Stop talking about fish or cut the bait and switch

Josh Marshall directs me to the notorious 527 ad which claims (correctly) that Bush is poisoning pregant women and the Republican response. The add was funded by the shadowy obscure Sierra club's obscure 501c3 (OK not quite 527 but still in the shadowy over 500s of the tax code).

If full the add shockingly argues that Bush will be responsible for mercury poisoning without saying anything false or even controversial. In full

NARRATOR: “Columbus, Ohio. Home of the state capitol, the Ohio State
University and a growing mercury pollution problem. Mercury is a poison that can
cause birth defects and learning disabilities. It comes mainly from coal-fired
power plants that rain down mercury pollution into our water, where it
accumulates in the fish we eat. The problem is so widespread that the Ohio
Environmental Protection Agency has advised people, especially pregnant women
and children, to limit eating fish caught from every lake and stream in our
state -- including, for the first time, a stricter limit for the Big Darby, a
state and national scenic river in Franklin County. But instead of protecting
us, the Bush administration wants to delay cleaning up mercury pollution for
another decade. There is a better way, Mister President. Use existing
technology, enforce current Clean Air protections and protect Ohio’s women and
children. A message from the Ohio chapter of Sierra Club.”

Note that opposition to this add is not opposition to soft money financing (the ad is not funded a 527) it is opposition to freedom of speach. One could argue that eliminating the mercury pollution is not worth the cost, but one could not argue that there is no problem. In particular, by so arguing, Marc Racicot undermines the warning of the Ohio EPA and thus risks a (very small) chance that he might be personally responsible for a baby being born with a damaged brain. I agree that this is a small risk since no one is listening to him, but one really shouldn't deny the existence of a problem which people can deal with by not eating fish caught from every lake and stream in Ohio.

The Republicans respond with such laughable arguments that it is clear that they assumed no one would pay attention. Following Marshall's recomendation I did. Quoting RNC research which is quoting the Washington Times (to be balanced they also quote the Wall Street Journal editorial page).

"Mercury In Fish No General Threat To Children. “There is also no evidence of a general threat to infants and children from typical maternal consumption of fish with typical mercury concentrations. ‘No evidence of adverse effect from either pre- or post-natal exposure to methyl mercury,’ is how Thomas W. Carson of the University of Rochester School of Medicine characterizes the results of an ongoing study of children in the Seychelles Islands.” (Steven Milloy, “Fishy Warning About Mercury,” The Washington Times, 1/2/04)"

The Sierra Club ad referred to Ohio. Are the Seychelles Islands in Ohio ?

Harvard Study Found No Evidence Of Mercury’s Ill Effects On Swordfish Consumers. “Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health reported in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine [February 2002] that they could not find mercury-related health effects among a group of regular swordfish consumers.” (Steven Milloy, “Fishy Warning About Mercury,” The Washington Times, 1/2/04

How many swordfish are caught in lakes or streams ?

The Republican fishing expedition for something to balance the swiftvet lies uses a bait a switch. They respond to a claim about fish in rivers and streams in Ohio by noting facts about ocean dwelling fish and islands in the Indian Ocean.

And this is the best they could come up with.

Why are they so eager to convince me that George Bush is poisoning pregnant women ?