Obama's Oil Spill Speech

Obama launched Operation Blame BP from the Oval Office in an attempt to project command of the gulf leak debacle.  I did not watch the speech myself.  Here's the reason.  Because my experience is, when you listen to a guy like a professional politician, he's gonna say all the right things to me.  I'm not interested in words.  I'm interested in actions.

The NY Times editors are also a bit more interested in actions:

On Tuesday, in his first address from the Oval Office, he vowed to “fight this spill with everything we’ve got for as long as it takes” and declared that “we will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused.”

Mr. Obama and his team will have to follow through — with more energy and dedication than they have shown so far.

We know that the country is eager for reassurance. We’re not sure the American people got it from a speech that was short on specifics and devoid of self-criticism. Certainly, we hope that Mr. Obama was right when he predicted that in “coming weeks and days,” up to 90 percent of the oil leaking from the well will be captured and the well finally capped by this summer. But he was less than frank about his administration’s faltering efforts to manage this vast environmental and human disaster.

The speech was panned even by Obama's base at MSNBC:

Olbermann: "It was a great speech if you were on another planet for the last 57 days."

Hm, my presumption that Obama would say all the right things to me may not have been valid.

WOULD IT HAVE HELPED?  With all the things that have gone wrong in the gulf, I was expecting Obama to ask Congress to repeal Murphy's Law.

I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING, BUT WE'RE MAKING GOOD TIME!  Peter Wehner of Commentary highlights "one of the worst sections from an Oval Office address ever"; he includes Obama's refutation of skeptics who doubt that we landed a man on the moon, and this deathless passage:

"Instead, what has defined us as a nation since our founding is our capacity to shape our destiny — our determination to fight for the America we want for our children. Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don’t yet know precisely how to get there. We know we’ll get there."

Tomorrow is later, but it is scheduled for arrival any day now.

IF DAN RIEHL IS WITH ME,WHO WILL STAND AGAINST ME?  Via Glenn, we see this from Dan on the speech:

But given that the reviews are so overwhelmingly bad, it occurred to me - it's what we aren't hearing that's most significant. You can call Obama incompetent and no one is accusing you of racism, any more. Now, that's change!!

Ah hah! Just a few short days ago, I noted that Obama had lost the Rolling Stone and said this:

As a stray thought, we have spent months reading about the racist Tea Partiers, and for months it has seemed obvious that come the fall, desperate Dems would start screaming that everyone opposed to them was racist.  That strategy would not be intended to change minds, but it might rally the base a bit.  On the heels of the Gulf debacle (and the perceived civil liberties debacle), the race card will be a lot harder to play.

Comments

[sbw]

I don't have a grill thermometer for the beef. I just recall someone explaining that if you pinch the fleshy part between your thumb and index finger it simulates the texture of meat cooked rare to well done as you touch that thumb to each finger: Thumb to index finger = rare, middle = medium rare, thumb to ring finger = medium, and thumb to little finger = well done.

[centralcal]

No kidding, Rich - calling Captain Hate - calling Captain Hate.

Hurry!

[JM Hanes]

So, guess who said this:

Obama’s real message was about the need to end America’s ruinous addition to oil. But he didn’t lay the proper foundation for that important part of the speech. First, he needed to enlist Americans in a holy crusade to halt the worst environmental disaster in our history. Instead, he told us about Dr. Chu’s Nobel prize.

Would you believe Eugene Robinson? Somehow I doubt we'll be hearing a lot more about Obama's egregious failure to grasp an unprecedented opportunity to unite the country after a disaster, when he so obviously could have. That's sooo yesterday's narrative.

[Clarice]

sbw--that's right. I think we discussed that once here. But i have a penchant for kitchen gadgets.

[RichatUF]

I think the Kendonesian Commie is more interested in launching a jihad against the oil companies.

[Captain Hate]

No kidding, Rich - calling Captain Hate - calling Captain Hate.

Hurry!

Hey guys; what's shakin'? Rob is a regular poster at AoS.

[Captain Hate]

Plus Tops posts there and I know I've seen Maybee at times. I know I'm probably missing a few....

I can be pure id there.

[Pofarmer]

tragic lack of government regulation

That's funny stuff right there. I'll have to remember that one.

