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CARROLL: Propagandists

By Vincent Carroll, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published May 13, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Michael Huttner

Michael Huttner

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'When a man concludes that any stick is good enough to beat his foe with," warned G.K. Chesterton many years ago, "that is when he picks up a boomerang."

To appreciate the sort of recklessness Chesterton had in mind, you have only to read the latest denunciation of Bob Schaffer, the Republican running for the U.S. Senate, by ProgressNowAction's Michael Huttner (find it under the At Issue headline on today's editorial page or at RockyMountainNews. com). In Huttner's broad, lurid strokes, Schaffer is transformed not merely into a rapacious "oil industry executive . . . working to maximize his oil company's profits" - "oil," "executive" and "profits" being an unholy trinity in Huttner's eyes - but also a war profiteer "working against American interests."

To this point, it must be said, the portrait of Schaffer is a paint-by-numbers smear, which my column disposed of two weeks ago (April 30, "Smeared with oil"). What distinguishes Huttner's latest attack and qualifies it for a Chesterton boomerang award is its claim that Schaffer "led the company's delegation in Iraq to lobby local speculators for oil contracts."

Local speculators? Savor that contemptuous description of the Kurdistan Regional Government and, by implication, the historically oppressed minority that it represents.

Aspect Energy, for which Schaffer worked, negotiated with Kurdish leaders for the right to explore for oil in the north of Iraq. The Kurdistan Regional Government is no more a "local speculator" in Iraq than Gov. Bill Ritter is a "local warlord" in the United States.

Huttner's use of "local speculators" was no accident. The term appears twice in his letter without any hint as to whom the "speculators" might be. When I e-mailed him in wonderment, he replied, "I'm OK if you prefer to use Kurdish government."

He's OK if someone else prefers the relevant fact. Just don't expect him to volunteer it.

It is true that the Baghdad central government is not happy with the Kurds for having cut a number of oil exploration deals with small- and mid-sized foreign companies; indeed, the oil minister considers them invalid. But it is equally true that the Iraqis have yet to reach agreement on a final oil and gas law, and that a draft completed last year has been slammed by both Kurds and Sunni Arabs (for different reasons). Meanwhile, the parties continue to talk.

The activists at ProgressNowAction are free to support the Arab vision of a state oil company controlling future production in Iraq - and they are equally free to suggest that such a future would best serve American interests, although it's hardly obvious that it would. But in his zeal to discredit Schaffer, Huttner simply airbrushed the Kurds out of existence - and crossed the line between aggressive opinion and outright propaganda.

Get out alive

It's been a bad year for the reputation of the U.S. Penitentiary in Florence, what with the conviction last week of a prisoner for the grisly killing of his cellmate and a racially motivated riot one month ago that ended with two inmates shot to death by guards.

Suffice it to say that such episodes reinforce the popular impression of U.S. prisons - particularly those run by the states - as no-man's lands where the strong lord it over the weak. Yet whatever the truth of this view, it shortchanges a rather remarkable fact: Prison homicide rates, suicides and the number of riots have actually plummeted in the past 30 years, in apparent defiance of most experts' expectations.

Writing in a recent Weekly Standard, professors Bert Useem of Purdue and Anne Morrison Piehl of Rutgers recount this history: "In 1973, there were 63 homicides per 100,000 state inmates. In 1990, there were eight, and in 2003, the homicide rate dropped further to four."

That's not just a falloff in murder. It's a collapse.

Prisons might remain hellholes in some respects, but at least inmates can now expect to get out alive.

Vincent Carroll is editor of the editorial pages. Reach him at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com.

Comments

  • May 13, 2008

    6:06 a.m.

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    angka writes:

    Those would be the same Kurds the United States is allowing Turkey to bomb with impunity, right? And isn't the failure of the Iraq government to come up with an oil law being blaming on these sweetheart deals with local governments, as you had no choice but to oh-so-briefly note?

