Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has released a new ad for his 2008 re-election campaign, heralding himself as a “Godfather of Green” and an “environmental champion.”
McConnell’s environmental stewardship, according to the ad, consists of securing a $38 million earmark for city parks in Louisville and the creation of the Jefferson Memorial Forest, which features a Mitch McConnell Loop Trail.
McConnell may know how to bring home the pork for his constituents, but that hardly qualifies him as an “environmental champion.” McConnell had a zero percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters during the 109th Congress, and has earned only a 7% lifetime rating.
A look at some of his actions that have earned him such a dismal rating:
– McConnell helped to pass the 2005 Energy Policy Act, a bill the League of Conservation Voters called “the most anti-environmental piece of legislation signed into law in recent memory.”
– McConnell led the fight to block the renewable electricity standard and the green tax package from the 2007 energy bill, calling them “millstones.”
– McConnell has repeatedly voted to allow drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
– McConnell has repeatedly voted against Senate bills recognizing global warming, including a “sense of the Senate” amendment expressing “the need…to address global climate change through comprehensive and cost-effective national measures and through the negotiation of fair and binding international commitments.”
– McConnell helped notorious global warming denier Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) try to block Al Gore’s “Live Earth” concert in Washington, DC, by raising an objection to the resolution allowing the concert to take place on the capitol’s West Front.
McConnell’s anti-environmental stance means he faces the “the single biggest vulnerability for the Republicans,” in the words of Republican strategist Frank Luntz.

where is annie…..I know I’m gagging.
January 12th, 2008 at 10:49 amThe Senator from Koalmine…. excuse me, Kentucky… will now address the crowd…….
January 12th, 2008 at 10:49 amI heard there is a progressive Democrat running against McConnel who stand a pretty good chance of winning, but I don’t remember the name.
January 12th, 2008 at 10:50 amMcConnell had a zero percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters during the 109th Congress
This is like bush saying he’s a leader
January 12th, 2008 at 10:50 amSo McConnell calls himself an environmentalist now, hilarious.
I supposed Jim Imhoff will come out stating he has been fighting global warming all these years too.
Is anyone surprised all all that Republicans are liars?
January 12th, 2008 at 10:56 amwell, i did not see an “environment” catagory, but i did find THIS very interesting bit of info at http://www.ditchmitchky.com/
CNN
Brace yourselves, taxpayers of America. You’re going to help Bank of America finance its $4 billion buyout of Countrywide.
By Allan Sloan, senior editor at large.
NEW YORK (Fortune) — Guess who’s helping Bank of America pay for its $4.1 billion purchase of Countrywide Financial? Answer: The taxpayers of the United States.
i’m guessing mitch hay-elped…
gotta run… back later…
January 12th, 2008 at 10:57 am6 More welfare for the wealthy…thats what repubs do.
January 12th, 2008 at 11:00 amIs that Scooter Libby in the background?
January 12th, 2008 at 11:10 amMaybe the Sultan of Sleaze…
January 12th, 2008 at 11:17 amWhat Mitch meant by “Godfather of Green” is that he’s been taking alot of green payola dollars for his entire career. Either that or he’s decided to run as a “Librul” enviroweenie.
January 12th, 2008 at 11:19 amHYPOCRISY remains the official Republican distinctive mark.
January 12th, 2008 at 11:23 amNothing has changed…
He’s setting himself up for his resounding defeat.
January 12th, 2008 at 11:25 amHe will claim his comment was taken out of context, and go to work as a lobbyist for the golfing industry.
Well, what do you expect from Republicans? I mean, they think they’ve convinced America that George W. Bush, our first functional illiterate in the WH, is the “Education President”. They think that Karl Rove has convinced America that it was the DEMOCRATS who “rushed to war” in Iraq. They think that they got away with calling their enivronmental destruction bills “Clear Skies” and “Healthy forests”. They think that we believe that the economy is “just fine” because they keep insisting that it is.
In short, they think we’re stupid and that just because they say it, that means it’s true.
Sheesh.
January 12th, 2008 at 11:39 am“…they think we’re stupid and that just because they say it, that means it’s true.”
That we’re stupid?
January 12th, 2008 at 11:46 amI’m beginning to wonder….
;)
Maybe a closet green? A lot of nerve to come public….SNARK
January 12th, 2008 at 11:46 amA Mc Connell loop trail. I wonder if they pass out little balls of yarn so that the RePUGs don’t get lost on this loop trail.
January 12th, 2008 at 11:48 amThe only thing green about McConnell is the slime trail he leaves behind.
January 12th, 2008 at 11:56 amSee you crazy moonbats, the GOP has always been the party of enviromental responsibility!
-Troll # 390
January 12th, 2008 at 12:16 pmMost every morning I visit TP to see what hysterical stupidity the GOP morons have cooked up… Mitch McConnell is the Godfather of fascism in America he is always happy to goose-step right along with the Bush Nazis… What an utterly worthless piece of slime (with apologies to “lower” life forms everywhere…).
