Smith Tells a Whopper to The Register-Guard

Gordon Smith fails honesty test in editorial board interview in Eugene. His 2007 answer contradicts his 2001 quotes.

Uh Gordon, do you want to try that again?

United States Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) tried to convince The Register-Guard editorial board Tuesday that he barely worked with Vice President Dick Cheney and the White House when they made a political decision to abuse environmental and commercial resources to get him re-elected in 2002. The 2002 Klamath River water diversion ended up destroying coastal fishing communities.

“Smith downplayed his connection to Cheney in that chapter. He said he did not recall speaking with the vice president, but did lobby President Bush during a flight on Air Force One to allow some of the basin's water dedicated for imperiled sucker fish to be diverted to withering croplands and pastures.

‘I was not familiar with all the things the vice president was doing,’ Smith said, referring to the Washington Post's account.’”
(The Register-Guard, 8-8-07)

Yet, in 2001, Smith demonstrated clear and direct knowledge of Cheney’s involvement.

“‘Dick Cheney stopped that order from coming down,’ Smith said. ‘He ordered the biologists back to Washington’ to see if there were some way to get around the conclusion that all available water must go to protect endangered suckers in Upper Klamath Lake and threatened coho salmon in the lower Klamath River.”
(Herald and News, 4-9-01)

Smith even ran TV ads touting his coordination with the White House.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2WkhoGut6E

“Where is the honesty from Gordon Smith?” DPO Chair Meredith Wood Smith asked. “In 2001 he couldn’t stop talking about his coordination with Vice President Cheney and the White House. Now, he says he barely worked with them. Gordon Smith has let the truth become a casualty in his re-election bid. His disregard for the truth is troubling and a disservice to Oregonians.”

Multiple choice quiz on the jump.

MULTIPLE CHOICE: WHY IS GORDON SMITH BACKTRACKING?

Now, why would Smith backtrack from his 2001 and 2002 comments boasting about his ability to coordinate with the White House to divert Klamath River water to farmers - a move that decimated countless coastal fishing businesses and local economies, killed more than 70,000 salmon, and earned him an election victory?

A. Is it because of the reporting of the coordination among Smith, Cheney and the White House to abuse environmental and commercial resources for political gain?

“The Washington Post in June published a series of articles on Cheney's wielding of behind-the-scenes muscle, with one installment focusing on his involvement in the Klamath water crisis, which the paper said was motivated in part to bolster the 2002 re-election of fellow Republican Smith.”
(The Register-Guard, 8-8-07)

B. Is it because of the congressional investigation into the role Cheney played to steer votes for Smith?

“Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee are trying to determine whether Vice President Cheney's intervention in the Klamath River Basin's water management led to the die-off a few months later, which was the largest ever recorded in the West.
In 2002, Smith's lobbying for increased irrigation in the Southern Oregon region was a topic he raised during that year's campaign. In a TV ad, farmers praised the Republican lawmaker's efforts on their behalf.”
(The Register-Guard, 8-8-07)

C. Is it because he doesn’t want people to remember his coordination with Cheney, Karl Rove and the White House?

“In January 2002, at a retreat in West Virginia, Karl Rove gave a PowerPoint presentation to at least 50 managers at the Department of the Interior to discuss polling data, and emphasized the importance of getting Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, a Republican, reelected that year.

The way to get Smith reelected to another term, Rove reportedly told the Interior Department officials, would come via the agency's support of a highly controversial measure: diverting water from the Klamath River Basin to farms in the area that were experiencing unusually dry conditions, thereby supporting the GOP's agricultural base.”
(Truthout, 6-20-07)

D. Is it all of the above?

Comments

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

* Your email address will never be displayed, but may be used to contact you if we have questions.

URL:

Remember Me?YesNo

Comments: