Representative Maurice Hinchey

In these years of low approval ratings for Congress, I have been very appreciative of my Representative in Washington, Maurice Hinchey. Read his Wikipedia entry for an impressive list of stands on environmental issues during his time in Congress, most recently with his co-authorship of the FRAC act to end the exemptions from the Clean Water Act given to the gas and oil industries by the Cheneyites.  His anti-fracking activism invoked the wrath of Karl Rove's American Crossroads in the 2010 elections (the 21st-century badge of honor -- the equivalent of being on Dick Nixon's Enemies List).

Later today, Congressman Hinchey will be announcing his retirement from Congress after this term. I want to wish him a happy well-earned retirement, good health, and thank him for his service.  There will be no jokes or snark in this entry.

Karl Rove's Loss Yesterday

Here's hoping that hubris once again leads to a short residence of the Republicans in the House majority.

To hear Karl Rove talk about "the End of the Obama Liberal Agenda" before his natural constituency of Natural Gas executives today, you would think that the Republicans had won both houses with filibuster-proof and veto-proof supermajorities, and that he had personally been invincible in all his campaigns.
His group American Crossroads came after my Congressman, Maurice Hinchey, late in the campaign with this commercial that started to seem ubiquitous on cable in the Hudson Valley.

What was Maurice Hinchey's chief crime? I don't think there's any doubt that he became a target of the energy industry insiders bankrolling Karl Rove because of his sponsorship of the FRAC Act. The Fracking Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act would end a Bush era loophole written for the natural gas industry which exempts them from the Safe Drinking Water Act and allows them to pump chemicals into the ground without even disclosing which poison mixtures are being pumped into our land and water. In these pristine Catskills -- which still provide unfiltered water to New York City--this threat of drilling and inserting a toxic stew below our mountains and forests strikes everyone who lives here as criminal (if the Republicans can pretend to speak for every American, I can certainly pretend to speak for everyone in my Congressional district).
And despire generic attack ads financed from out of state that dominated local television, with 99% of votes counted, Maurice Hinchey leads Republican George Phillips by 52.4% to 47.6%. You lost this one Karl.