Brian Baird led junket to South Pole on taxpayers' dime (Jack Bog's Blog)

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on August 7, 2009 10:54 PM. The previous post in this blog was Linchpin lost. The next post in this blog is Turning point. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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Friday, August 7, 2009

Brian Baird led junket to South Pole on taxpayers' dime

He's also been to the Galapagos Islands -- all to "study climate change." Quite the clown, I'd say.

Posted at 10:54 PM | Permalink

Comments (10)

Bozo Baird should know a JATO [rocket-assisted] takeoff is not kind to the environment - what a maroon!

Posted by Lalawethika | August 7, 2009 11:08 PM

For about a year, this guy was a refreshing change from Linda Smith, who makes Sarah Palin seem like a calm Nobel Prize winning scientist. But he went native fast, junked the wife and became a DC pol whose primary concern (oops, bad turn of phrase there) ... whose MAIN concern is ferrying the pork and racking up the contributions in return. There was a minute where he looked like a decent guy, but he recovered fast and is now set in gerrymandered concrete for as long as he wants the gig.

Posted by George Anonymuncule Seldes | August 7, 2009 11:08 PM

At least now he has a reason why he has to have dial-ins instead of actually appearing at Town Halls. Of course, there are no brown shirts at the SOuth Pole.

Posted by Steve | August 8, 2009 7:18 AM

I don't agree that trips of this nature are a bad idea. Our leaders need to be informed about what is going on in the world. No one criticizes the fact finding trips to Iraq or Afghanistan for instance. Global warming is a huge issue, and our country is a pivotal player in the climate change arena. In my opinion it gives a leader more credibility when they weigh in on an issue and can say "I was there and I saw it with my eyes".

Trips to Maui funded by the beer and wine industry to learn about Oregon liquor laws, or trips to Scotland to play golf funded by Jack Abramoff's slush fund are a completely different issue because they are more in the nature of a bribe than anything else.

I haven't paid a lot of attention to Brian Baird and what he's all about. I've read criticism directed at him in the past on this blog that didn't pan out with me either. It would take a lot more than climate change fact finding trips to convince me that he's a bad apple that needs to be plucked out of the proverbial barrel.

Posted by Usual Kevin | August 8, 2009 10:56 AM

If you believe that taxpayer funded sight-seeing trip was really about "climate change," I've got some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you.

Posted by Pat Malach | August 8, 2009 11:15 AM

Usual Kevin - The proof of Pat Malach's statement is that these trips don't ever seem to go to unattractive places. Global warming is, after all, global, so if what you assert is true, there ought to occasionally be a trip over, for example, the trans-Siberian railway from Vladivostok to Moscow.

Posted by john rettig | August 8, 2009 1:19 PM

A scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef? Sorry, Brian, but that's way beyond fact-finding. Bringing the spouses is also b.s. I hope the IRS is paying attention.

Posted by Jack Bog | August 8, 2009 1:32 PM

Well...Summer here is winter there.

I certainly would not go to Antarctica in the middle of its winter.

And, Mongolia? Have you been to Mongolia? Tropical paradise, it ain't. I could show you pix of the Gobi Desert from a only a few miles south of the Mongolian border. It looks like the world's largest future gravel pit with outrageous temperatures and very little rainfall. It's where much of the dust suspended in the air of the northern hemisphere originates.

Posted by godfry | August 10, 2009 5:49 PM

Scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef with family members is definitely 'out', tho....

Was he checking on the rate of coral die-off? Up close and personal? Like...helping it along?

Posted by godfry | August 10, 2009 5:51 PM

If these trips are so God-awful, why are the spouses in tow? I don't care if they're fun or not, the taxpayers need clowns like Brian Baird and Greg Walden gallivanting around the world like they need a hole in the head.

Posted by Jack Bog | August 10, 2009 6:28 PM

In Vino Veritas

Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
Cameron, Chardonnay
B.R. Cohn, Cabernet, Silver Label 2006
Graffigna, Cabernet 2005
Palo Alto, Reserve Red 2008
Menguante, Garnacha 2008
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Felsina Berardenga, Vin Santo 1997
Anne Amie, Pinot Gris 2009
McKinley Springs, Bombing Ramge Red 2007
Vieux Papes Red
Dionysius Chardonnay 2009
Haden Fig, Pinot Noir 2009
Vega Montan, Mencia 2008
Chateau la Vernede, Coteaux du Languedoc 2007
Mount Defiance, Hellfire (White) 2008
Root: 1, Cabernet 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Pinot Grigio 2009
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 White, 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 Rose, 2007
Abacela, Grenache Rose 2009
Avia Cabernet 2004
Lemelson Pinot Noir, Thea's Selection 2007
Chateau de la Roulerie, Rose d'Anjou 2009
Casal Garcia, Vinho Verde Rose
La Ferme Julien, Rose 2008
Cana's Feast, Bricco Red, 2006
Hogue, Genesis Merlot, 2008
Owen Roe, Sharecropper's Cabernet, 2008
Kim Crawford, Unoaked Chardonnay 2008
J. Scott, Pinot Noir 2008
Edmunds St. John, White, Heart of Gold 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2006
Stevenot, Cabernet, Sierra Foothills, "Stanford" 2000
Portuga, Vinho Rose 2009
Taylor Fladgate, First Estate Reserve Porto
Franciscan, Cabernet, Napa 2006
Chaparral de Vega Sindoa, Garnacha 2008
Quinta da Aveleda, Vinho Verde 2008
St. Francis, Chardonnay Sonoma 2008
E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone Blanc, 2007
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Noir 2008
St. Innocent, Pinot Noir 2006
Jigsaw, Pinot Noir 2007
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Merlot, Indian Wells 2007
Charles Shaw, Chardonnay 2008
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Rosé 2009
Cameron, Willamette Valley Chardonnay
Il Valore, Sangiovese, Giovane, Puglia 2008
Duck Pond, Chardonnay, Wahluke Slope 2007
Kim Crawford, Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008
Domaine du Pesquier, Cotes du Rhone 2005
Cantina Zaccagnini, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2006
Domaine Matrot, Chardonnay, Bourgogne 2007
David Hill, Oregon Sparkling Wine, Brut
Chandler Reach, Monte Regalo 2006
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2008
Kirkland, Columbia Valley Merlot 2008
D'Aragon, Old Vine Garnacha 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2005
Pavin & Riley, Merlot 2006
David Hill, Estate Pinot Noir, Barrel Select 2006
Castle Rock, Paso Robles Cabernet 2006
Magnificent, Cabernet, Steak House 2008
Conundrum 2008
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1998
Saint Cosme, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
La Granja, Tempranillo 360, 2008
Santa Rita, Mendalla Real Cabernet 2006
Columbia Crest, Grand Estates Merlot 2006
Andezon, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
Collegiata, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Troon, Druid's Fluid 2008
La Granja, Tempranillo 2008
Monte Antico, Toscana 2006
Vieux Papes, Blanc de Blancs

The Occasional Book

Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 54
At this date last year: 50
Total run in 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269