Thanks to FReeper infidel29 for the photoshop.
Cheers!
Posted on 06/18/2010 8:52:43 AM PDT by Kaslin
The night he locked up the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama predicted that generations hence, people would look back on the historic day as "the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." At the time, his words reeked of hubris. Today, they look positively delusional.
President Obama can't stop the oil leak in the Gulf, but he can and should be held accountable for the inept government response to cleaning it up and mitigating its worst effects on the shoreline. And you can bet that if George W. Bush were in the Oval Office, the media would be blaming the president for the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. But they're largely giving Obama a pass, implying that small-government conservatives have no room to complain when government fails to live up to its responsibilities.
Believing in limited government isn't the same thing as believing in no government. Even hard-core libertarians believe that the federal government is responsible for providing for the common defense of the nation. All the small-government conservatives I know believe that government has responsibility to protect the citizenry from attack -- it's the primary reason we pay taxes and live in a civil society.
Granted, millions of gallons of oil washing up onshore in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida is not the same thing as a military or terrorist attack -- but it is an environmental assault that requires federal government action. But the Obama administration's response was slow and ineffective. The president's first reflex was to try to distance himself from the crisis, hoping Americans would blame BP and leave his administration out of the picture. When that didn't work, he opted for photo-ops on the damaged shoreline and angry rhetoric. Now, nearly two months into the crisis, he's decided to use the oil spill to advance his own policy agenda, namely cap-and-trade legislation that would make energy more expensive and punish consumers.
The Obama administration can't stop the oil flow -- only the oil industry has the expertise to do so. But the administration can and should be doing more to protect the shoreline. The president has yet to suspend the Jones Act, which limits the ability of foreign-flag ships to join the effort to contain the spill. Why? Because U.S. maritime trade unions might complain. And he has not done enough to enlist the help and support of other oil companies who have experience dealing with spills. Why hasn't the president asked for help from the Saudis, for example, or enlisted supertankers and foreign skimmers?
Instead, the president delivered an Oval Office address this week -- the first of his presidency -- to try to turn the oil spill disaster into an argument for ending "America's century-long addiction to fossil fuels." And his primary means of doing so is to discourage further exploration for oil and gas on U.S. land and to further tax oil consumption.
The president claims that cap-and-trade legislation -- which would cost Americans up to $200 billion a year in new taxes, according to the Treasury Department's own estimates -- will help create incentives for new, green technologies. But whatever hypothetical jobs might be created in the future, the effect of the legislation would be to kill current jobs today. And with unemployment at nearly 10 percent and sluggish economic growth, the last thing we need is a job-killing tax amounting to $1,700 per year on the average household.
Americans don't want the president to transform the U.S. economy. They don't want him to cure us of addictions to oil -- or anything else for that matter. They don't want him taking over companies like GM or driving other companies out of business -- not even BP. They don't expect him to stop the ocean's rise or heal the planet either. But they do expect him to engage in effective emergency preparation and crisis response. And so far, he's failed to lead the government's efforts at both.
Thanks to FReeper infidel29 for the photoshop.
Cheers!
timeline:
4/20/2010 explosion spill starts
5/9/2010 first beach damage
5/29/2010 top kill fails
6/6/2010 Cap placed to capture some of spilling oil
tampa bay
Cuba
Mexico
Florida east coast
Georgia
South Carolina
North Carolina
Virginia
New England States
Can anyone write an timeline for me? I believe that the disaster occurred ON THE OCEAN SURFACE, not on the BOTTOM. The RIG exploded, burnt and then sank. I believe that during the explosion and fire there was NO oil spill. I believe it was ONLY when the rig tipped and sank, thus snapping the mile long pipeline that the OIL SPILL began.
My question is: Did the explosion, fire and sinking cause the oil spill, or did the oil spill result in the explosion, fire and sinking?
Every view I’ve seen of the oil leakage shows oil gushing from a PIPE, a pipe that is broken. Same question....without the surface accident, would the terrible oil spill be occuring??
Anybody else want to offer some suggestions?
I firmly believe that the explosion on the Deepsea Horizon was an act of terrorism, the aftermath supposedly helping Obama to say,’see, I told you drilling for oil in the Gulf is a foolish gamble. Look at what can happen.’ He’s pushing for ‘green’ technology and it’s not even workable yet. We can’t power our 18-wheelers with it, our cars that get us to work every day. We can’t use wind, solar power, or ethanol to power anything to keep this nation up and running. I know there’s technology out there in the mere development stages that can power vehicles with hydrogen or whatever else they can come up with, but it’s in the BABY stage. It’s going to take a very, very long time before we can switch everything over from oil/gasoline/diesel power to ‘eco-power’. It will happen, just not in the very near future. Obama, quit blowing up oil platforms to try and prove a point and then blame it on the oil company. You are nothing but a liar and we see RIGHT THROUGH YOU.
If you’re sure about that, in the absence of proof, I have a shiny hat I would like to sell you!
This shows you the arrogant p o s and his administration are amateurs and have not learned a thing
If a conservative were president, we’d have a TV show nightly called “Gulf Coast Eco Disaster, Day 68..”
The media might be giving Obama a pass, but voting Americans will not.
See cripplecreek’s post #4
A man was driving down the road and ran out of gas. Just at that moment, a bee flew in his window.
The bee said, ‘What seems to be the problem?’
‘I’m out of gas,’ the man replied.
The bee told the man to wait right there and flew away. Minutes later, the man watched as an entire swarm of bees flew to his car and into his gas tank. After a few minutes, the bees flew out.
‘Try it now,’ said one bee.
The man turned the ignition key and the car started right up. ‘Wow!’ the man exclaimed, ‘what did you put in my gas tank’?
The bee answered,
BeePee (BP)
http://i11.tinypic.com/7xw6ulf.gif
Also, to promote the hiring of trial lawyers.
A gneration ago they would have been ESSO bees.
I have not seen any report that there was a oil leak before the explosion
I dunno what started the oil BLOW OUT [it’s not a ‘spill’] but I still contend SABOTAGE and that someone will verify that the odor is indeed sabotage as soon as the melee in DC calms down a little.
One other thing, Rep Barton was clothes-lined by the RINO and Neo-Con so called “Republicans” into recanting his apology to BP.
Boehner is NOT a leader and should NOT be considered as Speaker of the House. And believe me when I am less angry than I am right now, I will verbally skewer him on his own petard.
I am not so sure that it was an act of terrorism. At the same time I am not sure it was an accident either, but no one can prove it since 11 people died and they can not be asked what caused the explosion
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