Lil White Lies: How Glow Can You Go

I have written before about that “cheap Chinese Food” feeling I get from Bryan White’s reasoning when he blogs criticisms of PolitiFact’s rulings, or his Facebook commentary: It seems tasty and filling at the time, but a short time later one is hungry and has a headache from all the MSG. In other words, it sounds good, but later you say to yourself, after thinking about it…"Hey, wait a minute….that isn’t quite right…” and you're feeling a bit empty and kind of sick (and not from radiation).

Initially, I concurred a bit with  his recent criticism of a PolitiFact (PF) ruling on Ann Coulter, who said that “There is a growing body of evidence that radiation in excess of what the government says are the minimum amounts you should be exposed to are actually good for you and reduce cases of cancer.” He explained in a rhetorical mish-mash that PF missed the context of Coulter’s remark and replaced it with its own:

In context, Coulter was making the point that the media are passing on a classic "man bites dog" story. In other words she's making a point about media coverage of Japanese radiation leaks rather than jumping on a pseudoscientific bandwagon. Coulter tried to emphasize the same point on O'Reilly's program but ended up having to instead deal with the host's skepticism about the evidence.

He made it more clear on Facebook under the topic of Coulter’s statement at the PolitiFact page, when he was able to suck one Jason Curtis into his relentless debate machine:

Contrary to PolitiFact's stated principles, Coulter's point was ignored. She was making the point that the media was helping fan concerns about mildly heightened levels of radiation. That was overwhelmingly the point of the column she wrote, the one that O'Reilly had her on his program to discuss. O'Reilly introduces Coulter by saying she's "not down on radiation poisoning." And Coulter responds with "It's not me (...)".

Later he added, in the same vein:

…Coulter was trying to counteract media scare tactics. And it was improper to omit that point from the story.

When I first heard about the situation with the Japanese nuclear reactors on television, I also heard that there was no radiation threat to the United States, including Hawaii. In fact, it seemed to me it was being played down. From “mainstream media” ABC News:

But could the danger spread to American shores? Nuclear engineers and meteorologists said the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii, is safe.

These releases from the plant, because they're not elevated, because they're not getting up high in the atmosphere, they won't travel very far," said Kathryn Higley, director of the department of nuclear engineering at Oregon State University. "There are so many factors in our favor. Rain will knock it down. There are 5,000 miles of ocean between us and Japan. It will be diluted, it will mix with sea spray, long before it gets remotely close to us."

President Obama, in his first statement on the nuclear crisis, also said Americans should not worry.

"I want to be very clear," he said at the White House Thursday. "We do not expect harmful levels of radiation to reach the West Coast, Hawaii, Alaska or U.S. territories in the Pacific."

And here’s another video from ABC on how much natural radiation there is in New York City, especially in the granite statues:

In other words, this would indicate that there haven't been any such media scare tactics. Bryan, in defending Coulter, proved there was no nutrition in the Chinese food of the “media”, only filler and MSM. So now the question is: what was the real meat of Coulter’s promotion of the healthful effects of radiation? Let’s start by looking at John McCain’s stance on energy during the 2008 elections, complimenting "Drill, Baby, Drill": 

McCain is placing great stock in modern-day nuclear technology by calling for the construction of 45 nuclear power plants by 2030.... To buttress the point, McCain regularly cites the example of France, which gets about 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear sources. He also highlights the U.S. Navy, in which he served as a fighter pilot and which he boasts has safely operated nuclear power plants in aircraft carriers and submarines without an accident in 60 years.

And on the GOP position following their 2010 house majority wins:

THE outspoken supporters of nuclear power are mostly Republicans, and the Republicans are about to take control of the House of Representatives and gain six seats in the Senate. Is this good news for nuclear power?

…Many prominent Republicans say the United States should embark on a building campaign. Senator John McCain of Arizona, as the party’s 2008 presidential nominee, called for 45 more reactors by 2030, and Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, wants 100 more reactors by then.

A Republican House may push Congress toward two steps that would help the nuclear industry: reviving the Yucca Mountain project, which might promise a long-term solution for nuclear waste, and providing more money for loan guarantees and perhaps easing the terms the federal government demands for those guarantees.

So it’s not about “media scare tactics” (Bryan), or what Coulter termed scares of “mutant humans” (something hyperbolic and unverifiable), it’s about the Republican stance of being pro-nuclear power. Of course it’s not going to hurt you, it’s good for you, so you should be in favor of having a new nuclear power plant in your community. The Republicans are probably thankful they have someone like Coulter to convince their Republican and conservative base that nuclear power is not only good but safe and healthy, particularly under the guise of anything bad or unhealthy about it coming from  [liberal] “media scare tactics.”

The reason I initially had some agreement with Coulter and Bryan’s observations was because I had been carefully listening to the media’s advice that the radiation was not something Americans should be alarmed about.

Not until I read their accounts more carefully, and realized that they meant something entirely different. Yes, it’s cynical. But what else could we expect from Coulter as well as her lackey Bryan White, who either bought into her argument or just gave a helpful hand with the hoodwinking.  I suspect the latter.

Postscript:  It's also about de-regulation....