    How is your glossing over those relevant facts any more defensible than Huttner doing so, which I don't think he even did?

    Seriously, Carroll, HOW MANY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WHO VOTED FOR WAR IN IRAQ WENT ON TO DIRECTLY PROFIT FROM THE WAR? Not very damn many--does that make you and Wadhams nervous?

  • May 13, 2008

    7:21 a.m.

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    Spencer writes:

    I wonder how much Schaffer's campaign is paying Vince?

  • May 13, 2008

    8:19 a.m.

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    Konyok writes:

    I'd be interested in learning how much funding the currency speculator George Soros gives to Michael Huttner and ProgressActionNow.

  • May 13, 2008

    8:39 a.m.

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    Hengist writes:

    Let's see... Schaffer worked for AspectEnergy. The U.S. Government goes into Iraq and topples the central government. AspectEnergy goes into the newly empowered Kurdistan Regional Government and negotiates the rights to explore and develop the newly liberated oil fields in the so-called "kurdistan" region. How is that not war profiteering? And now Schaffer is running for the U.S. Senate?
    I think he(Schaffer) deserves all the scrutiny the voters want to apply.

  • May 13, 2008

    8:47 a.m.

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    rickg19611 writes:

    LOL....

    First you have some fly by night outfit like "progressnow" lying to people, and when exposed, their lemming like followers whine about the people who exposed them.

    Typical.

  • May 13, 2008

    8:47 a.m.

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    rickg19611 writes:

    LOL....

    First you have some fly by night outfit like "progressnow" lying to people, and when exposed, their lemming like followers whine about the people who exposed them.

    Typical.

  • May 13, 2008

    11:11 a.m.

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    Cwillyrun1 writes:

    rick, you're right. Progressnow doesn't tell the truth, just the so called truth they want to use to sway public opinion. Why let facts get in the way?

    I like Carroll, he exposes the liberal propagandists for what they are. But some people are led easily, like many that are posting here. Why tell the truth, that it's the Kurdish government and not local speculators?

    Huttner looks like the kid that got bullied in high school.

  • May 13, 2008

    12:39 p.m.

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    jay writes:

    Once again we see Vincent on Big Oil Bob's Apologist Express.

    I guess I'm not expecting Mr. Carrol to be completely bipartisan in his writings...but it's getting a little ridiculous.

    I hope that he will see his way to likewise try to disparage the message of his paper's beloved Independence Institute with as much vigor as he uses on the subject of this column.

    After all, it's not as if others haven't noticed that the II has been nothing but "propagandists" when it comes to the defense of Schaffer and the smearing of Udall. Just last week they asserted that U.S. Rep. Mark Udall "wants to prohibit all development on Roan Plateau" and stated that Mark said that there is "more oil in" the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge "than in Saudi Arabia."

    Kind of hard to write about "propagandists" and maintain any semblance of credibility when it appears one is blatantly partisan.

  • May 13, 2008

    1:10 p.m.

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    Roni writes:

    This is a one sized fits Michael Huttner's personal opinion about Bob Schaffer, Vincent Carroll's "Propagandists," and "McCain's cap-and-trade..."
    So McCain woos Democrats on the environment ( WSJ) quoted Carl Pope (Sierra Club), claiming the group might not endorse any candidate for president.
    Pope's comments once again prove how stupid groups like SC, TNC et al KNOW we are!
    It's a historic given that enviro groups will unanimously endorse one of the democrat candidates...regardless!
    And being an Arizonian, McCain's allegiance to Bruce Babbitt and his attempts at green talk, as in "cap and trade" -transcends patronizing.
    Bruce Babbitt, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, Ted Turner, Richard Branson et al, are all breathlessly piggy backing Al Gore"s fabricated scam of global proportions called "global warming," to control you, your land and your water, and make even more billions bilking us in the process.
    These are verifiable facts; not my personal opinions!
    All three highly visible candidates for president are against resource production in America.
    None walk with sound science, none are good stewards of our lands and water, and all three conjure mandates that further destroy our Republic; so they can replace it with socialism?
    I mean my heavens, just look at the perks received by any one who sets up a shingle with any of the buzz words..."green, sustainable, eco, renewable, alternative, global warming, save, precious, jewell, last great, rare, wild and scenic, clean water, endangered, climate change..." on it.
    The Greeley Tribune ran article about wild asparagus on our farm. I couldn't find any because of "the constant cold." A reader wrote, "Gee! You could get millions of dollars from the feds to research, "The affects of global warming on asparagus."
    Instead of supporting our "proven producing resource producers," - we run around like crazy financing every other wind blown job on earth.
    If Bob Schaffer will work with our "proven producing resource producers," I will view him as prudent with our dollar and far-sighted in solutions, and most certainly give him my vote.
    I will not support any incumbent elected official or candidate who has involvement with any entity that uses the before-mentioned buzz words, for their goal is to shut down American Resource Production.

  • May 13, 2008

    4:33 p.m.

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    Roni writes:

    Thank you Gene.

    www.GoodNeighborLaw.com is a great source for facts and truth.
    Yes - there's some comic relief- but mostly really heavy scientific and legal research papers.
    I stole some of the beforementioned from there. :-)

  • May 14, 2008

    6:31 a.m.

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    greenleaf writes:

    Gene, Roni,

    Don't forget guys that there is no shortage of propagandists on the conservative side of arguments. Carroll is, himself, sometimes in that category.

    As an environmentalist I am also tired of hearing all the "green this" and 'green that" buzz. Unfortunately, that's capitalism at work. as Gene knows, I have a landscape design/build and maintenance company that employs environmental practices that conserve water and energy. I have never used buzz words to describe it or hit customers over the head with a self righteous club. I have, instead, promoted the fiscal conservative message that by employing best management practices we can save them money. I have had many extremely conservative republican customers who would never have hired us if I had thumped a "green" message.

    As for oil, of course we will need it for a long time to come, but we should make efforts to conserve it. That would save individual's money while buying time for both some new drilling and for alternatives to move from r+d into the market place.

  • May 14, 2008

    8:15 a.m.

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    mytwosense writes:

    Carroll: "To this point, it must be said, the portrait of Schaffer is a paint-by-numbers smear, which my column disposed of two weeks ago (April 30, "Smeared with oil")."

    Disposed of? Not exactly. Carroll positioned his column as a complaint that working in the energy sector was now viewed as a badge of shame.

    No one is saying working in the energy industry is "shameful." What people are rightfully questioning is why Schaffer, a man with no previous experience in the oil industry, landed a high-paying job with Aspect Energy after he left Congress. The general consensus among those who oppose Schaffer is that the deal he helped seal for Aspect in Iraq is the reason. Since he voted for this war, this can certainly be construed as war profiteering and graft.

    I'm still curious as to what other deals Schaffer made for Aspect Energy. Anything at all? Or was this a one-time payoff for his votes and connections?

    I think people need to know if this man was any better at getting things accomplished in the private sector than he was as a government employee. Particularly if he still takes "fact finding" trips without knowing who's the benefactor footing the bill!

  • May 14, 2008

    1:45 p.m.

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    jay writes:

    gene i think many folks have made strong cases of examples of rhetoric and causes that clearly point to carroll being a "propagandist".

    thus the irony.

  • May 14, 2008

    5:52 p.m.

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    mytwosense writes:

    Isn't a propagandist someone who spreads a message? At least, that's the definition in its simplest terms.

    Well, Carroll wrote a column defending Schaffer's involvement with Aspect Energy based on: a conversation with Shaffer, a conversation with Aspect Energy's CEO, and a perusal of Aspect Energy's website.

    Sounds like he told us basically what they told him.

    What's the difference between Carroll and a propagandist??