east palestine bomb
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see main bomb train</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">see dereg
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</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://boingboing.net/2023/03/31/feds-go-after-northfolk-southern-operator-of-derailed-train-that-dumped-toxic-chemicals-in-east-palestine.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://boingboing.net/2023/03/31/feds-go-after-northfolk-southern-operator-of-derailed-train-that-dumped-toxic-chemicals-in-east-palestine.html</a></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">3 23 yahoo greg c also <a href="https://www.opednews.com/articles/East-Palestine-Train-Derai-Democracy_Democracy-History_Real-Democracy_Train-Crash-230309-199.html">https://www.<b>opednews</b>.com/articles/East-Palestine-Train-Derai-Democracy_Democracy-History_Real-Democracy_Train-Crash-230309-199.html</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Norfolk Southern Corporation train derailment and subsequent hazardous chemical release in and beyond East Palestine, Ohio are the inevitable result of multiple anti-democratic realities. </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many are interconnected and are the same for the <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=BiDEj8yGy-h4To0LUa2PcgPAghVI1wTfqP3Z04abz7XKiDYm8Yn8WgJo3p-A9mUc4RLqsduSyAYnEU1KtkfOtgEzZKv7hDzcaeu7PlEFfkfiJFj1ubeHqPnA8ga3tK2j&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=2" style="">roughly 1000 train derailments per year</a>.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Private ownership of railroads</font></strong></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Norfolk Southern Corporation’s <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=Qmjvj8IiEV5YVofwVDaTBv_4fTW_spNNN8ha6HTJe78467TxLeHBuJ25cLeHyBc73HRHDNT7Mlpqk4q3x2iFS5kkXB9DDN7-mq9bj8WBCB8Z810furp2ZodhoSB0EeWD584xi6m47UBCWInCtqKUhw&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=3" style="">record earnings</a> in 2022 benefited its top managers, speculators and investors. Maximizing profits have been prioritized over necessary investments in technology upgrades and worker safety. The <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=NREEtdEPliNfTTX_t9Tx5vrXRU2EeNgqO4L1qDCJn2mHxbs6EjGBlRYVn2xFnjY-yWRB7DcHGNQgwQL4AR19e7Z0VxY9BLVwADDa9zrmD8EzV-PuVoPjcFsfZoKp5&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=4" style="">Railroad Workers United</a> in response is calling for public ownership of railroads, as they once were in WWI.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lack of worker power</font></strong></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Strikes are powerful tactics of workers to exert leverage against management on safety issues and fair treatment. <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=DcVnD4FxH505Tby1SBsmXYKDieH2k_3EyGijSuME9DJCKNt2mVF2q3CZnt2PoB2eFa2Wmi7mfGn8KKBSamaaAbz7esCG7HPkMSRMVs_7D8eKg-EPqYebzlqb6oADnXUxmAIbOYp6K2Fj8UDD06cCPw&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=5" style="">Unions representing rail workers have been virtually unable to strike</a> since passage of the Railway Labor Act in 1926, which gives the government, specifically the President and Congress, vast powers to force workers to accept alternative means of resolving disputes.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">No community rights</font></strong></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Communities have little authority to control material coming into or even passing through their jurisdictions by trains or trucks if that material can be defined as “commerce,” based on the Constitution’s <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=1U0fTQTZoiVKE8oBL-QLikqZTO6CoLGoZvPLGQkPtHBoueAVcdKqy_uNx5MjrR2A&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=6" style="">Commerce Clause</a>. Ohio state and E. Palestine officials weren’t even notified the Norfolk Southern train that derailed was carrying <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=97Pw_8S3NTrx0-mXMs2olTFJKu4tbjVZ8f_ZKYi_1eoy8XHiIm38WQRGgo6oBu5Ph5sKqrdkk0FLy6TZTXjzkw&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=7" style="">vinyl chloride</a>, <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=97Pw_8S3NTrx0-mXMs2olTFJKu4tbjVZ8f_ZKYi_1erBSD6rqw5CuqRR4dpGXzYrzZdU2_1Q7sd5ZEYgKRW3cA&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=8" style="">ethylhexyl acrylate</a> and other highly toxic chemicals.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Corporate campaign contributions</font></strong></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Railroad industry has poured <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=YDzITEgJp2pH9y7Nkh1bRMjlxtjb7uTyWB9ZQ7zqtb9r9PoWFG1cATFnS7zl0a1S2Bv5XLcCavVXJOpV0W0xNCMFged1xaVsdIraxtPqjrqx7KsIgwDBkwciliWXnx6ZyZ0EvUOvE2WDqg1lLTW6gJeRHCom7qagg3fafYXUhEM&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=9" style="">$85 million</a> into federal candidate campaigns, political parties and outside spending groups since 2002. Norfolk Southern’s political investments have been <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=YDzITEgJp2pH9y7Nkh1bRONbsRYdyyJbHk1pWnsJaXZeXR6n5a_FGrqnWWaVHtVURGkY-f-KS_GAFp4gmx3wNrRHBHHK_NFNGHuZmv2h3j_NiSt8-lDG3_nLQq83h5ru1WIGYqED_zpYoEMxa84reOafGySAv_BuIdjiqnvXszI3abYafNsXLxFHVXnvXy_qzTJ6iDRSox6qBFnFdegLjw&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=10" style="">$17 million</a> since 1990.<b> At the state level, the corporation invested <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=NXH_rYdMEIIJzY2gWoU8LkHMqR7nd7E0i-UAq6QoKfQOchhnvb5wTpBmExxgfKNBY_yYPnEZ93vXe2qdQ1B67kzri4MnWh6OBWG0lRZRMrXIlfZDuRINQaN9kNXSQ-exwUSDH-qI5TxShGLy5DVvEw0pmxLj7R9jXRptBoywhY4&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=11" style="">$98,000</a> into Ohio political races since 2018, with Gov. Mike DeWine</b></span><b> </b>(who at first didn’t call for federal assistance following the E. Palestine disaster since he didn’t see a problem) being the largest recipient. At the very least, political campaign contributions buy access to public officials; at worst, buys favors. </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Corporate lobbying</font></strong></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The railroad industry invested <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=YDzITEgJp2pH9y7Nkh1bRLkLYawmR-K1yIXK_jnP_VOfDGzAcP4XC5uQBCQcTICf4jq1vHtLRQsUEvhkxYpHLi7srdWZAtCfuAcgMVwn6lo&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=12" style="">$24.6 million to employ 265 reported lobbyists </a>to influence the federal government in 2022 – Norfolk Southern’s portion was <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=YDzITEgJp2pH9y7Nkh1bRHX5Q3ori3UOdFyuqUs5DwdTrqFXe_O-qGQAVn6oJUfZguQN6TgWEw9ZkH2uf8T-yqzxi1_aL9OH5QAhKfdIGImRePkCI9WtxAaWZyGyrvXM&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=13" style="">$1.8 million</a>. Rail lobbyists and $6 million from the rail industry to GOP campaigns in 2017 effectively reversed requirements that rail cars carrying hazardous flammable materials have modern electronic braking systems. </span><b>Lobbyists have sought for fewer workers on trains, trains to be longer and heavier, and reduced fines for penalties </b>– as well as against installing modern electronic braking systems, paid sick leave for workers and having to define trains carrying hazardous chemicals like the Norfolk Southern that derailed in E. Palestine as “high hazard,” which would increase additional safety requirements, costs and public notification. </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Supreme Court decisions</font></strong></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The High Court decided that <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=R4DwK52-IW9d9vz9D1AfaGOKI5-td47SeRdHGLd9vqQKOiLOB1NRH8oiqbHhyPTf&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=14" style="">corporate entities have the constitutional right to contribute to political campaigns</a>. This has permitted corporations like Norfolk Southern to corrupt the political process favorable to their interests, such as the previously mentioned laws and regulations profitable to railroads, Supreme Court-granted corporate <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=fk3qs1mHicx9-w03tafB2G8vNGMp4KGcuuJPtVN2YhZE0BswpsiadBH-D4CGM387sNg5gNAmUCPguGQ2dOhWVvr0I0P4l2zZhwsTv2NInUq_YxgzCApHIeTUy9oJUa5ZhhZBu7tc5-rko9tHaH6HpSjnVwDT0d48xYJ-WJga1A5SuLgo_etEXKuFot2W6guh&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=15" style="">Fourth Amendment</a> search and seizure rights prevent surprise inspections of corporate property like trains meant to protect workers and communities.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ineffective and/or captured regulatory agencies</font></strong></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Public safety inspections are not only limited by constitutional rights, but by regulatory agency funding. The Federal Railroad Administration, the major railroad regulatory agency, has only 400 inspectors. This has forced the FHA to increasingly allow <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=iRE2Rcz7-IK2_eIFa32TdHAxZcwPlWxvf6JgKUtxc0ss_Gp3FacrxQh2BHqO-iYF_Vzp6viCggGAztfsRWIJlOqVpLrirhl_HjH9PXhuQb7jquJqC6HUU1ZcZcYeSjHs0A8OLeXAN8rPWE740Erwb0x3ObLLTJFnXrJ7B1F2AU40xuhBoB2aw2iB8KA_UR5y&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=16" style="">railroad corporations to inspect their own trains, tracks and signals</a>. </span>The EPA recently announced that its requiring <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=rJ8uVOed9-86nlXcL_AtsFIXZMTFLlgjdl5cjbL8DMVQ6KRXG1wrCIS_liT2DJwOBZnoAiJxnvLzl3IsspbGCXvqQNZfahVAbB86U8iTnqd2Pv6_p2ZNQFUlGTHsmIHO7DG91soG7aAHRu7gLioz4x_EDPhZ55calU5br2qq5mY&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=17" style="">Norfolk Southern to directly test for dioxins</a> in East Palestine. Where’s the public accountability when, in effect, an entity guilty of crime gets to be the prosecutor, judge and jury? </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Criminalization of protest </font></strong></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=N_46r_dclPVQrMW9dpfss4CVl0vRhA8FUVT8dkqOHbzTfFKVeFxbIUTWcjDNlAKHg_ehSVh1aAz6JRhwURDipLhh28LiHixZk6mLeROOF6cqSfGXXa3m6J1H80s_BoLTPHvH0KqMzBWlP2whioCNFg&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=18" style="">Forty-five states have considered 265 “anti-protest” bills, 39 of which have already passed in 20 states</a> since 2017. Penalties of felonies serve as a deterrent to individuals to attend public events and send the message that those who protest must be extremists. This mindset is reflected in the reaction by federal and Ohio “law enforcement” agencies to the<b> recent visit of whistleblower Erin Brockovich to E. Palestine. A <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/r?u=EgoLP66qKbjSe1ZxerGwBKhtYYGEbWjMdFQHSfqylteIcmHjzTBeHIAFhxFJe53aL--ZDQiuV3XpEOwv-jlKsn4uC0n-OWCEsPY575OvBCARLhtBqDrm-4ScuGPYVGXFU_1sr-OZ5KGucpyo9bvybtoPXig-K0mhY1JxMXLjDX1eEuOIi0jGOmg1ryyutddO7yEMrQgZzRJ2TESqfctNNg&e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=19" style="">report</a> by the agencies "assesses that special interest extremist groups</b> will continue to call for changes in governmental policy, which may lead to protests in/around East Palestine and/or at the Statehouse in Columbus.” </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The East Palestine tragedy is sadly just a symptom of current political realities and <b>calls for fundamental systemic change.</b></font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Enacting the <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="blank" href="https://www.movetoamend.org/amendment?e=c4bd75a7df792ae4a17981d702bb76b4&utm_source=movetoamend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=east_palestine&n=20" style="">We the People Amendment, HJR48</a> that would abolish all corporate constitutional rights and political money defined as free speech, is urgent. But fundamental self-governance goes beyond the amendment. </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Independent people's movements led by individuals who’ve been historically treated unjustly is a prerequisite for how to get real democracy on track – for the very first time. </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/ohio-law-enforcement-links-erin-brockovich-to-potential-for-special-interest-terrorism-threat-in-east-palestine-000636477.htmlhttps://news.yahoo.com/ohio-law-enforcement-links-erin-brockovich-to-potential-for-special-interest-terrorism-threat-in-east-palestine-000636477.html">https://news.yahoo.com/ohio-law-enforcement-links-erin-brockovich-to-potential-for-special-interest-terrorism-threat-in-east-palestine-000636477.html</a></font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" calibri="Calibri" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>o</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>hio law enforcement issued a report late last month warning that events planned in East Palestine by the environmental activist Erin Brockovich could prompt a terrorist threat from violent extremists, </b>according to an intelligence bulletin obtained by Yahoo News.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Dated Feb. 24 and distributed to law enforcement agencies by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Ohio Statewide Terrorism Analysis & Crime Center Terrorism Analysis Unit Situational Awareness [STACC TAU] report obtained by Yahoo News "assesses that <b>special interest extremist groups</b> will continue to call for changes in governmental policy, which may lead to protests in/around East Palestine and/or at the Statehouse in Columbus.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The report then singles out the reaction by Brockovich, a whistleblower who helped build a successful lawsuit against the California utility company Pacific Gas and Electric in a case involving contaminated groundwater, to the Feb. 3 train derailment and release of toxic chemicals in East Palestine.