The Sacramento Bee is standing by a political cartoon about Rick Perry and the West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion, noting that it was commentary on “Perry’s disregard for worker safety, not an attempt to disrespect the victims.” That seems pretty obvious to anyone who harbors no guilt feelings about their position on deregulation.
Maybe Rick Perry should watch the episodes of “All In with Chris Hayes” in which he reveals that the last safety “inspection of the West fertilizer plant happened in– 1985” and exposes Dick Cheney’s son-in-law who de-regulated the chemical industry. Nobody can seriously suggest that Rick Perry would have insisted on more oversight. Au contraire.
In fact, Gov. Ricky says more inspections weren’t needed:
He said that he remains comfortable with the state’s level of oversight and suggested that most Texas residents agree with him.
Under the circumstances, it appears that Jack Ohman’s cartoon was political commentary based on obvious facts and the truth. And the truth hurts, right Ricky?
Here is an excerpt from Perry’s letter to the Sacramento Bee:
It was with extreme disgust and disappointment I viewed your recent cartoon. While I will always welcome healthy policy debate, I won’t stand for someone mocking the tragic deaths of my fellow Texans and our fellow Americans… The Bee owes the community of West, Texas an immediate apology for your detestable attempt at satire.
It would be more accurate and truthful to say that it is Rick Perry who owes SacBee and Ohman an apology.
Here is an excerpt from the response from the editorial page editor for the Bee:
What he finds offensive is a governor who would gamble with the lives of families by not pushing for the strongest safety regulations. Perry’s letter is an attempt to distract people from that message.
Here is the cartoon in question (which you can also see in the video), and here is Ohman’s blog about the matter.
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