Now THAT’s how a good Democrat apologizes…

Candidate Bill Hedrick’s official response to Congressman Ken Calvert’s whiny response to Hedrick’s press release reminding south County voters of Calvert’s tireless support for offshore drilling – is out now, and it’s perfect!  Let’s see if Calvert wants to KEEP ON talking about offshore drilling now, in the wake of the tragic and epically disastrous Deepwater Horizon Spill.  Seriously, we just want to have an “open conversation” on the matter.  (As Mansoor likes to say about immigration and Mexicans.)  Off today’s transom:

We’re talking about policy.  He’s politicizing a tragedy.

Dear Vern,

Two days ago I called out Ken Calvert for his continual cheerleading of the misguided policies and empty rhetoric that has led to the oil spill disaster in the Gulf Coast.

A press release on his own website quotes Ken Calvert as saying:

“…Exploration off of California would provide the state with much-needed royalty revenue that could go towards bridging the deficit gap and putting California back on the road to fiscal responsibility.  With new and emerging technologies, offshore energy development can be pursued with little to no visible impact on the coastline and in a way that protects the surrounding environment. That is why I introduced the MORE Act in 2008 to create jobs and increase coastal states’ share of royalties. The time has come to open up all of our country’s natural resources…”

Instead of engaging in a real dialogue about the fundamental differences we have when it comes to energy policy and offshore drilling – me adamantly opposed to drilling California’s coast and Calvert adamantly for – he wasted no time resorting the same dirty political tricks that desperate candidates use when they can’t run from their record.

While I was talking policy, he accused me of politicizing a tragedy and demanded I apologize.

Well, here’s my apology.  I’m sorry, Ken Calvert, that the policies you’ve consistently supported for the last 18 years to secure more profits for your Big Oil buddies have put American workers and the environment at risk, and that we have tragically seen the consequences of the irresponsible and dangerous ‘drill, baby, drill’ mentality that has driven our energy policy for the last 50 years.

We should be looking at the policies that have led us to this point and fixing them so that something like the BP Deepwater Horizon accident doesn’t happen again, rather than sweeping the issue to the side and making wild accusations.

We deserve better.

Sincerely,
Bill


About Vern Nelson

Greatest pianist/composer in Orange County, and official political troubadour of Anaheim and most other OC towns. Regularly makes solo performances, sometimes with his savage-jazz band The Vern Nelson Problem. Reach at vernpnelson@gmail.com, or 714-235-VERN.