Stop the watch! Following the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, Barack Obama has finally decided...after 67 days of intense Harvard-trained thinking...that the U.S. should accept the months-old offers of clean-up assistance from other nations.
One might well ask, if it's a good idea now, why wasn't it a good idea two months ago when the oil was still at sea, close to the origination site, and far from beaches, wildlife, and wetlands?
The answer, of course, is that it was a good idea then...but in order to protect the jobs of U.S. union members, Obama wouldn't waive the "Jones Act" which forbids international ships from doing commercial activities in our waters. And Obama stuck to this pro-union, anti-environment position until it became clear that his policy had allowed the oil spill to grow completely out of control.
Which is, no doubt, why democrats are blocking the attempts of Republicans to visit the Gulf so they can inspect the damage caused by the president's policies.
And also why, from now on, when any lefty liberal sneers at George Bush's response to hurricane Katrina, we need to say "Remind me...was that delay more than 67 days?"
17 comments:
Here's the scoop on the delay and what led up to the spill. Deliberate? I think this makes a strong case that is has been deliberate.
Since when can democrats keep ANY one in the country from going to ANY place in the country, including down south to survey damage?
And, never forget, Bush's response to Katrina was to try to get the Gov to declare a state of emergency so he COULD respond... Legally, his hands were tied until she asked for help.
Suzy- The democrats can't physically bar the republicans from going to inspect the damage...but they are making sure that any such trips wouldn't be financed or officially sanctioned by the government.
The other thing that the Dems can do to prevent travel is to bring important legislation to the floor for a vote at a time when they know the Republicans are away, or at least they can threaten to do so. This is an effective travel ban. They follow no procedures now, so votes can happen at any time.
From the standpoint of America, the assistance was always a good idea. From the standpoint of Obama, who seeks to maximize the damage, he had to wait until he thought he had obtained about all the damage he could possibly justify before acting. This is what he did, as we see.
"...after 67 days of intense Harvard-trained thinking..."
Ha! Well put. You are linked at Corndog under "Today's Forecast"
I forgot who said this today on the radio, but Obama and the Dems fear the media coverage of a Republican trip would feature Bobby Jindal who speaks with great precision and depth and DOESN'T need a teleprompter.
Sounds like Nancy Pelosi agrees that they should see the oil spill (from the article linked above - "inspect the damage"):
“Every Member should see the result of eight years of failed Bush-Cheney energy policies that have done nothing to secure our energy future,” said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill
It doesn't make me want to reach down this guy's throat and rip out his vocal chords. It makes me want to reach up his a** and rip out his vocal chords.
Red- many thanks for the link! "Caught Him With A Corndog" has been added to our bloglist in the sidebar!
Readers- You're making a lot of great points. Just to repeat a few, Bush was forbidden from sending federal troops to help in Louisiana until their governor allowed it...and she was the one who did the foot-dragging.
On another note, we do believe that this administration has intentionally escalated the damage from the spill because it serves their longterm goals.
Yeh you guys are right on! So was Jay Leno (no conservative he) when he said...
The liberals are asking us to give Obama time. We agree . . . and think 25 to life would be appropriate.
I like the image of the oil stain in the cartoon. I think this is going to be a permanent stain on Obama's legacy. For the next 30-40 years, the Gulf coast area will serve as a real & visible reminder of the Obama Presidency at it's worst (we hope there aren't more disasters).
I just tripped across this - granted, it's from the Republicans, but there is a lot of "ammo" in it:
How the White House Public Relations Campaign on the Oil Spill is Harming the Actual Clean-up
Here's a summary of the findings - I apologize for the lenght, but it is "must read":
..Officials on the ground dispute key White House assertions about the number and
timeliness of assets deployed in the Gulf. Local officials describe White House outreach efforts as more focused on stopping bad press than on addressing the disaster at hand;
• The White House’s assurances that there are adequate resources are at odds with the reality on the ground, where those on the frontline of the spill express significant frustration over the lack of assets. Local complaints are supported by the fact that the White House waited until Day 70 of the oil spill to accept critical offers of international assistance. Local workers and boats could have been assisting more with the clean-up if the Federal government had provided them with needed supplies
and equipment;
• While the White House has tried to use the delay in finding a visible leak to explain
its early silence on the oil spill, Transocean officials and Coast Guard documents from the scene of the oil spill reveal clear and early indications of a substantial oil leak days earlier than White House accounts;
• The failure of Administration officials to quickly waive laws preventing necessary
foreign assets from reaching the Gulf and other regulations are hampering efforts to
clean-up and limit damage from the oil spill. Local officials feel the federal government is making the perfect the enemy of the good in cleanup efforts;
• Local officials strongly dispute President Obama’s insistence that the federal government – and not BP – has been in control since day one. One Coast Guard Admiral told congressional investigators that decisions on the ground are made through a “consensus-based” process with BP. In practice, the Federal Government is not in charge of oil spill response efforts through a command-and-control approach;
• Local officials strongly believe the President’s call for a drilling moratorium will
significantly compound the economic damage caused by the oil spill and will actually
increase risk associated with future offshore drilling projects.
alan- Good stuff, and the length isn't a problem. Pixels are cheap!
