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Palm Beach Post - Attacks on Mahoney full of baloney
Every few weeks, Griping Man leaves an infuriating message on my answering machine. Griping Man works for a neoconservative group called Freedom's Watch that tries to promote support for the Iraq War and for President Bush's other unpopular policies.
Lately, Griping Man targets U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Palm Beach Gardens, blaming him for just about everything. "We don't have energy independence," he grouses in his deep, angry voice. "Gas prices are through the roof!" Griping Man gives me Rep. Mahoney's phone number and tells me to call him and yell at him.
But I don't want to yell at Rep. Mahoney. I want to yell at Freedom's Watch and Griping Man for invading my peaceful home. I should not have been surprised that a machine, not a human, answers the phone at the Washington number that Griping Man left for Freedom's Watch.
I heard from Griping Man again last week. "The president has lifted the 20-year ban on offshore drilling," he said. "The Democrats are standing as the only thing between us and billions of barrels of oil. Tim Mahoney sided with Nancy Pelosi and the liberals ... Call him and tell him to stop standing between the American people and American oil!"
Of course, I know Griping Man is full of baloney. First, the president can't lift the ban by himself; Congress has to go along, and it hasn't. Next, the oil companies have leases and drilling rights on millions of acres of land they have not used.
As Rep. Mahoney wrote his constituents, approving offshore drilling in Florida would devastate the state's $65 billion tourist industry. It also would put Florida's precious reefs and underwater wildlife at risk, and do nothing to reduce gas prices at the pump before 2030, if then. "The Department of Energy estimates that the entire supply of oil in the gulf would fill U.S. demand for only about 10 months," he writes.
Rep. Mahoney cosponsored farm and energy bills to help create both jobs and energy from wind, solar and biofuels. He wants to crack down on energy speculation in the commodities market, which helps drive up oil prices. If Griping Man had the guts to call in person instead of in an annoying recorded message, I'd be happy to enlighten him. But he's being paid to deliver a one-way message.
The money bankrolling Griping Man and Freedom's Watch comes from Sheldon Adelson, 74, who, reports a June 30 story in The New Yorker, owns the Venetian and the Palazzo, two giant Las Vegas casino-resorts, and "is the third-richest person in the United States, according to Forbes." Mr. Adelson also likes to dabble in Israeli politics, and started a free newspaper, Israel Today, to promote the conservative Likud party. He has invested heavily in creating Las Vegas-style gambling resorts off China's shores.
He helped create Freedom's Watch at a meeting in Florida of the Republican Jewish Coalition in early 2007. The idea was to build an organization that could compete with the liberal-leaning MoveOn.org, TheNew Yorker reports. Last summer, Freedom's Watch spent $15 million supporting the troop surge in Iraq.
After reported infighting and "micromanaging on the part of its prime benefactor (Mr. Adelson), Freedom's Watch backed off for a bit, but recently has made a comeback, targeting Democrats it hopes to unseat nationwide. Rep. Mahoney won the seat left vacant by Republican Rep. Mark Foley, who resigned after his salacious e-mails to underage male congressional interns surfaced. Republicans, still smarting from the loss of a seat in a district gerrymandered to be an easy GOP win, are ready to pump megabucks into the effort to crush Rep. Mahoney.
So, Griping Man calls everybody in Rep. Mahoney's district, and Rep. Mahoney's staff hears from a lot of angry people. Unlike Griping Man's backers, Rep. Mahoney's human staff talks to the callers, takes their names and sends follow-up letters explaining Rep. Mahoney's positions.
For the duration of the election season, I've found a way to deal with Griping Man that preserves my serenity. I unplug the answering machine when I leave so he can't record his latest rant. If he calls when I'm home, I hang up.