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"On 24 February</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, environmental activist Erin BrockovichUSPER [United States person] is scheduled to be in East Palestine to explain residents’ legal rights.</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Brokovich has urged the community to <b>use common sense and ask questions</b>. Brockovich is also placing blame solely on Norfolk Southern. The STACC TAU assess this event could potentially increase tensions within the community.”</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The report assesses the risk posed by Brockovich and other activist groups that have planned events in East Palestine in the wake of the Norfolk Southern train derailment and the <b>controlled burn of vinyl chloride, a carcinogenic ingredient</b> used in the production of plastic products after the derailment.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“According to the FBI, special interest terrorism differs from traditional right-wing and left-wing terrorism in that extremist special interest groups seek to resolve specific issues, rather than effect widespread political change,” the report states. “Such extremists conduct acts of politically motivated violence to force segments of society, including the general public, to change attitudes about issues considered important to the extremists’ cause.”</font></p><figure class="caas-figure" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image"><figcaption class="caption-collapse" data-id="m-1" style="line-height: 1.5; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Drone footage shows the freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 6. (NTSB Gov/Handout via Reuters)]</font></figcaption></div></figure><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Brockovich, who was played by the actress Julia Roberts in the 2000 film named after her, was in East Palestine on Thursday afternoon to host an event. She did not immediately respond to Yahoo News’ request for comment.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>This situational awareness report is highly problematic, said former FBI agent Mike German, who worked on a recent Brennan Center report about issues with DHS fusion centers.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Obviously, there is no reason to have included Erin Brockovich's name or a description of her advocacy in a law enforcement intelligence report, much less a ‘situational awareness’ report by a state fusion center's terrorism analysis unit,” German told Yahoo News. “<b>Almost all of the activity described in this report is rightly protected by the First Amendment and poses no threat of harm</b>, and therefore should be of no interest to terrorism intelligence units.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contacted by Yahoo News, the Ohio Department of Public Safety denied that it had issued a report identifying Brockovich as a possible terrorist threat.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Erin Brokovich is listed as an ‘environmental activist’ and the brief mention of her falls under the heading of ‘various individuals or groups have responded to the train derailment,’” the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Jay Carey told Yahoo News in an email. “The fact that she is an ‘environmental activist’ that has ‘responded to the train derailment’ is factual and has been well documented by media accounts. Any inference otherwise is incorrect.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">DHS posted the report on its intelligence sharing platform on Feb. 28, making it available to its more than 150,000 local, state and federal police and other partners nationwide.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Fusion Centers</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> are state and locally owned and operated centers that actively share, analyze, and operationalize threat-related information between federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners,” a DHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Yahoo News. “<b>DHS supports Fusion Centers through the presence of DHS personnel and information sharing technology, but DHS does not run or operate Fusion Centers.”</b></span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The report also referred to the environmental group Earthjustice, which, it stated “called on Governor DeWineUSPER to declare a state of emergency," pointing to the "contaminated waterways" and subsequent deaths of thousands of fish.</font></p><figure class="caas-figure" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><div class="caas-img-container noheight" style="text-align: center;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div></div><div class="caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image"><figcaption class="caption-collapse" data-id="m-2" style="line-height: 1.5; margin: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[Environmental activist Erin Brockovich, right front, speaks to concerned residents as the host of a town hall meeting at East Palestine High School on Thursday. (Michael Swensen/Getty Images)</font></figcaption></div></figure><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Earthjustice works with communities across the country to protect people’s health,” Debbie Chizewer, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Midwest Regional office, told Yahoo News.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“In East Palestine, Earthjustice is supporting partners that have been exposed to toxic chemicals as they call for much needed resources, monitoring, cleanup of the contamination, as well as protections to prevent disasters like the explosion of a chemical-carrying cargo train in the future.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The report obtained by Yahoo News stated that East Palestine police and fire department officials reported having received threats but had determined they were not credible. It was not clear, however, why they were mentioned in the report.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This report should not have described any noncriminal activity, particularly after it stated that the terrorism analysis unit is ‘unaware of any credible direct threats regarding the East Palestine train derailment,’” German said. “This flawed reporting only clogs our national intelligence networks with inappropriate materials that undermine effective counterterrorism and law enforcement analysis, by overwhelming intelligence analysts with unhelpful misinformation that dulls the response to genuine threat warnings.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Former DHS Acting Undersecretary John Cohen agreed that the inclusion of Brockovich’s name was, as he put it, “a bit problematic,” and said that law enforcement needed to be more careful in describing what is and is not considered a threat.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“When reporting on online or other activity that may be protected speech, authorities need to be very clear how that speech relates to threat-related activities or other public safety issues,” Cohen told Yahoo News. “It’s fine to catalog what different people are saying, but from a law enforcement perspective, they need to be clear where there is a nexus with the need for an operational response.”</font></p></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3 23 an dark$?</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">r<a class="widgetheadline-text custom-post-headline rm-stats-tracked" href="https://www.alternet.org/environment/railroad/" aria-label="Rail industry spent $654 million on federal lobbying over past 20 years: analysis" data-type="text" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;" open="Open" sans="Sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" word-break="word-break" break-word="break-word" outline="outline" px="px" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" font-size="font-size" line-height="line-height">ail industry spent $654 million on federal lobbying over past 20 years: analysis</a></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/environment/railroad/">https://www.alternet.org/environment/railroad/</a></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mma 3 23 kill cit jrnl</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Self-described “accidental journalist” <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksortor" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Nick Sortor</a> has become right-wing media's go-to source for commentary and information on what is happening in <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ohio-train-derailment-contaminated-soil-water-norfolk-southern-says-east-palestine/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">East Palestine</a>, Ohio</b>, after 38 train cars carrying toxic chemicals derailed near the town on February 3.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Over three weeks after the derailment, residents of East Palestine still have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/24/ohio-train-derailment-health-pollution?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">questions</a> about whether it is safe to be in their homes or use tap water. <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/emergency-managers-made-key-errors-ohio-train-derailment-rcna70593" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Messaging</a> from the state and federal government on the response efforts has been unclear and even contradictory at times, fueling <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-tiktok-misinformation-rcna71853" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">conspiracy theories</a>, such as the idea that the derailment was “planned.” The train owner, Norfolk Southern, may be trying to shirk <a href="https://prospect.org/environment/2023-02-14-east-palestine-freight-train-derailment/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">accountability</a>, after aggressively <a href="https://www.levernews.com/rail-companies-blocked-safety-rules-before-ohio-derailment/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">lobbying against</a> railroad regulations that may have prevented the Ohio accident and others like it. This isn’t the company’s first <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/02/23/east-palestine-norfolk-southern/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">large-scale accident</a>. </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In situations like this, independent or citizen journalists and even content creators with relevant expertise can serve as important checks for the government, corporations, and mainstream media. </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But the right has utilized this type of journalism to <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/gateway-pundit/dangerous-troll-now-reporting-white-house" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">legitimize</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/james-okeefe/2016-election-emboldened-dangerous-citizen-journalist-vigilantes" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">extreme voices</a> and harmful ideas. Anonymous internet vigilantes and so-called “citizen journalists” like <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2016/06/23/james-o-keefe-still-not-journalist/211148" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">discredited video artist</a> James O’Keefe have capitalized on <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/403166/americans-trust-media-remains-near-record-low.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">public distrust</a> in the media to push their dangerous misinformation tactics. In January 2019, Gateway Pundit founder and<b> “<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2010/09/21/jim-hoft-dumbest-man-on-the-internet/170927" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">dumbest man on the internet</a>” Jim Hoft </b><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2017/01/19/jim-hoft-announces-trump-will-allow-gateway-pundit-have-correspondent-white-house/215069" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">announced</a> that his outlet would have a White House correspondent with the Trump administration. </span>Now, young influencers like Sortor and independent journalist Savanah Hernandez are taking advantage of disinformation networks and the algorithms driving viral news on social media to fulfill a political agenda and fuel the right-wing outrage machine.</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The right-wing media's go-to source on East Palestine is basically just a random guy who showed up in Ohio</font></h3></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Since his arrival in East Palestine, <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://twitter.com/RoundtableSpace" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">The Roundtable Show</a> </span>co-host Nick Sortor has conducted multiple high-profile interviews with large right-wing news outlets and even mainstream news. </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Despite being referred to as a video journalist by multiple <a href="https://www.kusi.com/journalist-nick-sortor-reports-live-from-the-ground-in-east-palestine-ohio/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">news outlets</a>, according to his LinkedIn, Sortor does not have a background in media outside of his role on <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Roundtable Show</em>, which mostly discusses cryptocurrency, finance, and sometimes current events. Up until January 2023, though, he <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230103082044/https://twitter.com/nicksortor" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">described himself</a> as a “political operative.” </span> </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While visiting East Palestine at the <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1625222402249465856?