And the Answer Is!!! Never or Highly Unlikely!!!

Close your eyes...

...this won't hurt a bit!

The question promoting my answer comes from another in a  series of mind boggling pathetic whining letters from the Town of Cape Vincent officials to the NYPSC.  In the last sentence of the last paragraph  of the recent letter the question highlighted and quoted down below was asked.  We will get to that in a minute.

The basics of the letter is addressing the fact that the Town officials believe that there has been considerable opposition to BP's project for a number of years, and why isn't the PSC and the Art X system listening to that input.  Geee I don't know has anybody tried to tell the town and people going along with Art X that their letters would basically be a waste of time and effort?  It seems that in this town letter of complaints that the town is now on the fringes of starting to recognize that reality they should have recognized long ago. The letter also outlines and complains of numerous things that BP promised to do in its PIP and then did not do at up to this point.

Wait a minute...are you telling me these town officers are under the delusion that when BP promises something that it is a solid promise that they will actually follow through on?  Seriously?   Did these officials miss the news in the last few years on the BP Gulf oil spill?  Not to mention that the US Justice Dept. charged BP with LYING!!!!

Here is the quote from the town's letter.  It boggles my mind that some town officials are willing to sign this stuff!

"We believe it quite reasonable to require BP to submit a public involvement program that is considered adequate by any reasonable standard. I also believe it is reasonable to conclude that if BP tells the Siting Board it will make a certain outreach, that they do it. The community of Cape Vincent has spoken in near harmony. We have listened to BP representatives for several years, but a steady series of non-answers leaves us with many unaddressed concerns about the project's impact on their health, safety and welfare. When does this opposition actually have a "meaningful" impact in the certification process?"

Again the answer should be obvious to these officials and anyone politically awake in CV for the last 7 years and particularly since Cuomo signed his  Art X legislation destroying one of the most important aspects of NY community home rule.   

Never or highly unlikely the opposition will have the opportunity to significantly impact the certification process!!!

What the hell ...does the town actually think the Art X process is intended to be fair????  Do we have to remind  them that the BP lawyer is married to a NYPSC commissioner.  When Cuomo says we have to be "reasonable" he is not talking about the wind developers, that is nothing more than  political double speak code telling the opposition and the communities he wants to host his green agenda, that we can be patronized by being nice and playing in the process but we are going to get screwed by the same process anyhow.

Is this letter a joke, a spoof, or just grossly naive?  It is dated after all close to Aprils Fools day.  That must be it.  Good God, please don't tell me that after all this time these officials are just now figuring out the process may not be fair and adequate and they may not get fairly heard as result.

How  politically naive do you actually have to be  to believe that a process that has already stripped away your home rule rights is  also a process  that is somehow going to be adequate and fair to your needs and objections.

DUUUUUHHH ...the process stripped away your rights on behalf of large powerful corporate and political interests.  So what the hell do you actually expect!

HERE IS A NEWS FLASH FOR ANY TOWN OFFICIAL CLINGING TO THIS "FAIR AND REASONABLE" FANTASY....THE PROCESS IS ALREADY UNFAIR AND INADEQUATE THE DAY CUOMO SIGNED IT AND REMOVE YOUR RIGHTS!

Now if your are still insistent on clinging to the delusion that the process is fair and reasonable, it seems that would be on the premise that you or the town would be an equal partner in the process, and not being patronized like children at the children's table.

So when the hell is the town going to start acting as if they are an equal participant in the process and stop repeatedly whining about the obvious like a bunch of pathetic victims.

In the face of the blatantly and painfully obvious when is this govt. going to get a clue that it is time to put up a real political fight and get the hell out ofa process that is demcratically dangerous and obscene , grossly unfair, patronizing, has removed our home rule rights, and works for large corporate and political interests that have no intention of seriously listening to any opposition input?

Are they actually going to act like the three monkeys and cover their eyes and ears and mouth and continue to pretend this will all work because the system is going to work for us?

After all this time and what has happened to this community, for this govt. to continue on, and continue to encourage others to continue on in this process is now simply becoming delusional, and badly out of touch with political reality. 

And the scary part is the town of CV govt officials have been so blindly sucked so far into the system by BP, Cuomo, and his cronies and the NYPSC, that they are now actually acting like them, with their willingness to play along in this absurd game as if it matters.

What has actually happened is that Cuomo and his Art X process has effectively anesthetized the bulk of our govt. leaders and environmental groups into compliance and acceptance of the removal of some of our most basic rights required to allow us to function as a democracy in CV and the region.