What exactly is wrong with the voters in Kentucky? Can they blame electronic vote “counting” by Diebold or other Republican-controlled corporations? That is a good excuse for most Americans in the year 2008. Republican thugs have been rigging, hacking, fixing and stealing elections electronically since 2000. With the widespread use of electronic “voting” machines and electronic “vote counting” machines, right-wing Republicans have been able to rig and steal House, Senate and Presidential elections without most folks be wise to them yet. Republicans decide who wins, who loses and what the exact margin will be. It’s called Dieboldocracy, folks….
January 12th, 2008 at 12:19 pmIt all fairness, when McConnell calls himself “green“, he’s referring to how little he knows about environmentalism.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:29 pmRepublican, thy name is hypocrite.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:31 pm2008 presents the US and the state of Kentucky with a golden opportunity — Get rid of the Bush - Cheney Neo-Cons and their Senate lapdog Mitch McConnell.
Thanks for posting this story about “The Godfather of Green.” Yes — Mitch operates like a crime syndicate leader and yes, he’s all about corrupt money. In this ad, he is presented as an environmentalist, but he has a 0% rating on Senate votes on the environment. YOU can help us Ditch Pitiful Mitch in 2008:
1. Lt. Col. Andrew Horne, Iraq War Vet who opposes the War, will defeat McConnell. See his website, send him money, tell anyone you know in Kentucky to help. http://andrewhorne.org/main/
2. Check out http://www.ditchmitchky.com for all information about defeating “Godfather” Mitch. Thanks.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:39 pmMitch meant Red — as in Neck.
∞
January 12th, 2008 at 12:42 pmAh yes, straight from Karl Rove’s playbook. What Rove didn’t count on that eventually the other side would stand up to the bullying and rebuff attempts to stifle the argument.
Mitch McConnell is about as green as Larry Craig is straight.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:45 pmFirst, Bush says, if he were running “at this point”, he would run as an agent of change (opposing himself, I suppose), now Mitch “Sulfur Breath” McConnell is running as a Green!
These freaks have really gone off the deep end. I guess that’s what happens when you realize that your entire party is in the last throes of it’s insurgency.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:48 pmMitch McConnell is about as green as Larry Craig is straight.
Comment by Kgprophet — January 12, 2008 @ 12:45 pm
Hey, Republicans are all straight. Just ask Ted Haggard.
/snark
January 12th, 2008 at 12:49 pmGodfather of Bullsh*t is more like it.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:51 pmAnd I am the Queen of the May!
January 12th, 2008 at 12:51 pmMitch McConnell is about as green as Larry Craig is straight.
Comment by Kgprophet — January 12, 2008 @ 12:45 pm
Hey, Republicans are all straight. Just ask Ted Haggard.
/snark
Comment by Wayne
Here is a fun little thread from TVNewsLies:
January 12th, 2008 at 12:52 pmREPUBLICAN PEDOPHILIA, SCANDALS, AND UTTER MADNESS
Comment by shoeless — January 12, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
Ted Bundy the serial killer was a Republican too.
http://crime.about.com/od/serial/p/tedbundy.htm
January 12th, 2008 at 1:09 pmSomeone should tell Mitch McConnell that there’s a typo in that ad. Greed is spelled with a D, not an N.
January 12th, 2008 at 1:21 pmMust be one of them glowing green pigs.
January 12th, 2008 at 1:40 pmMcConnell should be “sleeping with the fishes.”
January 12th, 2008 at 1:40 pmInteresting article in LA Times regarding various factions once supporting hydrogen fueling stations yanking their support:
http://www.latimes.com/ business/ la-fi-hydrogen11jan11,1,5863796.story?coll=la-headlines-business
I can understand why PG&E would prefer to just deliver electricity for BEV’s and PHEV’s, and not take on making hydrogen too, but the San Diego Unified School District too?
Fortunately, the California Air Resources Board jumped right on this, and is requesting bids from companies / agencies that do want to create hydrogen.
Facts are, if you want an affordable zero emissions vehicle, hydrogen fuel cells are the only path - batteries are just too expensive.
January 12th, 2008 at 2:08 pmYou gotta love it when they create commercials like that. They are so easy to refute. His opponent needs to run an ad with a title “Godfather of the Environment or Godfather of Pork?” and then list his votes on environmental issues and a list of the pork he has put into bills.
January 12th, 2008 at 2:42 pmMitch McConnell’s close backing of President Bush on immigration and the Iraq war is costing him support among Kentucky Republicans. He’s grasping for whatever straw he can find.
January 12th, 2008 at 2:57 pmHe may be the godfather of green, but it aint the environmental type of green. The only kind of green he is familiar with is cold hard cash!
January 12th, 2008 at 3:00 pmTo Proud American Liberal of post #3, Andrew Horne is challenging Mitch for the seat. Considering that Mitch has extremely deep pockets, has the coal industry, oil industry, pharma, banks, insuance et al., backing him plus he can manipulate with the best, it’s a pretty tall order. Unseating him is a sweet thought though.
