcasters to volunteer their services, then punish them harshly when there are minor screw-ups.

Look at the KWVE story-- see link: http://www.thebdr.net/articles/hello2.html --scroll down a bit.