There you go: if you wait long enough, eventually as many Texans will die of workplace accidents as Americans died on 9/11. What possible connection could there be between the two? David Sirota has the answer: Sept. 11 was the result of religious terrorism, while workplace deaths are the result of corporate terrorism, which apparently runs rampant in the absence of government oversight and regulation.
Where did this latest outrage come from? The New York Times implied this week in many, many words what cartoonist Jack Ohman managed to convey in one panel in his ghoulish “Business is booming” cartoon: Gov. Rick Perry and the GOP don’t care who dies if they can make a buck.
This antiregulatory zeal is an outgrowth of a broader Texas ideology: that government should get out of people’s lives, a deeply held belief throughout the state that touches many aspects of life here, including its gun culture, its Republican-dominated Legislature and its cowboy past and present.
So, would stronger government oversight have prevented that fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas? The New York Times admits, “It is impossible to know whether tougher regulations would have prevented the disaster near West, especially since investigators remain unsure what sparked the fire that caused the fertilizer to explode.” But, corporate terrorism.
We reacted to 9/11 w/big spending on anti-terrorism regs/enforcement. We react to 9/11 levels of workplace death w/ more deregulation.
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) May 11, 2013
Religious terrorism prompts spending on security/safety. Corporate terrorism prompts budget cuts/dereg & less workplace safety/security.
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) May 11, 2013
Caution: disagreeing with David Sirota is an admission of stupidity and will likely result in a blocking.
@davidsirota For an “objective” look at Texas, you can always count on the Times! We Texans are really scared now!
— Ross Pollack (@Ross_Pollack) May 11, 2013
@ross_pollack facts are inconvenient. When u have some, let us know. Otherwise ur shoot-the-messenger misdirect is an admission of stupidity
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) May 11, 2013
@davidsirota The NYT did not state per capita deaths, which is an inaccurate representation of the situation. Stupid.
— Ross Pollack (@Ross_Pollack) May 12, 2013
@davidsirota would have also liked the author to state the per capita accident rate…
— paul zoric (@PZoric) May 11, 2013
True, the Times report refers only to raw numbers from the second most populous state in America, not percentages, and compares Texas to only one other state, Illinois. What more proof of a direct correlation do you need, stupid?
.@davidsirota You realize, of course, that the “article” you linked is utter bullshit, right? We have fire codes here. Lol.
— MavTwitmo (@TxTruth09) May 11, 2013
@txtruth09 facts are inconvenient. You have none so you deny them. That misdirect is an admission of stupidity.
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) May 11, 2013
I love this response to Texas leading America in workplace death – it is so revealing about the Idiocracy: twitter.com/txtruth09/stat…
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) May 11, 2013
We now pause for a quick reading comprehension break:
@davidsirota That guy was responding to the person who said Texas was worse to live than Mississippi, not to your link about workplace death
— JF (@IMaylinNow) May 12, 2013
Yes, he was.
@davidsirota Perry calls his agenda the “Texas Miracle” because it did the impossible. It created a worse place to live than Mississippi.
— TonyD (@Dogger55) May 11, 2013
.@dogger55 Absolutely ridiculous. Texas is an awesome place to live. @davidsirota
— MavTwitmo (@TxTruth09) May 11, 2013
White privilege apparently includes the right to take people out of context to ridicule them.
Facts: TX leads nation in workplace death. Response from TX GOPer: “But…but…Texas is awesome!” twitter.com/txtruth09/stat…
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) May 11, 2013