[Pofarmer]

I don't have a grill thermometer for the beef. I just recall someone explaining that if you pinch the fleshy part between your thumb and index finger it simulates the texture of meat cooked rare to well done as you touch that thumb to each finger: Thumb to index finger = rare, middle = medium rare, thumb to ring finger = medium, and thumb to little finger = well done.

Obviously, you don't have callouses.

[narciso]

Yes, I've seen Captain

[RichatUF]

No offense CH-just wanted to spruce up the place if any AoS visitors dropped by. I think I commented a few times over there, though I don't have the range of vulgarity to be a regular participant. Alas, JOM won't crack the top ten of the most vulgar blogs list (Ace seemed proud of his ranking). And that word, I do recall that Ace wanted to change it to a passive construction?

[Danube of Thought]

"Are you sure about that, DoT?"

Not really--my knowledge and recollection are pretty much the same as those of JMH. I didn't like it at all at the time, but was able to swallow it because the court ultimately approved it. I don't know enough about the applicable law to get vociferous.

[bgates]

First, he needed to enlist Americans in a holy crusade to

Shut up. Shut up, Eugene Robinson. You did not just say that what we need in a President is a willingness to start up a holy crusade. Nu uh.

And you know what? If you're going to do that, go all the way. How about "he needed to enlist Americans in a holy crusade to destroy the menace unleashed by foreigners which is approaching our shores, as foul and toxic as it is black, a terrible threat to American jobs and American lives (born and as yet unborn)."

"But he needed to do so in a way that respected Constitutional limits on executive authority."

Don't stop at "holy crusade", Eugene Robinson. Be the biggest no-self-awareness-having motherfucker you can be.

[bgates]

Sports note : a debate has been swirling around the internet on whether Americans ignore soccer because Americans are racist, or because soccer is "gay".

Let me just say that soccer is the sport that has arrested these women:

[bgates]

PS Eugene Robinson writes in to suggest that to aid in future World Cups, America should "recruit the strongest players in Christendom to strike fear into the hearts of the heathen, whether Moor, Turk, or dirty stinking Arab".

[cathyf]

It is like going to an airline ticket counter and saying "I want to go some place that is warm". You might get somewhere, but not really like it when you get there.

Speaking as the daughter of a man with something like 5 million frequent flier miles lifetime total (and frequent flier programs did not start until he was well into middle age!) who once flew to San Francisco and back on New Years Day to get triple miles and a loaf of sourdough bread, I feel the need to say:

"...and your point would be...???"

[Blue]

Speaking of the 20-minute rule: We're talking a 12-hour round of golf here :-(

[Ann]

Remember when the Obama administration thought "The War on Terror" was to abstract?

They changed the "War on Terror" or the "Global War on Terror", take your pick, to Overseas Contingency Operations.

They changed the word "terrorism" to "man caused disasters".

Then last night, Obama mentioned we were at war in the Gulf. Here is the transcript: http://gretawire.blogs.foxnews.com/this-is-what-president-obama-wanted-you-to-know/ ">AKOTUS

It is to late tonight to link specifics but he said:

"And tonight, I've returned from a trip to the Gulf Coast to speak with you about the battle we're waging against an oil spill that is assaulting our shores and our citizens."

In other words, we are not at war with real terrorists anymore, we are really at war with the GULF (overseas contingency operations and man caused disasters, funny that!) That is kinda abstract, is it not? Are Obama/Soros and Liberals at war with OIL, BP, the American people, Capitalism, the pelicans, the southern red states, BUSH, etc. and not the real terrorists who killed us on 9/11?
==============================================
note:
Please disregard the above, I woke up in a bad mood.

I had a really bad dream that our government took over all private businesses, rewarded themselves with trillion dollar, tax payer slush funds in-order to re-elect themselves and ruin our country. Then when the tea parties victoriously threw them all out of office in NOV., they crawled out of their graves in a lame duck session at midnight on a Sunday evening to vote for the overthrow of our government. They were scowling, laughing, and had large gavel weapons in their hands and a hag leading them to victory.
========
Daddy, I need your incredible writing skills but I think I have a screen play that could make some money. What do you think?

[Clarice]

The RNC has awoken from a long slumber to put together the most damning video on Obama..Link at instapundit.

[narciso]

Couls just be some bad Chinese, Ann, but seeing people extolling the extortion of BP,
I'm not so sure

[Jane]

But on Friday, the holdouts abandoned the fight as too costly, financially and politically.

JMH,

I remember hearing their lawyer say he was instructed to not continue by his clients. He gave the clear impression that they were intimidated, so who knows.

[narciso]

This is yet another TARP form, where BP has been 'given an offer they can't refuse'

[hit and run]

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Media/obama-takes-aim-bp-ceo-tony-hayward/story?id=10853212>Obama last week:

"I have not spoken to him directly," Obama said. "Here's the reason. Because my experience is, when you talk to a guy like a BP CEO, he's going to say all the right things to me. I'm not interested in words. I'm interested in actions."

"A little less conversation and a lot more action..."

OK,tough guy.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/06/bp-chairman-we-care-about-the-small-people.html>Obama yesterday:

“I emphasized to the chairman that when he’s talking to shareholders, when he is in meetings in his boardroom, to keep in mind those individuals; that they are desperate; that some of them, if they don’t get relief quickly, may lose businesses that have been in their families for two or three generations,” the president said. “The chairman assured me that he would keep them in mind.”

See? Obama was right! BP execs just said all the right things to him.

And yet ... Obama seems to have fallen for it.

"You're whispering in my ear...Tell me all the things that I wanna to hear...'cause that's true...That's what I like about you..."

Obama went on:

Mr. Obama said the standard he would be applying “is whether or not those individuals I met with, their family members, those communities that are vulnerable, whether they are uppermost in the minds of all concerned.”

Finally! We have specifics from Obama on how he is going to handle the crisis caused by the spill.

So if you are down on the Gulf coast and worried about your livelihood,fear not: Obama has extracted the assurance from those responsible for the spill,and has vowed to hold himself and all those involved to the standard that they will . . . be thinking about you.

"You were always on my mind.....you were always on my mind..."

Awwww. He’s so sweet. Who says this president can’t connect on an emotional level?

[Janet]

I find the whole "oil spill victims" idea repulsive.

[narciso]

The more I think about the whole thing, it really stinks, this is 5 billion, they can't put toward actual development of new resources, which is the point of a damn oil company

[Pofarmer]

The more I think about the whole thing, it really stinks, this is 5 billion, they can't put toward actual development of new resources, which is the point of a damn oil company

WAS the point

[narciso]

Btw, Melinda, this is what you missed out on in Evanston, some nights ago, in the LUN

[Pofarmer]

I find the whole "oil spill victims" idea repulsive.

Of course you do. But a certain subset of people are going to find it quite lucrative.

[Pofarmer]

OH, yeah, definately an economic recovery. Salad days just ahead.

Per AP.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of people filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped last week after three straight declines, another sign that hiring remains weak.

The Labor Department says initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 472,000, the highest level in a month. Economists had expected claims would fall to a seasonally adjusted 450,000, according to Thomson Reuters.

First-time claims have hovered near 450,000 since the beginning of the year after falling steadily in the second half of 2009. That has raised concerns that hiring is lackluster and could slow the recovery.

The number of people continuing to claim benefits rose by 88,000 to 4.57 million.

[Rick Ballard]

Pofarmer,

BOzo's aim in turning the focus to the well blow out is to turn attention from this. It ain't gonna work and BP can't employ enough beach bums to dent the Democrat man made disaster of the economy. The pseudo Keynesian "just pour the grandkids' money on it" solution has failed miserably and it's the only card in the whole clown posse deck.

If BP's board actually acceded to WH extortion (I would have to see a written agreement and the board minutes to believe it) then they really deserve bankruptcy. Why should BP shareholders pay the costs associated with Obama/Salazar's purely political drilling moratorium? There just aren't that many deep water wells being driven and we've been punching shallow wells for 50 years. Why cut off the shallow wells?

It seems to me that a driver in this farce is the fact that the deep water plays have turned up enough oil to prove the Peak Oil fantasy as risible as AGW. The moratorium can be construed as an attempt to keep oil prices (and the associated Air Tax dream) viable for a bit longer. $40 oil would accelerate the collapse of Obama's allies in Venezuela and Iran - he's just helping out friends.

[Clarice]

You''re always on MY mind, Hit. (Very well done shtick there.)

[Captain Hate]

If BP's board actually acceded to WH extortion (I would have to see a written agreement and the board minutes to believe it) then they really deserve bankruptcy. Why should BP shareholders pay the costs associated with Obama/Salazar's purely political drilling moratorium?

If we're BP stockholders (which we probably are through mutual funds) we should be tarring (with their own tar balls) and feathering those board quislings now.

[DebinNC]

Politico says today kick's off Obama and Biden's "Recovery Summer" 6 week tour of various Porkulus funded construction projects. I can imagine what those Gulf folks involuntarily unemployed by BO's moratorium will think watching the grinning duo taking credit for these publicly funded union jobs.

Meanwhile in AL where self-reliance is still a virtue, folks wisely aren't waiting in vain for help from the feds.

[Jane]

Have you guys seen this? Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?

It's very funny

[daddy]

OT,

Arriving in Malaysia Jane's Penang this morning, came upon this eye-opening front page headline in the New Strait Times during the cab ride to the hotel: ">http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Terrorplotfoiled/Article/"> Terror plot foiled.

You may have missed it stateside, but it tells how an Al Qaeda orchestrated plot to blow up religious sites in the north part of the small beautiful tourist island of Penang, (which I am staying in), was uncovered and thus the damage averted. The main culprits were foreign Muslim "students" and a Muslim "Professor" who hatched the plot to kill and maim via terror because "They felt Malaysia was losing its identity as an Islamic country and that the country was not doing anything to uphold Islam here."

The ring leader "wanted to set up a base here in Malaysia as the country's geographical location was ideal and the people here were generally friendly and unsuspecting in nature."

Other stories in the paper indicate the culprits were angry that Malaysia was not Jihadist enough and that somehow blowing up innocents via indiscriminate bombing might correct them back to the proper path.

I believe our Administrations latest euphemism for efforts to combat these murder obsessed Islamic terrorist Jihadist's is "combatting violent extremism."

[bgates]

I think "combating" is an unnecessarily provocative word, and a distraction from Obama's ongoing War of Annihilation against the filthy British oil devils.

[daddy]

Ann,

You need no help from me, and sounds intriguing, but when extra help is called for I recommend drinking Guinness and getting angry.

Clarice,

I know it's early, but just came in from a Malaysian dinner of something like Chicken Kiev, except that the filling was baked banana's. Extremely tasty--a fascinating mix of flavors. The light sauce was not quite perfect---perhaps a dash of Chinese plum sauce or grainy French mayonnaise might have done the trick, but man, simply wonderful flavors that I would have never considered mixing, (but of course I can't cook.)

[narciso]

That'a bit unusual seeing as Malaysia was where Al Midhar and Al Hazmi set off on their
wacky trip to the states

[daddy]

Narciso,

Interesting in that of the 6 ">http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Terrorplotfoiled/Article/#"> comments posted, 2 favor the Islamic Professor and damn the police.

[Ignatz]

--Obama’s real message was about the need to end America’s ruinous addition to oil.--

What an idiot. That "addiction" has created more wealth and saved more lives than just about any other single product in history.

[daddy]

Jane,

Don't know when your next show is, but before you do please consider giving a listen to these 6 minutes of ">http://www.therightscoop.com/more-straight-talk-from-chris-christie-the-day-of-reckoning-is-here"> Governor Chris Christie speaking wonderful common sense. If Rush needs a new guest host, he could do no better than Chris Christie.

Deb in NC,

Great Link. How they were able to do that without Government conferences and boards and direction is beyond me. Makes me think that there actually was a bit of truth in Obama's speech. We American's will figure out how to do it, and the way we'll figure out how to do it is to ignore the Government and accomplish the task in spite of the Government. Another heartening link. Thanks for that.

[bunkerbuster]

Today's JOM Men of Straw Hit Parade

1. Goes to Herr Ballard's "the collapse of Obama's allies in Venezuela and Iran'' Oh yeah, Obama's plotting daily with Hugo and Amadi-Nejad. lol...
2. Pofarmer!: ``Salad days just ahead.'' Really a contender for the top spot given that wild exaggeration is the soul of strawmen.
3. Narco. ``BP has been 'given an offer they can't refuse''' As if...
4. Richatuf Kendonesian Commie
5. bgates ``Obama's ongoing War of Annihilation against the filthy British oil devils.''
Where would you guys be without straw??

[Ignatz]

I hope nobody minds a proud papa's note that out of eight hundred kids graduating with our daughter yesterday, little Ignatzia was one of only thirteen to graduate as a "Valedictory Scholar" with a GPA over 4.0.
And of course she was also the cutest.

[Ignatz]

and the lifetrime achievment award for strawdummies is...
6. Bunker for just being himself.

[centralcal]

How sweet, Ignatz! Cute and smart. We expect nothing less with such a smart (and cute?) father.

[narciso]

Only No. 4, I must be losing my touch, but I'm proud to be in such good company. Honestly
that's why you voted for him, because you wanted him to turn this country toward socialism, he's been having more trouble then he expected

[boris]

way cool igz

[daddy]

Realize you guys are clear headed and breakfasting, but over here it's midnight approaching 3 sheets to the wind, so apologies for this thought that caught my mind, but...

Local Malaysian paper today had Al Gore/Laurie David affair photo's. It reminded me that she was the Cassandra exclaiming that the world would end if we didn't reduce our toilet paper use to 1 square sheet of TP per visit. Having seen photos of Al Gore's behemoth behind, what do you think happened when theory and reality collided regarding her turd of a boyfriends turds?

[gmax]

bunkie just mad, make it livid, that the world and certainly the American public did not swoon at yet another droning speech from Zero. Evidence is RAS is -20 again today. Laugh at him, he is assuming the role of the court jester here!

[rseintheFLpanhandle]

Deb-

They are in fact now closing the Destin Pass at night and when the tide is coming in to protect Chockawatchee Bay. Putting the barges in place today.

Have told neighbors we want video of the BP crews and their behavior.

Some BP reps were telling beach service (umbrellas and chairs) not to worry as they would all be getting $20,000 checks. Makes no sense to offer such amounts unless you're trying to influence certain demographics.

But that's not possible, is it?

[Old Lurker]

Congrats to Dad, Iggy! Her mother must have good genes.

[DebinNC]

Congrats, Ignatz!

[gmax]

BP

Beyond Parody. How about diverting all of the cost of the spill clean up on the stockholders? I wonder how that is going to sit in lots of pension funds insurance companies the world over. Dividend was one of the biggest.

[Danube of Thought]

I thought Sheryl Crow came up with the TP edict.

[Porchlight]

Congrats, Ignatz! I would expect nothing less from a young Ratzkywatzky.

And a belated congratulations to sbw on the publication of his book.

rse, I hope someone gets some video. That would be very, very interesting.

[Jane]

Hey guys, I'm skipping down to link the Rogues of K Street, apparently published in Playboy this month, about the Tea party.

On Page 2 you will see a reference to Katie O'Malley (and her well placed tattoo). She has posted here and was on the post election cruise in 2008.

So far it is a really fun article.

[Danube of Thought]

A delightful British reaction from the UK Telegraph:

The BBC reports of Barack Obama’s speech last night are about as derisive as it would be possible to be about someone you were describing only a few months ago as the incarnation of Hope and Optimism. Yes indeed, the romance is over. The British media have decided that it was all a cruel deception: Obama is just one more ranting populist president who will do anything to divert attention from his own failure to get a grip. And this is not just about BP and the fate of all those pension funds.

[Danube of Thought]

More:

Nor is it simply the demonising of Big Oil – which makes the US president sound as if he were recruiting his speech writers direct from the student union – that has evoked the UK media’s collective sneer. What has been much commented upon – especially by those fastidiously liberal BBC correspondents – is Obama’s pointedly bellicose language: the US is apparently engaged in a “battle” to be waged in very personal, anthropomorphic terms “against an oil spill that is assaulting” its coast. Considering how relentlessly the Bush “war on terror” was ridiculed, how long will it take before the Obama “war on an oil slick” is labelled as absurd? Given the tone of this morning’s coverage, perhaps not very long at all.

[Ignatz]

--We expect nothing less with such a smart (and cute?) father.--

Well my wife claims I'm cute but that's usually after I stub my toe or inadvertantly entertain her in some other painful way, but fortunately as OL rightly suspected, our daughter got her mother's beauty and good sense.

--I thought Sheryl Crow came up with the TP edict.--

DoT,
I believe that was a collaborative effort by the braintrust of Crow and David.

[Clarice]

Congrats to Miss Iggy!!

[Captain Hate]

Local Malaysian paper today had Al Gore/Laurie David affair photo's.

Since I have no experience with ex-wives, help a JOMer out: Should Larry David's (a fellow Terp whose time in College Park overlapped mine) reaction be "I can't believe I was once married to a whore who spread her hams for that obese idiot" or "I'm so glad to be rid of that home-wrecking skeezer"? Or are show bidness people immune to such judgemental introspective thoughts?

[Captain Hate]

And kudos to the Ignette.

[jimmyk]

How about diverting all of the cost of the spill clean up on the stockholders?

I don't have a problem with BP shareholders paying for the cleanup (though maybe the government--meaning taxpayers--have some liability for its failures). I just don't like Obama's end run around the law and the Constitution so that he and his minions get to hand out the checks.

[Clarice]

The WaPo has a nasty piece on Ras today ..You cn tell his numbers are getting to them.

[Danube of Thought]

Unexpected:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of people filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped last week after three straight declines, another sign that the pace of layoffs has not slowed.

Initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 472,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the highest level in a month and overshadowed a report that consumer prices remain essentially flat.

[Pofarmer]

Ouch. According to Railfax Auto shipments are headed down, and lumber and wood products are headed back below 2009.

This might sting a bit.

[Pofarmer]

Ouch. According to Railfax Auto shipments are headed down, and lumber and wood products are headed back below 2009.

This might sting a bit.

[Jane]

Congrats to Miss Iggy!!

From me too.

[bgates]

as if he were recruiting his speech writers direct from the student union

When it fact it's the earnest nerds who hang out at the union, and O's staff are more of the off-campus beer pong types.

[Janet]

Legal Insurrection has pointed out how the WaPo has it out for Sharron Angle in Nevada. LUN
Well today the WaPo (pg. A5) has a AP article on Angle's history of party registration.

Why is it the only politician that we can get ZERO info on is Obama?
and...
The WaPo doesn't cover an assault by a Congressman in their home city! but are covering a Nevada Senate candidate's voting registration in the 70's & 80's. She must be pretty clean!

[gmax]

I meant shutting off the dividend suddenly to allow your pal to have an extra legal slush fund to dole out to folks. Yes BP has liability, but the most immediate impact will be upon shareholders. Exxon survived the Valdez and BP will survive this. Exxon did not pay off for years and years and years, and never put the government is charge of passing out dollar bills.

[centralcal]

Thanks for that link, Jane. It was a kick to read! I love the faux business cards (for the press) and SEIU t-shirts for tea party attendees! Too funny.

[Janet]

And Most Importantly...Congrats to Miss Ignatzia!!!

[Jane]

Wasn't it great Centralcal - the best I've read on the tea parties yet - and juxtaposed on Chris Matthews special it is even better. Plus I can't believe Katie's tattoo got more press.

[glasater]

SHOCKER: Republican Apologizes To BP, Accuses White House Of A "Shakedown"

Heh--Texas shows some courage.

[B Mused]

Courage? Barton's statement is the most dumbass thing I ever heard.

You really think apologizing to BP is going to sell on the Redneck Riviera? Think again.

[Jane]

I'm interested in watching that play out Glasater. That event will frame the politics of this event and we need to get out in front of it. On one side you have that mean bad greedy oil company being forced by the president to help the "small" people, and on the other side you have a thug who ignores the Constitution and shakes down a foreign corporation because he can.

[RichatUF]

Well when the BP escrow fund turns into the Obama Administration's "Oil for Food" program we'll see.

[B Mused]

If you actually believe there's a constituency on the Gulf Coast for turning down BP money, well...I don't know. I can't comprehend that level of political stupidity.

[B Mused]

Ok, at least some folks still have their heads screwed on right:

"Rep. Mike Burgess (R-TX), the ranking member of the subcommittee, tells Hayward he won't apologize and, in a hit at Barton, that apologies are not in order."

[Jane]

Yet you feel the need to come here B mused - how stupid does that make you?

[Pofarmer]

I wonder, how much plays into the fact that BP probably has a HUGE fine here. 20 billion might seem like small potato's for being allowed to continue to play. It wouldn't surprise me if they were even angling for some kind of exclusive deal to drill in deep water in the gulf in return for "enhanced oversight" or something to that effect. Lot's of politics going on.

