ChronWatch Interviews Obama (Pretend)

ChronWatch: Mr. President, what is your reaction to the negative criticism you have received over the BP oil spill?

Obama: I don’t understand it at all. After all, I’ve made several speeches and trips to the Gulf Coast. I beat up on BP unmercifully. I personally and publicly insulted Tony Hayward. I forced BP to agree to a $20 billion fund without any legal basis at all. What else could I do?

ChronWatch: The public seems to think you should have acted to control the effects of the spill.

Obama: You’ve been listening to Bobby Jindal. Don’t forget he is a Republican. What do you expect him to say?

ChronWatch: Hayward apologized many times for the spill. He stated over and over that BP would do whatever it took to make things right for those affected. Do you think it was necessary to come down so hard on him publicly?

Obama: Those Brits give me a pain. They think they are so cool. That’s why I sent the Churchill statute back where it belongs. That Hayward guy is way so “Brit cool.” I enjoyed taking advantage of him. Does he really think that $20 million will be the end of it? I learned in Chicago that you kick’em real good while they’re down. Isn’t that what presidential power is all about?
To top it off, Henry Waxman and his fellow weasels pounded on Hayward again. No wonder he went back to London with his tail between his legs. We gave him a good mugging, that’s what.

ChronWatch: So, what is your next step on controlling the spill?

Obama: Now that we have flummoxed BP in every way possible, we can use the incident to stop all off shore drilling. That will really please the environmental groups. Also, I’ll make a couple dozen speeches connecting the spill to global warming. Maybe we can jam through cap and trade like we did health care.

ChronWatch: But, what about the spill?

Obama: Can you tell me what else there is to do? As far as I am concerned my work is done except for a few more speeches. Meanwhile, my cabinet and I can relax and have another snow cone. After that, I plan to get in a round of golf.

Obama: politics trumps environmental concerns

From the outset, the potential environmental impact from the BP oil spill shocked the nation. We watched as BP worked to stop the leak and to control the spill damage. Almost two months later, we sit stunned as we realize the Obama administration has made no effort to assist, none. It has become clear Barack views the catastrophic BP spill as a political opportunity, not an environmental disaster. As a result, the administration has adopted an approach of “do nothing, just blame BP.”

Apparently this is right out of the Rahm Emanuel thesis of “it’s a shame to waste a crisis.” Barack’s only reaction has been to mount relentless attacks on BP. That approach fits right in with his Main Street versus Wall Street theme. All corporations are bad. Oil companies are especially evil. Their product is filthy and nasty. All corporate executives are dishonest. BP’s group leads the pack. Keep pounding on the theme that no punishment is too severe for BP.

In doing so, the administration managed to divert public attention away from falling Obama poll numbers and endless tea parties. However, to Obama’s apparent surprise, the public expected much more from their president. To the public, this event was not unlike 9/11. To the everyday American, the spill crisis represented an unexpected attack on a segment of the traditional American way of life, even if the environmental impact was regional. They expected their president to mount a campaign that attacks and defeats this national problem. Americans expect an effort they can talk about and be proud of. A Chicago style rubbish campaign was the very last thing they expected or wanted. Instead of being proud, they are ashamed.

Minimizing the damage to the environment from the spill would have been an ideal government intervention. Tell BP to concentrate on stopping the spill. That is their area of expertise. Then, put together a national effort to control the oil from the spill. I am sure BP would agree to reimburse the government for such an effort. Put the slimy Waxman inquisitions on hold until the spill is stopped. Tell Eric Holder to stay at home (and be quiet). Advise the trial lawyers to “cool it.” Form a committee of Gulf governors that talks daily with Obama to set priorities. Put out daily reports on the real status of the environmental impact, beach by beach, marsh by marsh. Stop the irrelevant pounding on whether the spill is 10,000 barrels a day or 40,000. Encourage the media to paint a balanced picture of the problem. i.e., we’ve seen enough oil soaked pelicans. In other words, get real, guys.

Ah, but such an effort requires a presidential leader. Instead, we elected an ineffective, and highly political, word machine. This president just doesn’t get it. Sad!

Barack made a speech the other day complaining about the popularity of high tech gadgets.
He said,

“With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, -- none of which I know how to work -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation."

