Commercial Endeavors

Defying all conventional wisdom, Ruth Ann Minner has released a new commercial - and she appears in it. The newest ad places the Governor in what appears to be the Joker's hideout from the old Batman TV show, because she's perched at about a 15° angle throughout the commercial. She talks about how proud she is that she has fought against cancer - I suppose the other candidates are for cancer - and how she intends to continue the fight. She reminded us that she lost a husband to lung cancer. She told us this fight was the most important thing she had done as Governor.

A new nonpartisan, nonprofit, unincorporated political organization - Environmentalists for Truth - lists the many egregious breaches of trust that the Minner administration has perpetrated on the people of Delaware.

• How dedicated to the fight against this horrific disease can the Governor be if the number of carcinogens released to the environment has increased by 9% under Minner's stewardship?
• In her 2004 State of the State address Gov. Minner bragged about the “unprecedented” plan that she had negotiated with the Motiva refinery (now Premcor), which included a “mandatory plan for improvements in the operations” of the DE City refinery that would require plant-wide changes in order “to prevent a future” accident. There have been over 100 air emission releasing accidents at the refinery since Gov. Minner reached that agreement. Premcor said as much as 21,000 pounds of hydrogen sulfide and 60,000 pounds of methane and other pollutants escaped from a smokestack after two related breakdowns beginning on Sept. 25.
• The Minner administration has allowed an unprecedented exclusion of public questions and comments at hearings designed solely for questions and comments - effectively muting any watchdog groups from protecting the state's environment.

If Ruth Ann was selling a product, she could be sued for false advertising. Banning smoking in public buildings was a good thing for a lot of people (but not so good for others), and the money she has earmarked for treatment and prevention are nice - but Delaware's environment is at critical mass, and the Governor can't be bothered to enforce the laws on the books that would punish polluters. She would rather silence the voices protesting the release of carcinogens than stop the release of carcinogens.

Clearly this was an attempt to change her image into a gentle caretaker - rather than an incompetant boob. It isn't working.