Piggyback a pull the draft message onto the call for a moratorium

Yes it is true the legislature has nothing to do with killing the draft.
Asking the legislature to kill the draft is a waste of time: agree.

I think many of us are saying,
we should not trust the Executive,
or (if he buggers it up) the Courts.

The Executive's actions (if legal)
are generally not accountable to the people.

I have seen the Courts mostly enforce corrupt systems of power
rather than really stand up for the people,
even if one has both the facts and the law on one's side.

A survey of history indicates
the Courts really only start to change
in response to a massive popular movement,
(like what we've got one going here!)

So we can be somewhat optimistic here.

But generally when the courts get involved
it's TOO LATE, because
one must demonstrate prior injury
in order to have legal standing
(along with stating a right, and a prayer for remedy).

The stakes are too high here.
"Legal Injury" is like the loss of a wells,
and loss of clean water for some number of people.

And one well going bad is too many!
The corruption of ONE WELL is a crime against nature,
especially if it is preventable.

Simply replacing bad water is not a good enough solution!

A) Look at Cabot balking about $12M for the
Lake Montrose pipeline to Dimock, and

B) Where does the pipeline go to replace the
water for 100,000 people in Greater Binghamton?

There is no such place!


The other thing we can ask the courts for
is an INJUNCTION, which means is a plea for
PRIOR RESTRAINT:

Prior restraint is normally a Free Speech context, like

"Don't print the nuclear plans in the national magazine
even though no kid has built one and blown up his town".

or in this case,
"Stop the unsafe gas drilling, even though
no NY well has been damaged yet."

Walter, I must admit I think I've finally come around
to seeing your point about "political cover".
I could see how the "mini moratorium" as you put it
sets a time period to expire in May.

What happens when the buzzer goes off in May?
Do all the drills hit the dirt? Maybe.
I think it could backfire against us.

BUT... it also guarantees no permits will be issued
until May 2011, which gives us this time in order
to a) develop an Injunction for the courts, and
b) a NY BAN on HYRDROFRACKING bill in Albany.

If we are going to ask the Legislature for anything,
I think we should ask for what we really want!

Anyway, this movement is getting so big, and so strong,
and this is what is most important.

Mini-moratorium, or not.

Do what your conscience calls you to do!

Best,
BH








The Legislature are the People's Representitives in Albany
esp. the Assembly, the "lower house".
Shouldn't we be asking them for something?

On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 9:10 PM, Walter Hang <walter@toxicstargeting.com> wrote:

Peter, I am trying in my meager way to help you. Lobbying is extremely hard to do effectively, particularly on a tough issue like shale gas. There are too many pitfalls to count. It is like trying to hit major league pitching. Most strike out.

The politicos you are trying to influence would understand your faux pas in a millisecond. It has nothing to do with etiquette. In order to be effective, you have to demonstrate that you know the secret handshake.

Did you ever see someone who did not know how to do something as simple as hold a baseball bat with the correct hand on top? The errors are unmistakable to those who know the right way from the wrong way.

Political pros similarly spot the teeniest strategy and tactical errors with laser-precision. That is their life. They can tell by a single word when someone is clueless. Then they instantly conclude what are you f*cking stupid?

Why would some feisty Assembly people pressure Paterson to withdraw the draft? What is in it for them? The rule is reward your friends, punish your enemies. How would you fulfill that requirement? How would you benefit Shelly and his conference so that he would cross swords with pro-drillers?

I spoke to two top-level Albany players today, including a key Assembly rep who called me. They both said it was unclear that the mini-moratorium would come up in Special Session.

Best,

Walter

Peter Hudiburg wrote:

Greetings,

Well, since I never took Politics 101, I'm not in the least bit disturbed with asking legislators for more than they normally do when it comes to shale gas drilling and hydrofracturing. I made the calls and asked them to can the draft AND pass the moratorium and not one of the receptionists asked me if I had passed Politics 101. In fact a number of them told me that many others had made the same 2, not one, but 2 requests.

So since there are all those other unschooled (desperate, concerned) people out there who are also not overly concerned with proper political etiquette I feel certain there are at least some feisty Assembly people who will do what they can to pressure Paterson to pull the draft. That's what I want to believe and I'm sticking to it!

Peter

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