The media was mystified by his comments. Up to now, everyone assumed Barack was way cool with any and all high-tech gadgets. He is widely quoted as saying he would never be separated from his Blackberry. So, why is Obama suddenly dinging all these modern, and popular, tools of communication and amusement?

It’s simple if you think about it. Barack views those gadgets as personal competitors. As he sees the world, his main role in life is to share his brilliance with the much less enlightened public. He fulfills this self-induced mission by giving speech after speech after speech. A person, or any object, that interferes with that role is simply unacceptable. Put simply, if people are playing with any of those devices they cannot be listening to him read from his teleprompter.

After all, giving a speech is second only to food and sex on Barack’s priority list, and I’m not too sure about ranking sex ahead of talking.

“Send in the clowns, send in the clowns.” So goes the famous Sondheim song. The song writer must have been thinking of the Obama administration when he added the line: “Don’t bother, they‘re here.”

Super Chief Barack jetted off to West Point to bore the graduating cadets with another teleprompter speech that only he is impressed with. He tells the cadets there is a new international order underway. The cadets must have been thinking, “Yeah, one where the U.S. is a second rate member if this guy has anything to do with it.”

Obama’s foreign affairs whip, Hillary, is always ready to chip in whether needed or not. She was in China giving away teddy bears at the Shanghai Expo. True! Later, Clinton engaged in saber rattling over the latest North/South Korean flap. She tells her Chinese counterpart, “Oh yes, we are supporting South Korea in their charge that North Korea torpedoed their ship. We must work together to address this challenge and advance our shared objectives of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula," she said.

Here is the same lady who passed out teddy bears now pressing for an aggressive approach to the Korean problem. That’s just great, Hillary, blab us into another war. The Chinese must wonder if Hillary and Obama have not noticed that their messages are always ignored by the Chinese government.

The Head of the I.C.E., John Morton, warned that I.C.E. may not process illegal immigrants referred by the state of Arizona. Under Obama, enforcing the law is apparently optional.

Meanwhile various administration honchos lined up behind the microphone to weigh in on the BP oil spill. “We are on them, watching them,” Napolitano said. “We are going to stay on this and stay on BP until this gets done and it gets done the right way.”

Dick Durbin, one of the senators touring the damage area, accused BP of relying on “excuses” and said the company’s initials now stand for “beyond patience.”

EPA’s Carol Browner insisted that the government is in control of the oil spill effort. Amazing!

Despite all of the strong performances noted above, Ken Salazar takes the ChronWatch Weekly Clown Prize. On his visit to Louisiana he notes after leaving BP’s Houston headquarters: "I am frustrated. I am angry. We are 33 days into this effort, and deadline after deadline has been missed," he told reporters "If we find they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way appropriately."

There was one moment of sanity, however. The Coast Guard Admiral in charge noted that “the Coast Guard is in the hands of BP to solve this problem. Only they have the expertise. We do not.”

Yet, bumbling Ken is going “to push them put of the way.” I assume he will place the Post Office in charge of the effort.

These guys (clowns) are all hopeless.

The BP oil spill: A sickening government response

The BP oil spill could have an enormous impact on the entire Gulf coast environment. That statement should define it as a problem of national significance. Accordingly, one would expect every possible resource to be assembled focusing on stopping the leak and controlling the spill. That group effort would include BP, all of the oil companies, technical experts outside the industry, and any arm of government that could lend assistance.

Part of that process has happened. BP and the oil industry have mobilized a huge effort to stop the leak, so far with little success. In contrast, our government has quickly moved into action by playing their favorite game of “placing the blame.” Logic would suggest that fixing blame could wait until the leak was controlled. At the very least, the political witch hunt should not detract from that control effort. But, BP was too easy a target, and a corporate one at that. The liberals hate the oil industry and object to their making a profit. So, taking away that profit fit their preferred mode. They could not contain themselves.

Attorney General Holder sends a team to the Gulf Coast to determine if there was “malfeasance on the part of BP.”

Senator Shelby of Alabama said on CNN, "A lot of this could have been prevented. Where was BP? Were they trying to do this on the cheap? ...Sooner or later there could be a gusher."

The administration issues its famous line, “We are keeping a boot on the throat of BP to insure they suffer the damages from the spill.”

Barbara Boxer asks the Justice Department to launch civil and criminal investigations.