Since we've decided pixels are cheap, here are a few more:
Obama Administration Rejected Help with Oil Spill Cleanup
Environmentalism, Politics — By Jamal Washington on June 11, 2010 at 9:08 pm
I have been trying not to be too hard on the Obama Administration regarding their bungling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. After all, this is Obama’s first real job and he’s a lawyer, not an engineer. It turns out that my forbearance in criticizing the Obama administration over this issue was largely unearned.
Three days after the explosion, the Dutch government offered to assist the United States by sending ships equipped with oil-skimming booms. It also provided a plan for creating sand barriers to protect the sensitive marshlands of the Gulf coast.
According to Geert Visser, Consul General for the Netherlands in Houston “The embassy got a nice letter from the administration that said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’”
Almost seven weeks later, the administration finally relented and agreed to accept partial Dutch assistance with the cleanup. The administration has not accepted Dutch ships, but has allowed the skimming booms to be airlifted from the Netherlands and deployed in the Gulf.
Part of the problem is the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, also known as the Jones Act. This act is a piece of protectionist legislation which requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. The provisions of this act make it illegal for the Dutch to come to our aid.
Geert Visser was noticeably confused by the administrations intransigence in refusing Dutch assistance, “What’s wrong with accepting outside help? If there’s a country that’s experienced with building dikes and managing water, it’s the Netherlands.”
The government is also making it difficult for the Dutch to provide assistance in creating sand barriers to prevent the spilled oil from reaching the gulf shores. Van Oord, a Dutch company and Deltares, a Dutch research institute provided plans to build 60 mile sand dikes and the government rebuffed their offer of assistance. The government has now changed it’s tune and has accepted the plan, but the Jones Act prevents the Dutch from operating in America’s coastal waters.
The United States Maritime Administration could issue a waiver of the Jones Act limitations, and has done so several times in the past. Doing so, however, would subject the Obama administration to criticism from labor unions who demand protection from global competition
Clearly, it's all about image, and making the most of the biggest disaster in history, while somehow twisting reality so the little "o" loons think all the damage is from Dubyah's close ties to Big Oil, instead of the fumbling of the ditherer in chief. Any five year old could have done a better job of decision making than this overeducated fool and his claque of leftist lunatics, all "Havahd Dons" without a single real job on any of their puffed up resume's.
Hate to admit once being an Ivy League type myself, seeing the damage the latest crop of empowered poltroons have wraught. Used to be some of those schools produced engineers, scientists, deep thinkers with practical minds capable of solvng problems and advancing our very civilization. Now we get lawyers and community organizers....parasites in other words, sucking the very lifeblood out of our nation a drop, or a barrel, at a time. Ought to be open season on idiots, at least as far as being able to fire the lot of them and start over. Yes, Stilton, I really did pull that last punch, eliminating the "Really Big Wood Chipper" line of reasoning that was my first thought on what to do with a big pile of poltroons. Whats the count, 435 plus the top dummy? Big enough pile.
I don't know what will be the worse stain...the oil spill, or this Arizona thing that's getting worse and worse by the day....
As someone in a news comment mentioned...Arizona has a leak, and Obama needs to get down there and plug the hole!
Our poor country is leaking everywhere. :-(
Front Woodsman- A great post, and it directly contradicts what Whitehouse spokesman Robert Gibbs declared today: that it is a "myth" that the government turned down foreign help, and it's been disproved "hundreds of times."
Oh really? Where are the ships, Bob? Why is the giant "A Whale" skimmer still not allowed? (And yes, we know it's really because the EPA doesn't want water to be "just 90% better").
Lies and ineptitude are a dangerous combination, but only when the media reports them and the public cares.
And metaphorically speaking, we've got no problems with Really Big Wood Chippers. At this point, the idea is probably growing on Marge Gunderson...
Obama: Kicking ass & forming commissions.
Obama's certainly a Marxist, but he fails miserably at it. Mao & Lenin would not have fumbled their opportunity for revolution as badly as Obama is. Either that, or his form of silent revolution via legislation is the most ingenious takeover in Marxist history. Imagine what Mao would've done had he been given a foaming group of Leftists demanding that their leader do MORE.
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