msnbc via nytimes swiftboat - Obama has close ties to ethanol biz

[spanone]

By LARRY ROHTER

updated 1 hour, 43 minutes ago
When VeraSun Energy inaugurated a new ethanol processing plant last summer in Charles City, Iowa, some of that industry’s most prominent boosters showed up. Leaders of the National Corn Growers Association and the Renewable Fuels Association, for instance, came to help cut the ribbon — and so did Senator Barack Obama .

Then running far behind Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in name recognition and in the polls, Mr. Obama was in the midst of a campaign swing through the state where he would eventually register his first caucus victory. And as befits a senator from Illinois, the country’s second largest corn-producing state, he delivered a ringing endorsement of ethanol as an alternative fuel.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25324195/

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. pls note that he called it a transition source, until

cellulose-based sources could be handled.

[KharmaTrain]

2. IOKIYAR

Gramps can have his hands bloody and oily with scum like Charlie Black or Phil Gramm and the corporate media shrugs its shoulders cause Phil and Charlie are "good ole boys". Senator Obama shows up anywhere near an oil refinery and all of a sudden the concern trolls at GE are ready to spread this tripe? Be prepared, the game of knocking Obama down has begun...the steady drip of GOOP oppo-research is now being whispered via hate radio and stories like these.

Meanwhile, what kind of interests do M$NBC have as far as energy is concerned? How many dollars did they get this quarter from the American Petroleum Institute and other oil companies in advertising revenues? How many partnerships does the corporate have with the large energy conglomerates who "bring good things to life"????? Am I the only one who sees the hypocrisy here?

[hobbit709]

4. Remember all those "green" GE ads?

It's hard to tell who's the bigger hypocrite-corporations or televangelists

[KharmaTrain]

6. Archer-Daniels-Midland Is Another

They always advertised on the Sunday talk shows...making sure they made the most of their "investment". As always, follow the money, especially when the corporate media is concerned.

[hobbit709]

7. The Romans had a phrase for it "Cui bono"

[Virginia Dare]

11. ADM heavily subsidizes "public television" as well....n/t

[jmowreader]

15. MSNBC is owned, in part, by General Electric

Go to http://www.ge-energy.com. Until about two seconds ago, I had no idea GE made oil extraction equipment.

[underpants]

3. Suddenly the MSM thinks ethanol is a bad thing

which it is but there was no mention of any problem when all the legislation was up for "debate" in fact enviros were cut off the air starting in about November of 2006--this issue/product was reintroduced in February 2007

So NOW they are all up in arms about it huh?

[spanone]

5. ya know, he's from a state where corn is one of their main money crops...duh

[pleah]

8. I think this is really going to backfire on the MSM.

[LTR]

9. Obama represents an agricultural state in the Senate

Senators and representatives tend to stand up for their states' biggest industries.

Where's the outcry over Russ Feingold's recent visit to India to lobby for lowering tariffs on Harley-Davidson motorcycles (which are produced in his home state)? Same thing here.

This is what happens in politics.

[spanone]

10. did the media alert us to the fact that bu$h* and fuckwad cheney were oil men????

[ColbertWatcher]

12. As someone who supports ethanol, I say good!

Fuck the GOP-controlled media!

Is this "news" supposed to mean something?

[Blue_Roses]

13. The reporter who did this piece has a shaddy reporting record...here:

“Did Larry Rohter do good journalism?” Brazilian Press Association, 2004. The government tried to have the Times reporter’s visa cancelled over a implying the president of Brazil was a drunken lout. Sponsoring the habeas corpus that allowed him to stay: then-Senator Sérgio Cabral, now governor of Rio de Janeiro."

more...

http://cbrayton.wordpress.com/2007/06/06/open-letter-to-the-new-york-times-public-editor-on-larry-rohter/

[spanone]

14. dupe