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">encouragement</a> of his followers, Sortor captured an East Palestine resident throwing a rock into a clearly oil-sheened creek on <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1626327835668320256?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">video</a>, citing it as proof that the water in the area was “extremely contaminated.” This was not a new or surprising finding. The Ohio EPA <a href="https://epa.ohio.gov/monitor-pollution/pollution-issues/east-palestine" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">had said</a> that some creeks near the derailment were in fact contaminated. The video went viral, staking Sortor’s claim to right-wing legitimacy and amassing over 10 million views. Since Sortor began covering the story, he has gained about <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230227150928/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://socialblade.com/twitter/user/nicksortor/monthly" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">39,000</a> Twitter followers, nearly an 80% increase.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The video, along with some of Sortor’s other content, has been promoted by right-wing influencers such as conspiracy theorist <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWP2uf361gQ&t=2s" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Benny Johnson</a>, and Turning Point USA’s <a href="https://rumble.com/v29xxi4-nick-sortor-reports-live-from-ohio-is-the-government-lying-to-residents-abo.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Charlie Kirk</a>. On Truth Social, <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1627637464444846081?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Donald Trump</a> promoted his tweet announcing the former president’s visit to the town. </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Sortor is not a resident of East Palestine or even Ohio. Based on a review of his recent content, he appears to have never before had an interest in environmental issues. And yet, he has been asked to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvTNm3vwvzw" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">speak on</a> issues he seemingly knows nothing about, making vague blanket statements instead of actually answering questions. On the <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4001182" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">February 14</a> segment of<b> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tucker Carlson Tonight</span>, </b>Carlson asked Sortor whether the EPA was “tracking where this cloud of chemicals went?</span> I mean it was a local problem, it became a regional problem. Do we have any information on the effects of those clouds of chemicals?” It’s astonishing that out of all the people Fox News could have chosen to answer this question, they chose someone with seemingly no knowledge of the subject<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. And in fact, Sorotor barely answered the question. “The EPA is not releasing a lot of the data that they've supposedly been collecting,” he replied.</span></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sortor was chosen as a convenient spokesperson not because of the quality of his coverage, but because of his political beliefs</font></h3></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Besides the viral video, it seems the only thing Sortor could have possibly added to East Palestine coverage would have been his credentials as a journalist, which don’t really exist. To right-wing media, seemingly the <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">only credential that matters is that Sortor is a vocal critic of the Biden administration and an admirer of former President Donald Trump. </span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Sortor’s reporting, getting answers for the residents of East Palestine and confronting how the accident happened in the first place came second to attacking the Biden administration and praising Trump. In his interviews and on Twitter,<b> Sortor barely touched on past rail deregulation, or what might be done in the future to prevent such an incident. Sortor is unabashedly MAGA, even using the disaster to encourage people to vote for Trump in <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1628453981339918336?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">2024.</a> </b></font></p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On top of that, Sortor baselessly claimed that the EPA is somehow allying with Norfolk Southern to bypass the concerns of East Palestine residents. “The government is doing everything they can to help Norfolk Southern get back to their normal operations,”</span> he said on the <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4001183" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">February 15</a> segment of<b> OANN’s <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">In Focus with Addison Smith</span>. “Maybe the guilty party here (Norfolk Southern) will end up being the hero,” he said on the <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4001184" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">February 17</a> episode of <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Charlie Kirk Show</span>.</b> Even according to pro-industry sources, this would not typically be the case. Doomberg, an energy and finance substack run by an anonymous group of “former industry executives” <a href="https://doomberg.substack.com/p/railroaded" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">writes</a>: “In our experience, the EPA would not look to minimize the severity of an industrial accident of this type. Quite the opposite.” The substack goes on to note that the agency would never “protect the very corporate interests they otherwise infuriate with their harsh oversight on a daily basis.” Of course, this doesn’t mean there aren’t <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/east-palestine-ohio-water-sampling_n_63f6a933e4b0a1ee1497eab3" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">problems</a> with<a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ohio-train-disaster-water-sampling_n_63ef034be4b022eb3e35e585" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;"> federal agencies’</a> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-18/bungled-messaging-over-ohio-train-crash-allowed-chaos-to-reign" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">approach</a> to handling this incident and concerns about what <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2023/02/24/east-palestine-water-declared-safe-but-more-testing-underway/69923447007/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">data</a> has and hasn’t been shared publicly.</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Infamous right-wing independent reporter flocks to East Palestine seeking viral content</font></h3></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Sortor was not the only independent journalist drawn to East Palestine. Right-wing influencer and TPUSA contributor Savanah Hernandez showed up to cover Trump’s visit to the town and to <a href="https://twitter.com/sav_says/status/1628764274695802881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1628764274695802881%7Ctwgr%5Edd5e1ef1de8b6ffea350dd26d6ed1d99795548c7%7Ctwcon%5Es1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthepostmillennial.com%2Fsavanah-hernandez-reports-trumps-triumph-and-buttigiegs-blunders-in-east-palestine-amid-biden-admins-failed-response" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">harang</a> Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other transportation department <a href="https://twitter.com/sav_says/status/1629133833818841091?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">officials</a> </span>when they arrived on Thursday, February 23. Despite highlighting how the media has been ignoring East Palestine, Hernandez herself did not arrive until February 22, over two weeks after the derailment. </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hernandez has thus far dedicated her career to promoting conspiracy theories, having gotten her start on InfoWars with <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">War Room</em> host Owen Shroyer, who was notably named in defamation lawsuits filed by the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims. According to her <a href="https://www.savsaysofficial.com/about" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">website</a>, Hernandez was working there at the time the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/04/17/heres-why-sandy-hook-parents-and-others-are-suing-alex-jones/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">lawsuits</a> were filed.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">She later moved on to traveling around the country mostly provoking left-wing activists to propel moral outrage. Hernandez prides herself on having been suspended or banned from <a href="https://twitter.com/sav_says/status/1594797845840039936" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Twitter</a> three times and suspended from <a href="https://thepostmillennial.com/author/savanah" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">YouTube</a> four times for violating community guidelines. Twitter CEO Elon Musk reinstated her Twitter account in November.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">She is a virulent <a href="https://twitter.com/sav_says/status/1622450738998771712" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">transphobe</a> known for contributing to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdE28GarDkw" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">widespread harassment</a> of <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/usa-swimming-capitulates-right-wing-media-hate-campaign-and-throws-trans-swimmer-lia" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Lia Thomas</a>, the first trans D-I athlete to win an NCAA title. A video of Hernandez attempting to humiliate some kids at D.C. pride for her viewers was taken down from Twitter but is now <a href="https://twitter.com/FlorioGina/status/1536752976152432640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1536762767482531840%7Ctwgr%5E3a7f9433bd40ae1bf5e9f8a3de17b385799e65f6%7Ctwcon%5Es3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rebelnews.com%2Fsavanah_hernandez_banned_from_twitter_after_pride_coverage_goes_viral" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">up again</a>. She has promoted anti-vax <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3998069" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">misinformation</a> and once held a <a href="https://twitter.com/sav_says/status/1276727564619386882?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1276727564619386882%7Ctwgr%5E48167ed3bc28e1d3d82b80c6ebe345cbf6b305a2%7Ctwcon%5Es1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2020%2F06%2Fconservative-reporter-savanah-hernandez-attacked-black-lives-matter-activist-police-lives-matter-sign%2F" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">“police lives matter”</a> sign at a Black Lives Matter protest. She also took an interest in the World Economic Forum’s annual retreat, where she made it her mission to affirm the Great Reset conspiracy and push <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3999622" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">climate change denial</a>. Rumble hosts all of Hernandez’s videos that have been removed from YouTube. </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Hernandez brought her ill intentions to East Palestine. While participating in interviews on the ground, she repeatedly insisted that Trump was not motivated by publicity when he visited East Palestine. On the <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4001185" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">February 22</a> segment of<b> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">War Room</span>, she told Steve Bannon </b>that<b> Trump was a “true leader who cared about the American people actually here on the ground not for publicity, not for likes, not for followers, not for the cameras, but genuinely to just show the people that he cares.” She also made a similar point in </b><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>The Ingraham</b> Angle</span> on <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4001186" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">February 24</a>. </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Meanwhile, even some on Fox News have admitted that Trump’s visit was in many ways a publicity stunt. Initially, Fox Business host Stuart Varney actually agreed with Biden’s decision to visit Ukraine instead of Ohio. On the<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4001181" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;"> February 21</a> segment of <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Varney & Co.</em>, he said, “I just don't think there's an equivalent between a train derailment in Ohio, awful as it was, and the development of maybe World War III in Europe.</span> I mean, there's a complete difference, and our president should be over there.” The<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4001180" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;"> next day</a>, he admitted that “the train disaster in Ohio has given Donald Trump a political opportunity and he's jumping on it … For Trump, this visit is a major campaign event. His rival, Ron Desantis, made a series of well-received appearances recently, now Trump wants to jump out in front, writing to the rescue of everyday Americans in need.” </font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Aside from a <a href="https://twitter.com/sav_says/status/1628790101844144128?