January 12th, 2008 at 4:40 pmLet’s call a spade a spade. Mitch Mcconnel is the godmother of closet cases.
January 12th, 2008 at 5:31 pmMitch is no godfather…he is only another thug in the bushie crime family.
January 12th, 2008 at 6:32 pmHere’s a multiple choice question for everyone:
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary lists two numbered definitions for the word “godfather”:
1: a man who sponsors a person at baptism
2: one having a relation to someone or something analogous to that of a male sponsor to his godchild: as a: one that founds, supports, or inspires b: the leader of an organized crime syndicate.
McConnell can’t be talking about sponsoring anyone for a baptism, and given his record on the environment, choice #2a can’t be correct, either.
Anyone else vote for choice #2b?
January 12th, 2008 at 6:55 pmA December 26, 2007 article in the Belleville News Democrat, serving the Southern Illinois and St. Louis metro areas, described the work of a Dr. Edwin E. Smith, who for 18 years has been providing dental services to low income citizens in Kentucky. The following paragraph appears in article:
“He has seen the shame of a 14-year-old girl who would not lift her head because she had lost most of her teeth from malnutrition and the do-it-yourself pride of an elderly mountain man who, unable to afford a dentist, pulled his own infected teeth with a pair of pliers and a swig of peroxide.”
The article also indicates that Kentucky has , “…the highest proportion of adults under 65 without teeth, where about half the population does not have dental insurance…”
Those who voted for him must be so grateful that he has sponsored such noble pursuits are earmarking $38 million for city parks in Louisville and that there is a Mitch McConnell loop trail in Jefferson National Forest. They must be grateful that he is spending our hard-earned tax dollars on such worthy causes, rather than wasting it such trivial matters as those described in the past two paragraphs.
And to add insult to injury, the Mitch McConnell trail is part of the Thomas Jefferson National Forest. TJ must surely be rolling over in his grave.
January 12th, 2008 at 7:09 pmMcConnell: Up is down. Black is white. Falsehood is truth. Gay is straight.
Oh. That explains it, doesn’t it?
January 12th, 2008 at 7:36 pmIt’s too bad someone has to waste time and money with this BS. But a few ads will blow him out of the water.
January 12th, 2008 at 7:43 pmIf he gets the press time is he the winner? Tomorrow it’s the Sunday paper. Will he get front page? Only the MSM knows tonite.
January 12th, 2008 at 7:46 pmcurmudgeon @ 7:09 pm - you mention the st.louis metro east… are you a resident of that area? close?
we could be neighbors, sorta…
January 12th, 2008 at 7:53 pmYa know, there are two meanings to “Godfather”.
So did this mean in the churchy sense that he fosters green
January 12th, 2008 at 7:53 pm-or-
that he is the mafioso-style gangster blowing away green with a machine gun ?
Re: Post #46 –
No, originally from the Upper Midwest but have resided in the Pacific Northwest since the mid-1980s.
Having traveled through much of Kentucky for the first time last fall, this article (which appeared on either this or a similar website) was of particular interest.
I had intended to include the link for the entire article, so here it is — http://www.bnd.com/ living/ health/ story/ 211997.html
January 12th, 2008 at 8:14 pmthanks curmudgeon… there are too few libs/progs in my so.central illinois neck of the woods… thought i’d ask…
January 12th, 2008 at 8:56 pmPlease help DitchMitch in 2008. Alert everyone you know and send $$ to Andrew Horne at http://www.andrewhorne.org. People across the country who despise McConnell can help us defeat him.
Thanks.
January 12th, 2008 at 9:35 pmI think that the only green that McConnell is a godfather of is the ones that are slipped into his pocket by lobbyists.
January 12th, 2008 at 11:35 pmI think that the only green that McConnell is a godfather of is the ones that are slipped into his pocket by lobbyists.
Comment by LibertyLover —
You beat me to it, LibertyLover. I was going to write that he must mean the godfather of greenbacks.
January 13th, 2008 at 4:09 amAs I read this post and the comments, I see that our favorite Llama has skewered this issue right down the middle.
They ran this play so successfully for so long, they simply cannot give it up.
In Paris Hilton parlance, this inverted naming convention is “SO 2003…”
http://www.FEARandSMEAR.com
January 13th, 2008 at 10:13 amSpeaking of godfathers, doesn’t Deadeye Dick look like he’s trying to imitate (unsuccessfully,at that) Marlon Brando in “The Godfather”?
January 13th, 2008 at 11:49 amSo, let me get something straight on the 2005 Energy Policy Act, described here as “the most anti-environmental piece of legislation signed into law in recent memory.†Does that mean John McCain can run on how he voted against this horrible law, when Sens. Clinton and Obama voted for it? Please, someone explain that one to me!
January 13th, 2008 at 12:06 pm#20 said: “What exactly is wrong with the voters in Kentucky?”
Don’t blame me, I voted against Rich Mitch 4 times already.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:13 amhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRDsCgIALZo
January 18th, 2008 at 4:22 am