[macphisto]

"Should Larry David's (a fellow Terp whose time in College Park overlapped mine) reaction be "I can't believe I was once married to a whore who spread her hams for that obese idiot" or "I'm so glad to be rid of that home-wrecking skeezer"?"

yes.

[Pofarmer]

huge FIND.

[bgates]

You really think apologizing to BP is going to sell

Suppose a guy (let's call him CNN's Rick Sanchez) gets drunk and runs somebody over and flees the scene. Suppose the crippled guy's family breaks into Sanchez' house to steal some things to help with medical costs. Would that violate Rick's rights?

I think it would. Loathsome people who cause terrible pain and suffering still have rights. We have a civil court system to deal with BP. If they wanted to deal with the caudillo system, they could have drilled wells in Venezuelan waters.

[RichatUF]

Rick-

I'm guessing that oil trading at over $74/bbl for a quarter and spiking to near $90 has probably played a role in sinking any recovery. At least we have the "indispensable man" at Treasury and a clown car full of the finest minds BOzo could round up.

[glasater]

B M--You evidently aren't following the British newspapers...
That BP will not be paying the dividend for about three quarters--estimating there--is upsetting a whole bunch of folks on the other side of the Atlantic.

[Pofarmer]

Pay to play, the Chicago way.

[B Mused]

Actually, I just happen to live in Orange Beach, Alabama and can tell which way the winds are blowing: Onshore with a strong whiff of hydrocarbons.

You won't find an Obama supporter anywhere around my condo, but you would find one way before you find somebody who thinks BP is owed an apology.

Doesn't matter. I see other Repubs are as dumbass as Barton.

[B Mused]

"if they were even angling for some kind of exclusive deal to drill in deep water in the gulf "

Federal leases are granted at public auction to the highest bidder.

[bgates]

If you actually believe there's a constituency on the Gulf Coast for turning down BP money

Isn't that close to where Roy Moore wanted to hang his plaque? I think folks down there still approve of #8.

[B Mused]

Some Brits are upset, Glasater? Tell them BP is compensating Orange Beach condo owners who rent out their units for cancellations through their Claims Office already-and nobody is rejecting the money btw-that'll make them even happier.

Did they ever pay us for burning down the Capitol anyway?.

[bgates]

I see Mr Mused is opposed both to Obama and to the rule of law. I think that's called a "moderate".

[Pofarmer]

Federal leases are granted at public auction to the highest bidder.

Subject to a whole bunch of new regulations, I bet.

Have you ever been involved with a govt bid "written" to the specs of one participant?

[B Mused]

Yeah right Bgates. Here we are in the heart of Moore country:

Alabama BP claims offices

Bayou La Batre (Mobile County)
13290 N. Wintzell Avenue
Bayou LaBatre, Al 36509

Dauphin Island (Mobile County)
1008 Alabama Avenue
Dauphin Island, AL 36528

Foley (Orange Beach/Gulf Shores/Bon Secour, Baldwin County)
1506 North McKenzie Street (HWY 59)
Suite 104
Foley, Al 36535

Gulf Shores /Orange Beach (Baldwin County)
24039 Perdido Beach Blvd
Suite 1
Orange Beach, AL 36561

Mobile (Mobile County)
325 East I-65 Service Rd S
Suite 1
Mobile, AL 36606

And they're all doing banner business

[Pofarmer]

You won't find an Obama supporter anywhere around my condo, but you would find one way before you find somebody who thinks BP is owed an apology.

Doesn't matter. I see other Repubs are as dumbass as Barton.

Venezuela, here we come. Wait for us Hugo, we'll catch up.

[B Mused]

Actually, I meant to say aren't as dumb. As I quoted,

"Rep. Mike Burgess (R-TX), the ranking member of the subcommittee, tells Hayward he won't apologize and, in a hit at Barton, that apologies are not in order."

[Jane]

In B's world popularity rules, the hell with the constitution.

Are you sure you aren't an Obama supporter? You sound just like them.

[Rob Crawford]

Courage? Barton's statement is the most dumbass thing I ever heard.

So you don't like the rule of law?

[glasater]

Good comment--on air at CNBC--regarding Tony Hayward's testimony before Stupak's subcommittee:

Hayward's the smartest guy in the room.