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">video</a> of her and another TPUSA reporter confronting a Norfolk Southern representative about what the company would be doing to help residents, Hernandez mostly neglected to mention Norfolk Southern’s role in the incident.</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite taking credit for almost single-handedly bringing awareness to the issue, these citizen journalists provide almost no helpful information</font></h3></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Both the federal government and Northfolk South have handled the derailment poorly, potentially putting the future of East Palestine and residents of surrounding areas at risk to the effects of long-term chemical exposure. But information about exactly which questions have and haven’t been answered, exactly what we know and what we don’t know, are missing from the sensationalist coverage of right-wing citizen journalists. Listening to these interviews, the only information that one would glean is: Biden is bad, Trump is good, and people are angry. There is so much more to the story.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Particularly as the <a href="https://gizmodo.com/ohio-toxic-train-derailment-misinformation-conspiracies-1850119412" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">local news void</a> grows, citizen journalists will seek to fill in the gaps. We’ve seen how it can be a useful <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/07/16/1111894456/a-citizen-journalist-talks-about-covering-gun-violence-on-twitter" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">resource</a> for public officials and even professional newsrooms, and a force for grassroots democracy, particularly in shedding light on <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/xyka5j/how-standing-rock-birthed-a-new-generation-of-independent-left-wing-media" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">environmental injustice</a>. That — not ill-informed right-wing commentary — is the kind of reporting that the people of East Palestine deserve.</font></p></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/ohio-train-derailment-2659479968/">https://www.alternet.org/ohio-train-derailment-2659479968/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>Here’s how dangerous was the Ohio chemical train derailment really was: environmental engineer</div><div>Eastern Ohio following the February 6, 2023 train derailment (Creative Commons)</div><div>Andrew J. Whelton and The Conversation February 28, 2023</div><div> </div><div>Headaches and lingering chemical smells from a fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, have left residents worried about their air and water – and misinformation on social media hasn’t helped.</div><div>
</div><div>State officials offered more details of the cleanup process and a timeline of the environmental disaster during a news conference on Feb. 14, 2023. Nearly a dozen cars carrying chemicals, including vinyl chloride, a carcinogen, derailed on the evening of Feb. 3, and fire from the site sent up acrid black smoke. Officials said they had tested over 400 nearby homes for contamination and were tracking a plume of spilled chemicals that had killed 3,500 fish in streams and reached the Ohio River.</div><div>
</div><div>However, the slow release of information after the derailment has left many questions unanswered about the risks and longer-term impact. We put five questions about the chemical releases to Andrew Whelton, an environmental engineer who investigates chemical risks during disasters.</div><div>
</div><div>Let’s start with what was in the train cars. What are the most concerning chemicals for human health and the environment long term, and what’s known so far about the impact?</div><div>
</div><div><b>The main concerns now are the contamination of homes, soil and water, primarily from volatile organic compounds and semivolatile organic compounds, known as VOCs and SVOCs.</b></div><div>
</div><div>The train had nearly a dozen cars with vinyl chloride and other materials, such as<b> ethylhexyl acrylate and butyl acrylate.</b> These chemicals have varying levels of toxicity and different fates in soil and groundwater. Officials have detected some of those chemicals in the nearby waterway and particulate matter in the air from the fire. But so far, the fate of many of the chemicals is not known. A variety of other materials were also released, but discussion about those chemicals has been limited.</div><div>
</div><div>State officials disclosed that a plume of contamination released into the nearby creek had made its way into the Ohio River. Other cities get their drinking water from the river, and were warned about the risk. The farther this plume moves downstream, the less concentrated the chemical will be in water, posing less of a risk.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Video of the derailment and fire.</div><div>
</div><div>Long term, the greatest risk is closest to the derailment location. And again, there’s limited information about what chemicals are present – or were created through chemical reactions during the fire.</div><div>
</div><div>It isn’t clear yet how much went into storm drains, was flushed down the streams or may have settled to the bottom of waterways.</div><div>
</div><div><b>There was also a lot of combusted particulate matter. The black smoke is a clear indication. It’s unclear how much was diluted in the air or fell to the ground.</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>How long can these chemicals linger in soil and water, and what’s their potential long-term risk to humans and wildlife?</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>The heavier the chemical, often the slower it degrades and the more likely it is to stick to soil. These compounds can remain for years if left unaddressed.</b></div><div>
</div><div>After the Kalamazoo River oil pipeline break in Michigan in 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency excavated a tributary where the oil settled. We’ve also seen from oil spills on the coasts of Alaska and Alabama that oil chemicals can find their way into soil if it isn’t remediated.</div><div>
</div><div>The long-term impact in Ohio will depend in part on how fast – and thoroughly – cleanup occurs.</div><div>
</div><div><b>If the heavily contaminated soils and liquids are excavated and removed, the long-term impacts can be reduced. But the longer removal takes, the farther the contamination can spread. It’s in everyone’s best interest to clean this up as soon as possible and before the region gets rain.</b></div><div>
</div><div>A stream of water, as from a fire hose, pours into a creek.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Air-stripping devices, like this one used after the derailment, can help separate chemicals from water.</b></div><div>
</div><div>U.S. EPA</div><div>
</div><div>Booms in a nearby stream have been deployed to capture chemicals. Air-stripping devices have been deployed to remove chemicals from the waterways. Air stripping causes the light chemicals to leave the water and enter air. This is a common treatment technique and was used after an 2015 oil spill in the Yellowstone River near Glendive, Montana.</div><div>
</div><div>At the derailment site in Ohio, workers are already removing contaminated soil as deep as 7 feet (about 2 meters) near where the rail cars burned.</div><div>
</div><div>Some of the train cars were intentionally drained and the chemicals set on fire to eliminate them. That fire had thick black smoke. What does that tell you about the chemicals and longer-term risks?</div><div>
</div><div><b>Incineration is one way we dispose of hazardous chemicals, but incomplete chemical destruction creates a host of byproducts. Chemicals can be destroyed when heated to extremely high temperatures so they burn thoroughly.</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The black smoke plume you saw on TV was incomplete combustion. A number of other chemicals were created. Officials don’t necessarily know what these were or where they went until they test for them.</span></div><div>
</div><div>We know ash can pose health risks, which is why we test inside homes after wildfires where structures burn. This is one reason the state’s health director told residents with private wells near and downwind of the derailment to use bottled water until they can have their wells tested.</div><div>
</div><div>The EPA has been screening homes near the derailment for indoor air-quality concerns. How do these chemicals get into homes and what happens to them in enclosed spaces?</div><div>
</div><div>Homes are not airtight, and sometimes dust and other materials get in. It might be through an open door or a window sill. Sometimes people track it in.</div><div>
</div><div>So far, the U.S. EPA has reported no evidence of high levels of vinyl chloride or hydrogen chloride in the 400 or so homes tested. But full transparency has been lacking. Just because an agency is doing testing doesn’t mean it is testing for what it needs to test for.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Media reports talk about four or five chemicals, but the manifest from Norfolk Southern also listed a bunch of other materials in tanks that burned. All those materials create potentially hundreds to thousands of VOCs and SVOCs.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Are government officials testing for everything they should?</div><div>
</div><div>People in the community have reported headaches, which can be caused by VOCs and other chemicals. They’re understandably concerned.</div><div>
</div><div>Ohio and federal officials need to better communicate what they’re doing, why, and what they plan to do. It’s unclear what questions they are trying to answer. For a disaster this serious, little testing information has been shared.</div><div>
</div><div>In the absence of this transparency, misinformation is filling that void. From a homeowner’s perspective, it’s hard to understand the true risk if the data is not shared.The Conversation</div><div>
</div><div>Andrew J. Whelton, Professor of Civil, Environmental & Ecological Engineering, Director of the Healthy Plumbing Consortium and Center for Plumbing Safety, Purdue University</div><div>
</div><div>This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an kos 2 23</font></div><div><p style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The GOP continues to sling whatever trash they’ve got at President Joe Biden in the wake of his historic trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, and his total dunking on them about the debt ceiling, Social Security, and Medicare. They’re taking their <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/19/2153956/-Right-wing-pundits-leap-on-Ohio-disaster-as-proof-Biden-administration-is-waging-a-war-on-whites" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">talking points</a> from Tucker Carlson, keeping up the narrative Biden is responsible for the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, because he hates white people.</font></span></p><p style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here’s the repugnant Sen. Josh Hawley doubling down on that, and throwing in some antisemitism for the heck of it: “My message to congressional Republican: you can either be the party of Ukraine & <b>globalists</b> or you can be the party of East Palestine & the working people of American.”</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[twt w tukr]</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Let’s talk about the working Americans of East Palestine, Ohio, and who is really helping them.</b> The population of the town is 4,761 as of the 2020 census. <b>It’s in Columbiana County, population 101,877 in 2020. In 2021, the last year statistics are available from, there were <a href="https://analytics.das.ohio.gov/t/ODMPUB/views/MDE-AnnualView/Demographics?%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3Adisplay_count=n&%3AshowVizHome=n&%3Aorigin=viz_share_link&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&%3Aembed=y" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">32,077 people</a> in the county who were enrolled in Medicaid,</b> the joint federal/state funded health insurance program for low-income individuals and families.</font></p><p style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So, yeah, that’s about a third of the population of the county—the smallest geographical area for which Medicaid data is available. Ohio as a whole saw a nearly 28% hike in Medicaid and CHIP enrollments during the pandemic. (CHIP is the program for children’s health.)</font></span></p><p style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More than 7,500 households in Columbiana County <a href="https://jfs.ohio.gov/pams/Caseload-Summary-Report-November-2022.stm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">were receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance</a>, or food stamps, in November 2022. That’s 14,407 people, including 5,421 children.</font></span></p><p style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is not a prosperous place. The median household income for the county was $49,265 in 2021, the latest <a href="https://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/ohio/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">figures available</a>. That’s $12,997 lower than the median Ohio household income and $20,452 less than the U.S. median household income. The <a href="https://com.ohio.gov/static/documents/2023MWPoster.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">minimum wage</a> in Ohio is $10.10/hour, $5.05 for tipped employees.