Rep. Joe Barton apologized to BP today.
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Backlash for this apology resulted in … an apology for the apology. Finally, Barton retracted his apology to BP.
I’m guessing Barton wished that he had remembered Mark Twain:
“It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.”
Yep.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Expect nothing else from the GOBP, pimps for big oil, big bankers, big insurance companies and against America’s middle class and working poor.
Who could have guessed as Barton has over a $1.5 million in campaign cash from his paymaster and puppeteer. The sooner the GOBP just goes away, the better the country will be.
I have my own post on this.
http://citizentom.com/2010/06/17/when-people-fear-to-call-that-which-is-evil-good/
So you think it is a good idea for our president to put his foot on BP’s neck? That is your idea of justice? When presidents start behaving like judges, juries and executioners, how long will it be before governors, mayors, and others immitate them?
What did he say that was incorrect? What authority does the President or Congress have that enables them to simply demand money from a private entity? There are laws in place, already, to handle this.
This was a shakedown. Obama was using the “Chicago way” to get more money. His “independent” third party is one of his cronies and an employee. Obama is lying, again, to the American public. His management of this crisis has helped no one but himself and his advancement of his agenda. Or so he thinks.
BP, however, is a willing accomplice. They’ve been in bed with this administration from the beginning. $20 billion is the price of not having the government harass them.
The Congressman should have apologized to the American people for the thugs and idiots that are incompetently “running” things. That inquisition of the CEO was a joke. Waxman and his fellow idiots used that for nothing more than grandstanding. They don’t even realize that they looked foolish with most of those questions. Don’t they know that commenting on ongoing investigations tends to screw up said investigations? This was nothing more than a show trial, like those found in USSR.
All of this was to ensure that BP continues to pay money to the government and the politicians. They are “too big to fail.” This way BP pays for Obama’s mistake in ensuring that the oil industry in La. goes under. This way BP pays more mordida to Obama, who is STILL the largest recipient of donations from BP.
If the investigation shows that BP was reckless, nail them. But we already have laws for that. And penalties for that would actually go to the victims, not to a slush fund controlled by President Obama.
And here in the comments we have well-illustrated many of the reasons it’s so hard to take those loud voices on the right seriously. Tom, who has such an undeveloped sense of justice that he can’t even call a mass-murderer a mass-murderer (Pinochet), sees an equivalence between negotiating a solution and behaving as judge, jury, and executioner. Taking that apart would be fun (and useful) in a 9th grade political science class. But with an adult who holds himself out as a thinker? Yeah, pass.
Then there’s Cargosquid, whom I can only presume gets a cardpunch every time he uses an approved talking point like shakedown, slush fund, and Chicago-style (which I’ve always wondered about. Do they do it differently there than in Boston? Or New Orleans? Or Phoenix? Does it come deep dish with extra butter?).
Cargosquid spouts, apparently without engaging in an ounce of critical thinking, the refrain (common in some circles) that the Obama Administration has managed this mess to its advantage. What?! Is there a single person out there who looks at it and says “Huh. I’m impressed with what they’ve done.”? No, not a one. Sure, some of us are less damning than others (or realize that the calls for various actions fail to appreciate the reality of the situation), but to see this as working to the Administration’s advantage requires a special kind of removal from reality.
Then there’s the reflexive objection to the idea that a company might choose to actually pay for the harms that it has caused, instead of fighting it out. This highlights a number of things. First, the claim that the GOP is the party of personal responsibility is a complete and utter joke. Always has been. Next, that the usual objection to getting lawyers involved isn’t as important as the idea of a corporation not being held accountable for the damages it inflicts. Finally, it’s more important to score imaginary political points by attacking the Administration than ensuring that those harmed by this disaster are assured of compensation. But let’s not be too hard on Cargosquid here – he’s only following the lead of Joe Barton and the rest of his merry band of halfwits.
The only thing Cargosquid gets half-right is the bit on the grandstanding. It really wasn’t useful (tho’ I’m certain he’d be whinging about a lack of it, if they’d not held the hearing). The difference between us, though, is that I was disgusted because I know all that expressed concern will disappear when it comes time to craft and vote on a fix. He’s just pissed off that there was any concern expressed in the first place.
Back in the 20th Century, it was (if I recall) the Third Rule of Politics that you never interrupted your opponent while he was busy making a mistake. Thanks to the increasing prominence of the Internet in the 21st Century, the rule has been amended to read: “If your opponent is busy making a mistake, interrupt him immediately.
“Because you’ll additionally be able to embarrass all the morons who feel the irrational urge to rush to his defense.”
Its fascinating that MB can read minds.
Having grown up in New Orleans, well, they do it the same way there. The big boss comes by and says, unless we get some money, things will go worse for you.
Of course, BP could do a negotiated settlement. I would applaud that. But that’s not Obama’s job. His job is to enforce the existing laws. If BP voluntarily states, that, above and beyond what is required, that they will pay for “x”, which they appear to have done, by stating that they take responsibility for the spill, then, great! But bringing the weight of the Presidential office by stating that “I will inform them that BP will do “x”, then that is not lawful. The President does not have that authority.
As to managing this to their advantage, apparently MB doesn’t listen to what they’ve said over the last two years about not letting crises go to waste, or even Obama’s last speech about advancing Cap and Trade because of the spill. Of course, his actions advance his agenda. MB thinks that the same fellows that had oversight of this disaster and failed, should automatically be given a pass. Because we all know that President Obama is here to only provide hope. Especially for those soon to be unemployed oil workers in La. Or should BP be forced to pay those people that Obama forced out of work.
These inquisitors like Waxman care only for the sound of their voices. They care only in “gotcha” politics. They all know that the CEO would be unable to answer loaded questions. Did you notice that these same politicians can’t handle the same thing at town hall meetings? MB likes to just follow the government information and move along. He doesn’t see anything wrong with the incompetence being shown in the gulf. Obama is either incompetent or is doing everything on purpose. Which is it? Show me one thing that Obama has done right in the Gulf.