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OIL SLICK IS NOBODY'S FAULT
boblonsberry.com ^ | 05/25/10 | Bob Lonsberry

Posted on 05/25/2010 5:14:59 AM PDT by shortstop

It’s not Obama’s fault.

It’s not British Petroleum’s fault.

It was just an accident. And everyone is doing everything they can to stop the leak and clean up the mess.

That’s the truth, and fair-minded people ought to be willing to acknowledge it.

But few are.

Instead, the explosion of an oilrig in the Gulf of Mexico is being seen through exclusively political eyes as factions jockey to play the mishap to their political and philosophical advantage.

The Marxists in the administration and the Democratic Party crucify BP as the representative of the capitalism they hate. Republicans crucify Barack Obama and his administration, hoping to turn this into their political Katrina.

No one seems truly concerned about the leak or the damage it might cause, though they address the evening news through crocodile tears and with ever-more-dramatic rhetoric.

It is not a catastrophe, it is a game being played to political advantage. The liberals want to twist it into a weapon to use against corporations and the petroleum industry. The conservatives want to twist it into a weapon to use against Barack Obama and the dolts in his party and administration.

I am a conservative Republican, and I see Barack Obama as a great danger to the United States. On Thursday, his party gelded our banking and financial industry, hurting our economy for years to come. On Friday, he announced big-truck mileage standards that will make transporting everything in our economy significantly more expensive. On Saturday, he told the Corps of Cadets that American defense policy should be made in cooperation with foreign powers, in harmony with a new world order. In my book, there’s no shortage of things to condemn Barack Obama for.

But this isn’t one of them.

He’s not in bed with the oil companies. He’s not uncaring of the environment. He has not blown off his duties in regard to the oil spill.

And neither has British Petroleum.

The company has worked tirelessly, resourcefully and expensively. It is trying everything humanly possible and working as fast as it can.

There are no bad guys in this.

There was just a terrible accident.In an unprecedented malfunction, an oil platform blew up, redundant protections failed and oil has billowed into the sea. To the best of our technology, the mishap was unforeseeable and unpreventable. We may know more going forward, based on what we have learned in this experience, but going in we were doing everything right.

And the astoundingly successful safety record of the American offshore oil industry proves that. There are hundreds and hundreds of platforms pulling oil out of the seabed, to the great benefit of our country and economy, and they do so without a glitch.,p>

This has never happened before, it is uncharted territory.

And the company and the government have responded the best way they knew how. Nobody was trying to hurt anyone, nobody was being negligent, everyone did their best.

Have they gotten everything right?

Of course not. That’s not human nature.

And perhaps BP should have better predicted the obstacle freezing oil sludge would be at such depths. And probably the government was too quick and too extensive in its fishing bans. Perhaps the feds should have moved more quickly to approve state measures to build temporary sandbars.

But hindsight’s 20/20.

And political sniping is cheap.

And this isn’t a commentary on Democrats or Big Business, this is a problem that faces us all and demands the best of each of us and all of our factions. The company and the federal government will need to work together to tackle this mess. Finger pointing and skapegoating, along with political grandstanding, have no place in this.

British Petroleum and the federal government are together making it up as they go along, hoping that their innovation and effort can rise to the challenge of this situation.

They both should be encouraged – and even prayed for – instead of attacked in the name of a political agenda.

I am grateful for what BP has done, and I am grateful for what the federal government has done. And I hope soon their efforts can bear fruit.

But I recognize this disaster for what it is: A terrible accident.

It’s not Obama’s fault.

It’s not British Petroleum’s fault.

It’s just an accident.


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bigoil; bp; energy; lonsberry; oil
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I can just imagine where the fingers would be pointing if Dubya was still in the White House.
1 posted on 05/25/2010 5:14:59 AM PDT by shortstop
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To: shortstop

exactly. I wonder what Bob Lonsberry had to say about Katrina


2 posted on 05/25/2010 5:17:18 AM PDT by babble-on
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To: shortstop

Unless of course it was sabotage perpetrated by the North Koreans (puppet of the ChiComs) and it was a just a test run for future attacks.