</font></span></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">At the same time, though, the unemployment rate for the county is just <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/OHCOLU9URN" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">4.3%</a>, all of which means that there are a lot of working people in this place who are living in or very nearly in poverty</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> And yes, you hardly need to ask: Those people <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-elections/ohio-president-results" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">voted for Trump</a> in 2020, 72% to 27% for Biden. They’re probably now lining up in diners all through the county to be interviewed by New York Times reporters.</span></font></p><p style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These are the very programs the GOP <b>always</b> wants to destroy, the programs that truly help working people. Medicaid, food assistance—they’re <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/23/2154610/-Congress-to-resume-debt-ceiling-follies-next-week-with-still-no-plan-from-House-leadership" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">all on the chopping block</a> as far as the GOP is concerned, and always have been.</font></span></p><p style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This isn’t about Ukraine, and it sure as hell isn’t about the working people of East Palestine, Ohio—where were any of them when Trump was <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/9/2152040/-Ohio-railway-company-behind-derailment-fought-to-make-sure-it-didn-t-need-to-upgrade-train-safety" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">deregulating the rails</a> and making this kind of disaster almost inevitable? Oh, that’s right, <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/04/supporting-violent-insurrection-has-worked-out-well-for-josh-hawley-fundraising" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">supporting an insurrection</a> against the government.</font></span></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">palestine OH neglected initially trump got 70% 2020? mayor kicks biden for ukraine visit</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/trump-east-palestine/">https://www.alternet.org/trump-east-palestine/</a> rolls eyes local</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 2 23</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">se<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">cretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg’s response to Donald Trump’s refusal to accept any responsibility for the impact his massive deregulations have had went viral on Thursday as video of him encouraging the ex-president to support the Biden administration’s efforts went viral.</span></font></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During his visit to the scene of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio on Thursday, a reporter asked Secretary Buttigieg, “You mentioned the national political figures decided to get involved, it sounds like you’re talking about Trump. And then you said, ‘I need your help.’ How can he help?”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Buttigieg replied, “Well, one thing he could do is express support for reversing the deregulation that happened on his watch. I heard him say he had ‘nothing to do with it,’ even though it was in his administration. So if he had nothing to do with it, and they did it in his administration against his will, maybe he could come out and say that, that he supports us moving in a different direction.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2023/02/desantis-downplays-insurrection-denies-responsibility-for-first-amendment-restrictions-on-protesting-at-florida-capitol/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">DeSantis Downplays Insurrection, Denies Responsibility for First Amendment Restrictions on Protesting at Florida Capitol</a></font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We’re not afraid to own our policies when it comes to raising the bar on regulation,” Buttigieg continued. “And I’ve got to think that him indicating that this is something that everybody ,no matter how much you disagree on politics and presidential campaigns, can get behind – higher fines, tougher regulations on safety, Congress on tying our hands on breaking rules, all the other things that go with it that’d be a nice thing for him to do.”</font></p><div id="499c5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d44b7db296a92668ff37862e7456a579" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="rm-embed-container rm-embed-twitter rm-loading" style="position: relative; max-width: 550px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="rm-embed-spacer rm-embed-spacer-desktop" style="display: block; padding-bottom: 599.5px;"><div class="rm-embed-holder" style="height: 599.5px; width: 550px; display: flex; align-items: center; position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px;"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 261.694px; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important;"><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-custom-tweet twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-lazy-tweet-id="1628804650702082050" data-twitter-tweet-id="1628804650702082050" data-loading="true" data-twitter-extracted-i1677260567023776236="true" style="margin-left: -5px; line-height: 32px; background: rgb(245, 245, 245); padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); width: 240.75px; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 0px !important;"><div style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">\u201cButtigieg: One thing Trump can do is express support for reversing the deregulation that happened on his watch. I heard him say he had nothing to do with it. So if he had nothing to do with it..\u201d</font></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">— Acyn (@Acyn) <a href="https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1628804650702082050" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">1677172265</a></font></blockquote></div></div></span></div><p style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Buttigieg was referring to Trump’s visit to the East Palestine just one day earlier, where instead of tossing paper towels at de-homed hurricane victims Trump <b>handed out red MAGA caps at a McDonald’s and used “Trump”-branded bottled water ensure voters knew he had been there.</b></font></span></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During Trump’s Wednesday visit a reporter asked him about the train derailment, which resulted in the release of toxic gases under the direction of GOP Govern or Mike DeWine.</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I had nothing to do with it,” Trump told a reporter Wednesday who asked about him “pulling back rail regulations” when he was president, something he did indeed do.</font></p><p style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Instead, Trump quickly blamed the “airports” on Buttigieg, claiming they are like “a third world nation,” although Trump never improved them on his watch and the Biden administration actually passed and signed into law a massive infrastructure bill, one that Trump was never able to pass.</font></span></p><div id="a220d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="69ecc00540f4f329af157b25ebc04cf2"><div class="rm-embed-container rm-embed-twitter rm-loading" style="position: relative; max-width: 550px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="rm-embed-spacer rm-embed-spacer-desktop" style="display: block; padding-bottom: 632.5px;"><div class="rm-embed-holder" style="height: 632.5px; width: 550px; display: flex; align-items: center; position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px;"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 261.694px; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important;"><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-custom-tweet twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-lazy-tweet-id="1628509256092893184" data-twitter-tweet-id="1628509256092893184" data-loading="true" data-twitter-extracted-i1677260567023776236="true" style="margin-left: -5px; line-height: 32px; background: rgb(245, 245, 245); padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); width: 240.75px; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 0px !important;"><div style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">\u201cDonald Trump responds to Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg pointing out that his administration rolled back regulations on the rail industry:\n\n"I had nothing to do with it."\u201d</font></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">— The Recount (@The Recount) <a href="https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1628509256092893184" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">1677101837</a></font></blockquote></div></div></span></div><p style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1628509500750585857" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The Recount</a> on Wednesday, pointing to an <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-set-visit-east-palestine-conservatives-slam-biden/story?id=97362131" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">ABC News</a> article, noted that the “Trump administration withdrew regulations connected to ‘high hazard’ trains, which critics say made it more likely a derailment like the kind in East Palestine would happen.”</font></span></p><p style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, Buttigieg’s response to Trump’s remarks have gone viral. In just 24 hours the video (above) of Buttigieg has garnered nearly 2 million views.</font></span></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Journalists, critics, and commentators on social media are praising the Transportation Secretary.</font></p><p style=""><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2023/02/losing-his-grip-trump-flattened-on-morning-joe-for-bizarre-post-about-train-wreck-ratings/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">‘Losing His Grip’: Trump Flattened on Morning Joe for ‘Bizarre’ Post About Train Wreck ‘Ratings’</a></font></strong></p><p style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Never really understood why Republicans think picking fights with him is a good idea,” HuffPost White House correspondent S.V. Dáte <a href="https://twitter.com/svdate/status/1628806229932793857" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">tweeted</a>. “He is hands down the Biden administration’s best communicator, he takes apart the criticism, turns them back on the critics, and does it all without sounding mad.”</font></span></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Absolutely incredible,” <a href="https://twitter.com/Victorshi2020/status/1628882023900381184" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">said</a> podcaster and former Biden delegate Victor Shi. “Pete Buttigieg proves once again why he remains one of the best communicators and assets Democrats have. Very few people can respond to journalists and call out Republicans as effectively as Pete Buttigieg.”</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Social media influencer and political commentator JoJoFromJerz, who has over 780,000 followers on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/JoJoFromJerz/status/1628873660793597952" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">called it</a> “an absolute masterclass on how to handle donald j. trump.”</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And author Tod Goldberg <a href="https://twitter.com/todgoldberg/status/1628859563356360704" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">noted</a>, “When Pete starts to smile, you know you’re about to find yourself in the ‘find out’ portion of the show.”</font></p><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 2 23</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div id="sPost_0_0_7_0_28_5_1_0_0_0_1_0" class="post-partial articlesplash-custom" style="margin-bottom: 40px; position: relative; overflow: hidden !important;"><div class="post-splash-custom clearfix" data-attr-id="sPost_0_0_7_0_28_5_1_0_0_0_1_0" data-attr-layout_quality="7" data-attr-format="splash-custom" data-attr-all_element_order="headline,photo_caption,photo_credit,author,date,post_shares,body,primary_tag,subheadline,section,tags,page_views,badges,badges_sponsored,snark_line,like_button,source_link,collection_button,community_comments,follow_button,main_author,community_name,all_sections,date_modified,custom_field_covid_guidelines,custom_field_covid_ann_location_name,custom_field_covid_ann_location_url,custom_field_covid_ann_location_address_more,custom_field_covid_tested_info_url,custom_field_covid_ann_location_address,custom_field_covid_prevention_info_url,custom_field_covid_government_benefits_url,custom_field_covid_expires,custom_field_hide_iterable_takeover,custom_field_covid_government_benefits_service_type_url,custom_field_covid_government_benefits_name,custom_field_covid_government_benefits_audience_name,custom_field_covid_travel_bans,custom_field_covid_government_benefits_provider_name,custom_field_covid_desease_statistics_url,custom_field_covid_covid_updates_guidelines,custom_field_covid_transport_closures,product_prices,product_vendor,product_buy_link,custom_field_is_survey_post,custom_field_survey_text_italic,custom_field_smart_news_headline,custom_field_wevegotissues,custom_field_survey_text_red,words_count,time_to_read" data-attr-layout_headline="top" data-attr-layout_author="bottom" data-attr-layout_date="bottom" data-attr-layout_body="bottom" data-attr-all_share_buttons="Flipboard,Facebook,Twitter,Email,Linkedin,SMS,Separator,Slack,GooglePlus,Pinterest,Whatsapp,Reddit,CopyLink,Tumblr" data-attr-layout_all_image_crop="16x9" data-attr-show_more_button_text="Read More" data-attr-layout_post_shares="bottom" data-attr-layout_all_date_format="%B %d, %Y" data-attr-layout_copylink="inactive" data-attr-layout_flipboard="active" data-attr-layout_separator="inactive" data-attr-layout_tumblr="inactive" data-attr-layout_googleplus="inactive" data-attr-layout_pinterest="inactive" data-attr-layout_whatsapp="active" data-attr-layout_reddit="inactive" data-attr-layout_linkedin="inactive" data-attr-layout_photo_caption="over" data-attr-show_full_post_body="true" data-attr-layout_slack="inactive" data-attr-layout_sms="active" data-attr-layout_photo_credit="over" data-attr-header_template="jinja/post/custom-css.html" style="zoom: 1; position: relative;"><article elid="2659461966" data-frozen-sections="[]" class="clearfix page-article sm-mb-1 quality-MD post-2659461966" style="zoom: 1;"><div class="row px10" style="margin-bottom: -40px; margin-left: -10px; margin-right: -10px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="rm-col-center col sm-mb-1" style="line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 40px; float: left; box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; width: 838.694px;"><div class="widgetbody clearfix sm-mt-1" style="zoom: 1; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body css-listicle-body-2659461966" style="zoom: 1; margin: auto; line-height: 34px; width: 654.944px;"><div class="body-description"><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Former President Donald Trump on Thursday <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/109916862184865851" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">shared a "viewership report"</a> on his Truth Social app to gloat about the media ratings of his Wednesday publicity stunt in East Palestine, Ohio, where a February 3rd Northfolk Southern freight train derailment poisoned the surrounding environment with toxic substances.</font></p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediaite.com/politics/trump-shares-glowing-internal-report-showing-his-east-palestine-visit-was-a-ratings-hit-despite-no-major-networks-covering-live/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">As Mediaite noted</a>, "Trump's live remarks from East Palestine, Ohio were <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/news/fox-news-cnn-and-msnbc-skip-trumps-east-palestine-speech/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">ignored</a> by the<b> three major cable news networks on Wednesday: CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News</b>," while "Newsmax and OAN, both to the right of Fox News, carried the remarks live and offered analysis following the event. The report Trump shared noted that 'outlets like Fox News are woefully derelict' in their limited reporting on the trip."</font></span></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It states:</font></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">VIEWERSHIP REPORT</font></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">President Trump’s 2/22 visit to East Palestine, OH</font></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TOTAL PEOPLE THAT SAW COVERAGE (SOCIAL+ TRADITIONAL): 178,052,414</font></span></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TOTAL SOCIAL MEDIA USERS THAT SAW COVERAGE: 144,037,338</font></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TOTAL TRADITIONAL VIEWERS THAT SAW
</font></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">COVERAGE: 34,015,076</font></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This report searched for the term 'East Palestine' + 'Trump' what you will see is while traditional outlets like Fox News are woefully derelict in their reporting with what you did, the word is still getting out there in a big way. Specifically, when the announcement was made last week there was a bump of coverage reaching about 2 million on social channels and 10 million on other channels.</font></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, your numbers this Wednesday were off the charts with incredible reach, 144MM on social and 34MM in other channels. The visit meant a lot for the people of East Palestine and the surrounding communities. The trip gave them hope and raised the awareness needed to combat the incompetence of the Biden Administration. As you will see a sharp spike in the positive sentiments as well.</font></p><p><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/pete-buttigieg-donald-trump-ohio/" target="self" title="view post: 'We're not afraid to own our policies': Pete Buttigieg hits back at Donald Trump in Ohio train crash blame game" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">'We're not afraid to own our policies': Pete Buttigieg hits back at Donald Trump in Ohio train crash blame game</a></font></strong></p></div></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="" data-elid="2659461966" data-post-url="https://www.alternet.org/incredible-reach-off-the-charts/" data-authors="Brandon Gage" data-headline="'Incredible reach': Donald Trump gloats about 'off the charts' ratings from East Palestine visit" style="margin-top: 10px;" /></font></div></div></div></article></div></div><div class="" id="sPost_0_0_7_0_28_5_1_0_0_3" style="margin: auto; width: 654.944px;"><div id="lightbox-inline-form-ae0a1a76-b06b-45e5-9d44-8cc41de9ef21" align="center"><div id="ad_free_post_article" style="margin-bottom: 40px;"><div class="tp-cxense-placeholder-inline tp-widget-placeholder"><div id="cxense-bc5afab7e9f8d9604982c358ad76f5a671cff7d9" style=""><div class="" id="sPost_0_0_7_0_28_5_1_0_0_5" style="margin: auto; width: 654.944px;"><div class="mb-2 survey_post_promo" id="ssurvey_shared_element_0_0_19_0_0_0"><div class="posts-custom posts-custom-section section-holder clearfix" data-block="section_2" data-format="posts-custom" data-source="frontpage_parent_site_Poll" data-source-type="page" data-source-unique="true" data-section-id="528622410" data-is-reordable="true" data-using-stickers="true" data-has-more="true" data-attr-v="2" data-attr-posts_id="ssurvey_shared_element_0_0_19_0_0_0" data-attr-source_unique="true" data-attr-without_current="true" data-attr-layout_quality="1" data-attr-node_id="/root/blocks/block[survey_shared_element]/abtests/abtest[1]/posts-" data-attr-source_url="Poll" data-attr-all_element_order="headline,subheadline,section,author,community_name,date,date_modified,badges,badges_sponsored,photo_credit,photo_caption,body,snark_line,page_views,post_shares,follow_button,community_comments,like_button,source_link,collection_button,tags,primary_tag,main_author,all_sections,custom_field_is_survey_post,custom_field_survey_text_italic,custom_field_smart_news_feed_headline,custom_field_Send-alternative-headline-to-smartnews,custom_field_survey_text_red" data-attr-limit="1" data-attr-layout_headline="bottom" data-attr-layout_all_image_crop="original" data-attr-layout_all_headline_tag="h2" data-attr-data-rm-advanced="true" data-attr-element_classes="survey_post_promo" data-attr-format="posts-custom" data-attr-source_site="parent_site" data-attr-section_url="Poll" style="zoom: 1; margin-bottom: 0px;"><div class="posts-wrapper clearfix" style="zoom: 1; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; line-height: 0;"><div class="widget" elid="2659450392" data-category="Poll" style="position: relative; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; width: 654.944px; display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; background: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><article elid="2659450392" data-frozen-sections="[]" class="clearfix image-article sm-mb-1 quality-HD post-2659450392" style="zoom: 1; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4;"><div class="row px10" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: -40px; margin-left: -10px; margin-right: -10px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="rm-col-center col sm-mb-1" style="line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 40px; float: left; box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; display: flex; width: 674.944px;"><div class="widgethead" style="margin: 0px; position: relative; width: 291.444px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022poll-2656328721-2656635245-2657039473-2659450392/" aria-label="Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; overflow-wrap: break-word;" /></font></div></div></div></article></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style=""><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022poll-2656328721-2656635245-2657039473-2659450392/" aria-label="Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg traveled to the site of the February 3rd Norfolk Souther train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio on Thursday to assess the environmental damage and human health issues caused by the toxic chemicals that were released in the crash.</font></span></a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022poll-2656328721-2656635245-2657039473-2659450392/" aria-label="Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump </span></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-donates-trump-branded-water-to-east-palestine-2023-2" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">staged a publicity tour</a> of the small town where he accused President Joe Biden's administration – especially Buttigieg – of not doing enough to address the ecological disaster, which is being managed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ohios-dewine-says-he-has-not-taken-up-biden-on-offer-of-anything-you-need-in-wake-of-train-derailment-disaster-adf4c949" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">at the request of Republican Governor Mike DeWine</a>. Norfolk Southern was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ohio-train-derailment-epa-61ff5fec89c452f4ff7f56b5b8b4e44e" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">ordered by the EPA on Tuesday to pay</a> for the cleanup.</font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Buttigieg addressed Trump's critiques at a press conference.</font></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/donald-trump-jr-pete-buttigieg/" target="self" title="view post: Donald Trump Jr.: Pete Buttigieg only became transportation secretary because 'he's the gay guy'" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Donald Trump Jr.: Pete Buttigieg only became transportation secretary because 'he's the gay guy'</a></font></strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“I’m here for the work, and not for the politics. </span>You can sense when you talk to local leaders and local residents that they’re getting sick of the politics too and this national ideological layer that’s been added into this," Buttigieg said, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/02/23/buttigieg-grilled-in-east-palestine-criticizes-trump-as-derailment-sparks-partisan-feud/?sh=170c8db639dd" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">per </a><b><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/02/23/buttigieg-grilled-in-east-palestine-criticizes-trump-as-derailment-sparks-partisan-feud/?sh=170c8db639dd" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Forbes</a>.</b><i> </i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But Buttigieg also fired back at Trump's claim that "he had nothing to do with" the accident <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/NR20230214.aspx" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">amid uncertainty</a> over whether Trump's <a href="https://www.alternet.org/he-should-be-apologizing/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">railway safety regulatory</a> rollbacks led to the mess.</span></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Yeah, you mentioned a national political figure who's decided to get involved? It sounds like you're talking about Trump and then you said, I need your help. How can he help?" a reporter asked Buttigieg.</font></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Well, one thing he could do is express support for reversing the deregulation that happened on his watch. I heard him say he had nothing to do with it, even though it was in his administration. So if he had nothing to do with it and they did it in his administration against his will, maybe he could come out and say that he supports us moving in a different direction," Buttigieg replied. "We're not afraid to own our policies when it comes to raising the bar on regulation. And I've gotta think that him indicating that this is something that everybody, no matter how much you disagree on politics and presidential campaigns, can get behind – higher fines, tougher regulations on safety, Congress untying our hands on breaking rules – all the other things that go with that."</font></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Buttigieg then quipped that it would "be a nice thing for him to do."</font></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/republicans-dont-care-human-health/" target="self" title="view post: Republicans don't care about human health regardless of who is to blame for the Ohio train disaster" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Republicans don't care about human health regardless of who is to blame for the Ohio train disaster</a></font></strong></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Watch below or <a href="https://www.alternet.org/pete-buttigieg-donald-trump-ohio" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">at this link</a>.</font></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mma 2 23</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div style=""><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">fox News’ Brian Kilmeade acknowledged on Thursday that federal regulations may be necessary to protect people and the environment, a rare admission on a network that has pushed for mass deregulation for decades. Kilmeade, who co-host<b>s <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fox & Friends</span>,</b> made the comments while discussing the East Palestine, Ohio, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/ohio-train-derailment.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">train derailment and its aftermath</a>.</font></p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“I knew nothing about these derailment numbers,” Kilmeade said. “I'm stunned by it – that we have thousands of derailments all the time and how costly it is, and how they're not kept up and maybe the regulation needs to be there"</font></p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">fox News has long vilified federal regulations as governmental overreach, and needless red tape that eats into corporate profits</span>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> In 2011, the network <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-nation/regulation-nation-fox-begins-weeklong-assault-government-regulations" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">launched</a> Regulation Nation, a series that would “expose how excessive laws are drowning American businesses.” The series was the <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-weeklong-attack-government-regulations-was-dreamed-ailes" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">brainchild</a> of then-Fox News President Roger Ailes, who said at the time that bureaucrats “draw up regulations to<b> try to ruin your life.” [vid]</b></span></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That same year, Fox News also waged a full-on war <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-war-epa" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">against</a> the Environmental Protection Agency, and continues to argue against environmental regulations, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/bret-baier/foxs-flagship-straight-news-show-has-troubling-record-climate-crisis" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">including</a> in its so-called straight news programs.</font></p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">More recently, Fox News personalities and their guests have railed against federal regulations for the <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/democrats-benefits-going-fox-are-illusory-best" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">oil industry</a>, argued that federal regulations are a way to <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/outnumbered/katrina-campins-says-government-dividing-family-unit-order-control-us" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">divide families</a>, blamed regulations that purport to limit police violence for resulting in the police killing of <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-host-jesse-watters-says-tyre-nichols-was-killed-because-police-tactics-have-been" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Tyre Nichols</a>, and pushed for further deregulation of the <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/tucker-carlson-defends-cryptocurrency-calls-more-regulation" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">cryptocurrency market</a>, just to name a few examples. Fox News and other cable networks also largely <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/broadcast-and-cable-news-are-ignoring-brazen-big-polluter-agenda-happening" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">ignored</a> the Trump administration’s broad deregulatory agenda to benefit massive polluters in the early weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic.</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--twitter-tweet paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field field--name-field-twitter-tweet field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><figure class="social-media social-media--twitter_tweet" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; justify-content: center;"><div class="field field--name-field-media-twitter field--type-string field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 500px; display: flex; max-width: 550px; margin-right: auto !important; margin-left: auto !important;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet element-hidden" lang="en" data-conversation="none" data-twitter-extracted-i1677187001287950126="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.5rem !important; width: 500px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://twitter.com/mmfa/statuses/1626240771346075648" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" /></font></blockquote></div></div></figure></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><a href="https://twitter.com/mmfa/statuses/1626240771346075648" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><font color="#000000" /></a><font color="#000000"><a href="https://twitter.com/mmfa/statuses/1626240771346075648" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://twitter.com/mmfa/statuses/1626240771346075648" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" /><a href="https://twitter.com/mmfa/statuses/1626240771346075648" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><b>Television coverage of East Palestine was scant and decontextualized, including on Fox News, immediately after the derailment, with only </b></a><b><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/cable-news/study-national-television-coverage-east-palestine-train-derailment-ignored-industry" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">3% of coverage</a> mentioning the decadeslong deregulatory push by the rail industry</b>. The Obama administration attempted to make more effective train brakes mandatory following a series of derailments in 2014, which the industry fought against, effectively hollowing out the proposed rules. In 2018, the Trump administration completely repealed the regulations.</font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">related</font></font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-friends/fox-host-ohio-train-derailment-regulations-regarding-train-safety-were-changed-during">https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-friends/fox-host-ohio-train-derailment-regulations-regarding-train-safety-were-changed-during</a></font></font></p></div></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 2 23</font></font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></font></font></font></div><div><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ahead of former President Donald Trump's Wednesday visit to East Palestine, Ohio—where a Norfolk Southern-owned train transporting carcinogenic chemicals derailed on February 3, prompting a mass evacuation and release of pollutants—progressive critics highlighted the key role his administration played in making the fiery crash and its toxic aftermath more likely.</font></span></font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>During his speech, Trump—considered a leading GOP presidential candidate for 2024 despite spearheading a deadly coup attempt following his 2020 loss—criticized how President Joe Biden's administration has responded to the environmental and public health disaster unfolding in East Palestine, a poor rural town</b> of about 4,700 people located a few miles west of the Pennsylvania border.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">But as critics noted beforehand, the Trump administration's gutting of train safety rules at the behest of railroad industry lobbyists was instrumental in creating the conditions for the derailment and ensuing chemical spill and burnoff, which has provoked <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/east-palestine-ohio-water" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">fears</a> of groundwater contamination and air pollution.</span>
</font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">"He should be apologizing to that community for his administration rolling back rail regulations,"</span> progressive stalwart Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator, tweeted prior to Trump's address.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch made a similar point in an <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-east-palestine-wreck" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">opinion piece</a> published earlier this week.</font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"If residents of East Palestine—<a href="https://www.daytondailynews.com/ideas-voices/marcano-the-importance-of-local-media-following-the-east-palestine-derailment/7ORSBKCMPZGLLPR6NAX3EWXNPA/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a<b> modern news desert</b></a><b> of downsized or disappeared news sources,</b> which allows misinformation to fester—truly knew the reality, a delegation of townsfolk would likely greet Trump with tiki torches and pitchforks," Bunch wrote, comparing the former president's visit to "the tendency of a criminal to return to the scene of his crime."</font></span></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bunch noted that "Trump acted specifically to <a href="https://jacobin.com/2023/02/rail-companies-safety-rules-ohio-derailment-brake-sytems-regulations" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">sabotage a nascent government effort </a>to protect citizens from the growing threat posed by derailments of outdated, poorly equipped, and undermanned freight trains that were increasingly shipping both highly flammable crude oil from the U.S. fracking boom as well as toxic chemicals like the ones that would derail in East Palestine."</font></span></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">"Trump had been in office for less than a year when <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-blame-ohio-train-derailment-1781163" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">he moved to kill </a>the 2015 rule change initiated by the Obama administration that would have required freight trains to upgrade the current <b>braking technology</b></span><b> that was developed in the 19th century</b> for state-of-the-art electronic systems," wrote Bunch, who pointed out that this came after Norfolk Southern and other rail carriers donated <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/totals.php?cycle=2022&ind=m04" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">more than $6 million</a> to Republican candidates in 2016 and spent millions more on <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/02/21/east-palestine-rail-safety-congress/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">lobbying</a>.</font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"With the investigation into the East Palestine wreck still in its early phases, it's not clear if the modern brakes—originally required for installation by 2021—could have prevented the toxic derailment or whether the specific Obama rule would have applied," Bunch continued. "<b>But <a href="https://www.levernews.com/rail-companies-blocked-safety-rules-before-ohio-derailment/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">experts do believe the new brakes</a> could have mitigated the wreckage—and thus the release of so many hazardous chemicals."</b></font></span></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The rule reversal wasn't the only time that Team Trump sided with Big Rail over the forgotten Americans who live on the wrong side of their tracks," he added. "In 2019, for example, the Trump administration moved to not strengthen but <a href="https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/trump-administration-loosening-regulations-for-rail-transportation-of-flammable-natural-gas" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">relax regulations</a> on shipping fracked natural gas through communities like East Palestine. The same year, Trump's White House also killed an Obama-era proposal that would have required two crew members in freight-train locomotives."</font></span></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ahead of Trump's visit,<b> More Perfect Union</b> also <a href="https://twitter.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1628166037714661378" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">argued</a> on social media that the ex-president's "attempt to portray himself as a friend of the town and as someone who would have stood up to Norfolk Southern... couldn't be further from the truth."</font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the progressive media outlet observed, the Trump administration "withdrew multiple rail safety recommendations and moved toward a 'self-regulatory approach' where rail companies could do as they pleased."</font></font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It's no surprise that the Trump years were filled with dangerous deregulation," More Perfect Union asserted, describing his decision to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wv-state-wire-north-america-donald-trump-us-news-ap-top-news-2e91c7211b4947de8837ebeda53080b9mp-us-news-ap-top-news-transportation-1936e77a11924c909880f1ef014c7ca7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">nominate</a> top rail industry executives to lead the Federal Railroad Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration as "a prime example of the <b>revolving door between business and government.</b>"</font></span></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The Trump approach to the rail industry was to let the companies do what they wanted, which was to avoid regulations, slash jobs, and extract profit," the outlet continued. "This approach, and <b>rail companies' greed, has led to over 1,000 derailments each year. S</b>ome are massive catastrophes like East Palestine. But every single one is harmful. And if the industry isn't regulated and forced to change, we'll soon be seeing more disasters."</font></span></font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When Trump "pretends to care about rail workers, or the people of East Palestine, we can't believe him," More Perfect Union added. "His record tells a very different story, the story of his own role in creating this problem in the first place."</font></font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even some conservative critics of Trump have questioned the sincerity of his visit.</font></span></font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It's clear that it's a political stunt," Ray LaHood, a Republican ex-member of Congress who led the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) during former President Barack Obama's first term, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/22/donald-trump-ohio-visit-questions-safety-legacy-00083885" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">told</a> Politico on Wednesday. "If he wants to visit, he's a citizen. But clearly his regulations and the elimination of them, and no emphasis on safety, is going to be pointed out."</font></span></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wasted little time in doing exactly that, calling the GOP's indignation "fake" soon after Trump announced his travel plans.</font></span></font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bunch acknowledged that "it's beyond hypocritical for Trump to bring his Harold Hill-huckster shtick to East Palestine when residents are still experiencing headaches and breathing foul air from the kind of catastrophe he didn't lift a finger to stop from the Resolute Desk."</font></font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"But also it's a bit baffling why Biden or his <b>Transportation Secretary <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/pete-buttigieg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Pete Buttigieg</a>—who seems to be channeling </b><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-mckinsey.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><b>his inner McKinsey & Co</b>.</a> these days—haven't gone to Ohio," he argued. "Especially when Trump and any other Republicans hoping to make political hay off of East Palestine's misery are coming to town empty-handed."</font></span></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">"None of the anti-Biden critics on this issue have offered a solution, because they can't,"</span> wrote Bunch. "<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The only fix for the kind of runaway abuses of modern capitalism that cause these environmental catastrophes is<b> government regulation, aided by empowering worker safety with strong unions</b>—two things that the Trump-led GOP has opposed at every turn."</span></font></font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even in the wake of the disaster, Republican lawmakers have refused to demand stronger regulations, as HuffPost <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/republicans-ohio-train-disaster-safety-reforms-trump_n_63f57ecce4b0616708de41fb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">reported</a>:</font></span></font></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;" /><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), a vocal Biden critic who represents East Palestine, on Tuesday dismissed immediate calls for stricter rail regulations, saying actions toward accountability will hinge on the findings of a National Transportation Safety Board [NTSB] investigation into the derailment</span><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">.</span></font></font></font></font></div><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;">'That will dictate whether there are laws, regulations that need to be changed, whether there were rules that were violated,' he said during a news conference in East Palestine. 'We don't know any of that yet, and we won't know that until NTSB releases its report.'</div><p /><p style="text-align: left; margin-left: 20px;">Hours before Trump spoke, Buttigieg <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/buttigieg-visit-east-palestine-train-derailment-toxic-spill-rcna71812" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">announced</a> that he plans to travel to East Palestine on Thursday. His visit is expected to coincide with the publication of the NTSB's preliminary report about its ongoing probe into the crash.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>On Tuesday, Buttigieg unveiled DOT's recommendations for improving the safety of the nation's rail system, though an inter-union alliance of rail workers immediately <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/rail-workers-buttigieg-usdot-plan-insufficient" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">criticized</a> the plan as inadequate.</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">Given the scale of the problems—and in light of the transportation secretary's ongoing refusal to exercise his <a href="https://the.levernews.com/protect-america-from-train-disasters/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">authority</a> to reinstate previously gutted rules along with his <a href="https://www.levernews.com/there-will-be-more-derailments/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">consideration</a> of an industry-backed proposal to further weaken the regulation of train braking systems—<b>union leaders have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/rail-worker-alliance-nationalization" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">called for</a> nationalizing the railways and implementing their proposed solutions.</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">Turner, for her part, <a href="https://twitter.com/ninaturner/status/1628460058022486016" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">emphasized</a> that she has "been outspoken about the two years the Biden administration had [to] fix these problems."</p><p style="text-align: left;">"The Trump administration is at fault, as is the Obama administration," Turner contended, referring to the fact that the latter's regulations were also watered down in response to industry pressure.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"The Ohio GOP is to blame as well," she added, echoing recent <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/norfolk-southern-donated-mike-dewine-before-east-palestine-disaster" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">reporting</a> on Norfolk Southern's campaign to influence state-level lawmakers and officials. "Failure at every level of government and multiple administrations led to this.</span>"</p></div><div style=""><div align="left"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style=""><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">how much BS is deflection from trump incomp deregulation corruption free mkt libtard BS /grievance victim conspiracy</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT GOP DID OR WILL DO, CHECK THEIR ACCUSATIONS/ PROJECTION:</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">EG</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">projection rubber glue retaliation</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">vs trump dereg vs chris christie bridge shutdown</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-suggests-residents-east-palestine-are-being-punished-voting-republican">https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-suggests-residents-east-palestine-are-being<b>-punished-voting-republican</b></a></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/cable-news/study-national-television-coverage-east-palestine-train-derailment-ignored-industry"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.mediamatters.org/cable-news/study-national-television-coverage-east-palestine-train-derailment-ignored-industry</font></a></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/diversity-discrimination/right-wing-media-weaponize-east-palestine-train-derailment-claim-white-0"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.mediamatters.org/diversity-discrimination/right-wing-media-weaponize-east-palestine-train-derailment-claim-white-0</font></a></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div></div><div style=""><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 2 23</font></font></font></div><div><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Donald Trump Junior conjured up a new conspiracy theory over the weekend regarding train derailments. His hypothesis is that hackers working on behalf of the Russian government were responsible for the February 3rd East Palestine, Ohio Norfolk Southern disaster as well as, perhaps, other incidents involving railcars disconnecting from their tracks.</font></span></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Shortly after the crash that spilled toxic substances like vinyl chloride and forced thousands of residents to evacuate, many began to</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> <b>recall that Junior's father, former President Donald Trump, <a href="https://www.truthorfiction.com/trump-ohio-train-breaks-and-deregulation/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">loosened regulations on braking mechanisms and safety features during his term</a>.</b></span></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But that is not the narrative that Junior was presenting.</font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/why-god-made-pipelines-ohio/" target="self" title="view post: 'This is why God made pipelines': GOP senator gives nonsensical explanation of Ohio train derailment" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">'This is why God made pipelines': GOP senator gives nonsensical explanation of Ohio train derailment</a></font></strong></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"No MSDS for the chemicals on train. Yeah, I don't know what that, I don't know what the acronym is.</span> I'm sorry. Um, but yeah, there, it's just gonna keep going. And I read about a spill in Houston and another one in Detroit," Junior said. "And again, it feels like a lot. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Hey, maybe there's a train derailment every day. I, I don't know, but like, it seems like we're having an awful lot of train derailments that we're finally hearing about, uh, in the last few days</span>."</font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Statistically, these are common occurrences, with around three per day on average according to the United States Department of Transportation <a href="https://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/officeofsafety/publicsite/summary.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Federal Railroad Administration</a>. Junior also was unaware that MSDS stands for <a href="https://industryrailway.com/content/Safety-Data-Sheet.pdf" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Material Safety Data Sheet</a>, which is used to catalog hazardous materials and the potential harm that they can cause.</font></span></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nevertheless, Junior pressed on, positing that Moscow could be retaliating for the destruction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline last September:</font></b></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-left: 20px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And all of that happens to come, after, you know, an alleged US attack on a Russian pipeline. And, you know, we know they have very sophisticated, uh, hackers working in the systems and like, does anyone even ask the question? I'm not saying it is. I'll say I'm a conspiracy theorist. Like, uh, I, I don't know, seems like a question we'd wanna ask even if it's refuted with actual evidence. That would be nice. Like, I'd love that for it to not be the case, but <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">maybe it's just a whole sh*t ton of coincidence. Uh, but, I don't believe in that much coincidence anymore.</span></font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-left: 20px;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MSDS material safety data sheet. Ah, yeah. I don't, they have 'em, but they have 'em, but they burned them up. Yeah. That wouldn't surprise me. It seems like the <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">evidence always magically disappears, right? It, it always goes away.</span> Or it, it's discovered conveniently after the other side gets what they want. Uh, again, if you still believe in this much coincidence, folks, I got some, uh, oceanfront property in Colorado to sell you.</font></font></font></p><p style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Watch below or <a href="https://www.alternet.org/hackers-working-in-the-systems" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">at this link</a>.</font></font></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/oil-railway-project-carbon-bomb/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/oil-railway-project-carbon-bomb/</font></a></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.desmog.com/2021/07/09/exxon-tapes-american-petroleum-institutes-lobbying-oil-trains/">https://www.desmog.com/2021/07/09/exxon-tapes-american-petroleum-institutes-lobbying-oil-trains/</a></font></font></div><div><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><font color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">Senior ExxonMobil lobbyists were recently exposed by undercover reporting from <a href="https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/07/01/exxon-undercover-pfas-plastic-chemicals/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">UnEarthed</a>, an investigative journalism project of Greenpeace, which captured footage of the employees explaining how the oil giant influences policy makers using trade associations like the <a href="https://www.desmog.com/american-petroleum-institute/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: none;">American Petroleum Institute (API)</a>....</font></font></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>