The Austin Chronicle April 12, 2002
BY JIM HIGHTOWER

April 12, 2002:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Choking on Compassion

As Bush & Company dismantle America's health, safety, and environmental protections at the behest of such mass polluters as the oil, chemical, coal, nuclear, and auto industries, some critics have rudely accused them of selling out the public's health and safety just to satisfy Bush's campaign contributors. I disagree. George himself has told us that he's a compassionate conservative, and while his conservative side says industry must be free to contaminate us, I believe his compassionate side also has a plan, which is to issue gas masks to everyone.

Indeed, this is what his Federal Emergency Management Agency is doing in Anniston, Ala. During the next nine years or so, the Army will incinerate some 660,000 of the chemical weapons stored at its Anniston Depot -- deadly stuff like sarin, mustard gas, and an extra-lethal chemical called VX agent. Understandably, the good people of Anniston are less than thrilled, since their homes, schools, hospitals, day-care centers, and whatnot are in an area that the Army delicately labels "the pink zone."

Not to worry though, for the local citizenry is about to be the first American community to receive government-issued gas masks from the Bush administration. Seven million dollars are being allocated by FEMA to provide protective gas hoods and suits for 35,000 people.

I wonder -- do you keep this gear in your home? In your car? Your briefcase? Do kids carry it to school in their backpacks? A killer gas plume can cover the whole area in eight minutes. What if you're in the shower or have the radio on when the alarm goes off announcing an accident? "Even a small accident could be catastrophic," says the county emergency director. Then there's the fact that while the Feds will issue 35,000 masks, 75,000 people live within nine miles of the incinerator. I guess compassion can only stretch so far.