Obammie the Commie certainly has shown what a great leader his with his response to this mess. Have a good golf game, you brat.


3 posted on 05/25/2010 5:18:38 AM PDT by Ghost of Philip Marlowe (Prepare for survival.)
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To: shortstop

I just dont know why this hasnt happened before now. With thousands of these rigs in the Oceans it is a miracle it hasnt happened before.

Of course this accident isnt anyone’s fault, but the idea’s to stop such a disaster when it did happen, should have been somewhere in the plans of those who do the drilling and those who’s duty it is to see that it is done right.


4 posted on 05/25/2010 5:18:53 AM PDT by Venturer
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To: shortstop

BP has a lot to answer for. It’s obvious that they knew the Anti blow back device was not operational. This company has a history of this kind of disregard for safety. We need to drill off shore so it is absolutely essential that the oil companies not give liberals the excuse to shut it down. BP is a miserable failure and they should be banned from drilling in the gulf or any where else where a responsible corporation is required!


5 posted on 05/25/2010 5:20:57 AM PDT by ontap
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To: shortstop

i suppose the dems had no idea what legs the katrina blame game was going to have. for every action is there is an equal and opposite reaction.


6 posted on 05/25/2010 5:21:44 AM PDT by lonster
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To: shortstop
The problem of politicization exists because Obama, rather than being a post-partisan president, has injected politics into everything.

Healthcare, race, immigration, national defense, Israel, automobiles, finance...all now matters of partisan politics.

So who can be surprised that an oil spill is political first and foremost?

7 posted on 05/25/2010 5:23:14 AM PDT by SonOfDarkSkies (Obama: "Lawless...with all power, signs and lying wonders")
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To: shortstop

“It’s not anybody’s fault” sounds suspiciously like the rationalization we accuse the left of. I don’t buy it that no one is culpable here. Corners were definitely cut and those parties should be held accountable.


8 posted on 05/25/2010 5:24:42 AM PDT by saganite (What happens to taglines? Is there a termination date?)
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To: shortstop

They will eventually blame the eleven dead oil workers...............


9 posted on 05/25/2010 5:25:02 AM PDT by Red Badger (When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you'll know that its desolation is NEAR. Luke 21)
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To: shortstop
He’s not in bed with the oil companies.

BS, BL! BO + BP in BED.

10 posted on 05/25/2010 5:25:16 AM PDT by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (STOP the Tyrananny State.)
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To: Venturer

“I just dont know why this hasnt happened before now. With thousands of these rigs in the Oceans it is a miracle it hasnt happened before.”

IT HAS:

http://home.versatel.nl/the_sims/rig/i-blowout.htm


11 posted on 05/25/2010 5:28:14 AM PDT by Red Badger (When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you'll know that its desolation is NEAR. Luke 21)
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To: shortstop

It’s true. Obama did his best. Which was nothing.

Broken clock syndrome.


12 posted on 05/25/2010 5:28:33 AM PDT by Lee'sGhost (Johnny Rico picked the wrong girl!)
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To: shortstop

NO approved blowout plan approved by the OBAMA government before they started drilling and BP cheaped out on the BOP they used!


13 posted on 05/25/2010 5:34:31 AM PDT by WellyP
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To: shortstop
1. The accident was BP's responsibility.

2. The accident occurred partially due to lack of controls and oversight from the Federal government. Apparently they were too busy meddling in the affairs of the states and private citizens to do what they are really supposed to do.

3. The oil spill / slick has grown, because 0bamao and his regime couldn't have cared less about the plight of a bunch of hard working Americans, so they casually sat on their arses.

4. The Gulf will likely become a "Dead Zone" for decades. Those who previously enjoyed recreational activities there, or gained their livelihood from fishing, etc. are SOL and had better find other employment.

14 posted on 05/25/2010 5:36:19 AM PDT by The Sons of Liberty (The 0bama regime represents an "Clear and Present Danger" to the US - Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin)
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To: shortstop

Yes, it was an accident.

But doing nothing for over a month while the oil inched ever closer to the shores is Obama’s fault. Every last drop of it.

