Can I say for the 10th time that the Democratic Party of Oregon has become an aggressive, rapid response MACHINE since Meredith and Marc took over? They are taking charge of the task to define and explain Gordon Smith's real work in the Senate, and folks are starting to listen:
Two days after DPO Chair Meredith Wood Smith called on U.S. Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) to apologize for coordinating with Karl Rove, Vice President Cheney and President Bush to earn votes by endangering Oregon’s fishing industries and salmon population, Smith is still silent on the issue.
But the media is raising more and more questions for Smith about his coordination with Cheney and other White House leaders to choose politics over science to earn him votes.
“Gordon Smith should not stay silent on his political abuse of the Klamath River,” DPO Chair Meredith Wood Smith said. “In 2002, Gordon Smith couldn’t stop running television ads and boasting to Oregonians about turning on the water. Now that 70,000 salmon are dead, countless fishermen have lost their livelihood and the U.S. House is looking into his actions, he’s suddenly media shy. Gordon Smith should take responsibility for his actions. Gordon Smith should explain when he first contacted Dick Cheney and the White House, what he asked of Dick Cheney, and why Dick Cheney made personal calls on his behalf to divert the water to earn Smith re-election.”
The hearings, and the targeted finger pointing, has gotten the attention of the media:
“The Committee on Natural Resources is chaired by West Virginia Democrat Nick Rahall. He said the point of the hearing was to look into allegations that the Bush administration has a habit of letting politics not only influence policy, but the science supporting that policy.”
(OPB News, 7-31-07)
“The OR-Dems are taking Gordon Smith to task on SalmonGate. Outside of Oregon, this may not seem like a big deal, but inside Oregon this is huge. Smith's efforts contributed to the decimation of fishing businesses in Oregon, and Smith has been conspicuously silent on the issue as a Congressional investigation on the issue approaches. Stay tuned.”
(Senate 2008 Guru, 7-31-07)
“On Monday, the state Democratic Party demanded an apology from Oregon Republican Sen. Gordon Smith for allegedly playing a part in the death of 70,000 salmon in 2001.”
(The Bulletin, 8-1-07)
“In a statement Monday, Meredith Wood Smith, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Oregon, called for Smith to apologize for his involvement in the Klamath.
‘If Gordon Smith can open an irrigation system to release thousands of gallons of water,’ she said, ‘surely he can open his mouth and apologize to Oregonians.’"
(The Oregonian, 8-1-07)
“In January 2002, Walden and Republican Senator Gordon Smith met with President Bush on Air Force One to talk about the Klamath River Basin. The President mentioned Smith and Walden at a rally in Portland.
George W Bush: ‘I share their concern about people who make a living off the land. And I told these two good men that we'll do everything we can to make sure water is available for people who farm.’ (Applause)
The Wall Street Journal reported in a 2003 story that a day after the President spoke those words, White House advisor Karl Rove gave a PowerPoint presentation to about 50 managers at the Department of the Interior.
According to the Journal, Rove made it clear whose side the President was taking in the Klamath River controversy. This year, the Washington Post did a series of stories on the behind-the-scenes influence of Vice President Dick Cheney. The paper said he was on the phone with mid-level federal officials talking about the Klamath River Basin and got regular updates about it.
In April 2002, the Bureau of Reclamation turned on the spigots for the farmers. That fall saw the largest ever fish die off in the American west on the river.”
(OPB News, 7-31-07)
That's what the media are saying, and it's a good start. It needs to be directed towards Smith now. What's his response? How does he explain what he did and why he backed that approach? After all, it was declared illegal and overturned.
If you're just joining us, and are taking the Bend Bulletin's approach that Smith is "allegedly" involved, here are published facts:
In March 2001, Gordon Smith wrote the White House for help with the looming shortfall for farmers in the Klamath Basin. He asked specifically for help from the domestic policy team, headed by Karl Rove, and highlighted the "regulatory drought*"--since the decision was made by courts and science to favor the flow for fish instead of farmers. The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post reported that Rove and Dick Cheney became involved at this time.
When the water was turned off Smith told angry farmers that Dick Cheney had "ordered the biologists back to Washington,**" to see if there was a way around the supremacy of science in the decision. This was in fact precisely what Cheney was telling an aide, according to the Post.
While the water was off, Smith filed several legislative efforts on a number of fronts--from writing bills that would suppress the science that formed the foundation of the original biologists' conclusion, to removing the oversight of the Secretary of the Interior, to simply turning back the regulatory clock to 1993, when the rules favored the farmers.
When the water came back on--strangely by using the exact strategy Smith foretold in his legislation--Smith was there at the gates with the Secretary of Interior, cutting the ribbon. And when the election came around, he told anyone who would listen that he "carried our water***" for farmers, getting it to them instead of fish and tribal concerns.
After the diversion to irrigation, as many as 70,000 salmon died in what is the largest known adult salmon kill in Western history. The fisheries industry has not recovered, and is in such peril as to require federal bailout dollars--dollars fetched by Gordon Smith.
These are knowns. There is no escaping the truth that a) Smith was involved, b) Smith tried to work around the science, c) that attempt was ruled illegal, and d) in the meantime fish died and an industry went into shock.
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