If the Gulf States have no plan to protect their beaches it’s time they woke up and figured out that Obama is not a man of action, but rather inaction.

His history of voting PRESENT ought to have clued them in over a year ago.


15 posted on 05/25/2010 5:38:10 AM PDT by Carley (WE CAN SEE NOVEMBER FROM OUR HOUSE)
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To: shortstop; P-Marlowe; Dr. Eckleburg; Buggman

BS

Lonsberry’s lost his mind

It is LEADERSHIP’S responsibility to fix broken things. The Zero leadership experience is telling right now with Obama.

It is no less than hand-wringing, abrogated LEADERSHIP, Mr Lonsberry.

Wake up and grow up! Quit trying to make everything about political gamesmanship between 2 parties. This is so clearly a leadership deficit that it would take only a politically motivated operative to say that it isn’t.

Lonsberry realizes that all previous administrations are guilty of neglect in coming up with plans for dealing with such things, and he thinks his party will get a black eye if the fighting starts. He’s right. They should.

But those who are interested in the nation and not the interests of their political party see this for what it is: the inability of an inexperience political hack to get off the dime.


16 posted on 05/25/2010 5:44:02 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and proud of it. Those who truly support our troops pray for their victory!)
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To: shortstop
Obama, the Democrats and the trial lawyers have every incentive to cause this problem to drag out indefinitely. They have no incentive to allow the problem to be solved. Since the oil companies are under Obama's boot and the media are on his side, it will be difficult for the public to know what is really going on or what really happened. What we do know is that Obama "took charge" of the situation a month ago. With that, he took responsibility. So rather than conceding to the lying demagogue in the White House, we should say:

OBAMA'S FAULT


17 posted on 05/25/2010 5:49:47 AM PDT by Ragnar54 ("Beer for My Horses")
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To: shortstop
It’s not Obama’s fault.

Yes it is.

It’s not British Petroleum’s fault.

Yes it is.

It was just an accident. And everyone is doing everything they can to stop the leak and clean up the mess.

It was an accident waiting to happen and Obama acted against early preventative measures.

That’s the truth, and fair-minded people ought to be willing to acknowledge it.

No it isn't and only lying Obama sycophants are peddling this crap. The RATs (green weenies) caused the spill by forcing deep water drilling.

Obama could have allowed the slick to be ignited early on...but no.

Obama could have allowed the use of hay cannons early on...but no.

He needed a perfectly good crisis which he had planned to not let go to waste.

Now the big mess is washing ashore in the Gulf causing billions of dollars of damage.

He richly deserves and should be forced to wear this one.

18 posted on 05/25/2010 5:50:23 AM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate "Republicans Freed the Slaves Month")
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To: shortstop

My issue is that there were certain decisions that led up to this “accident”.

Why did the rig explode? This is a sign that there was a blowout of gas. Oil alone does not explode. It burns, but not easily.

Why was there a blowout of gas? If there was a lack of drilling mud, or if it was of insufficient density, this could happen. 90 years of drilling would lead one to think that these sophomoric mistakes would not occur.

The BOP failed. I am not an expert, and I am really out of my element when it come to deep water wells, but the BOP is the most crucial part of any well, and I cannot remember when one failed. They are simple (relatively) and robust, with 2 and sometimes 3 backups. When hurricanes blast these off shore rigs and even sink them, the primary reason there is no leak is due to the BOP. There is a type of BOP called an annular which is used to test well integrity and pressure and is activated regularly to perform these and other tests. It HAD to have worked within the week before the accident.

I cannot believe that this “just happened”. There is a reason, and someone has the answers.

Nothing happens in a vacuum. Nothing.


19 posted on 05/25/2010 5:51:04 AM PDT by Mr. Quarterpanel (I am not an actor, but I play one on TV)
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To: shortstop

Why doesn’t Mr Lonsberry address the fact that Obama received more campaign donations from BP than any other candidate? What about BP’s lack of mandatory inspections over the last year?


20 posted on 05/25/2010 5:54:42 AM PDT by Grizzled Bear (Does not play well with others.)
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