Harry Reid chips in: "Their greed led to 11 horrific and unnecessary deaths. It has harmed an enormous tourism industry, threatened business at countless fisheries and disrupted life for many along the Gulf Coast. As the pollution grows worse, those consequences will only compound.”

That frontal assault on logic and reason would be bad enough. Adding to their misdirected efforts, the politicians issue subpoenas to the very executives who are working around the clock to control the leak and direct spill containment. The execs are dragged before congressional committees and raked over the coals to answer questions whose answers can only logically come from a thorough investigation after the leak is controlled.

Taken literally or figuratively, the response by our government can only be classified as “bad thinking” at the highest level. Little wonder there is a growing mood among the public to throw all of these politicians out, out, out.

We’ve said it all before

But, the message deserves repeating until we correct the Obama problem. Barack plunges ahead on his agenda oblivious to objections from any corner of the American public. His overwrought arrogance convinces him he knows what’s best for all of us. He is totally delusional in reading his lack of success. If you dare to disagree with him, he compares you to Timothy McVeigh. It is embarrassing to have a president who exhibits such a total lack of class by publicly blasting Republican congressmen, Fox News and Rush Limbaugh by name.

With that approach to governing, the Obama administration has created the most serious political divide in the country since the Vietnam War. Fortunately, only political blood will be shed over this confrontation, but the battle could be just as fierce. Before Obama, it was a “given” that the will of the people would ultimately prevail. Now, that fundamental concept is under attack. Ordinary Americans are angry as never before.

Will the American public tolerate such aggressive abuse of their treasured belief in the fundamental fairness of the American way of doing things? I don’t think so.

Earth Day, a “feel good” celebration for liberals

There is no better example of the fuzzy liberal mind than the annual celebration of Earth Day. Liberals believe their primary earthly role is to correct the many failures of our human society. Facts and logic are irrelevant to carrying out this mission. For liberals, it’s all about stoking up their feeling of “doing good.” Liberals believe we humans are busily engaged in destroying the Earth, much like termites chewing up a house. So, the libs commission Earth Day to recognize this sad state of affairs. Then, they can then pat themselves on the back and “feel good” once again. I know that’s amazing, but it’s true.

Mayor Abram Wilson of San Ramon, California recently wrote an article for Alive magazine in celebration of the upcoming 40th Earth Day. It is a perfect example of this mushy liberal thinking. I am sorry to report Mayor Wilson is a Republican, which gives you a good idea of how successful liberals have been in selling their mantra. The good Mayor says:
“Earth Day was designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment….. Now forty years later, the world is in greater risk than ever…… Earth Day 2010 can be a turning point to enhance environmental policy, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and green jobs.”

I am sure the Mayor is a man of intelligence. But, you wouldn’t know it from his verbiage. True to the liberal tradition, he avoids facts and his words have little real meaning. “The world is in greater risk than ever.” With such a dire prediction, one would expect the Mayor to tell us what the great risk is all about.
•“Enhance environmental policy” -What on earth does that mean? What environmental policy?
•“Energy efficiency.” Libs hatred of “nasty” fossil fuels is somehow coupled with fear of dependence on foreign oil. The net result is a liberal policy that is hogwash of the highest order.
•“Renewable energy.” The global warming dogma re-enforces the liberal belief that humans are abusing the Earth, and threatening its survival. Therefore, no evidence is needed to justify a fix that may bust the economy, a fix that is probably not needed in the first place.
•“Green jobs.” This is the liberal coup de grace, a real “feel good” doozy. We can support the Earth Day principles and hit a lick for the economy at the same time. But, all “green jobs” are highly subsidized. Therefore, they divert our economic wealth from better applications.

To be honest, Mr. Wilson, I have a different perspective on the health of the earth. In fact, each of the previous forty years has seen steady progress towards a cleaner environment. Things environmental have steadily gotten better, not worse. . That improvement has been made possible by allocations from the wealth creation of our economic system. The only “dire threat” I see is that fuzzy liberal thinking will interfere with the wealth generation that allows us to continue to improve the environment while also solving important social problems as well.

The dooms day predictions of forty years ago have been totally discredited. But those alarmist warnings of forty years ago have simply been replaced with a new updated version. Back then, the threat was global cooling. Now, it is global warming. Then and now, facts are irrelevant. The global warming hype has been discredited, but remains the cause célèbre for liberals. One can only wonder what the fuzzy liberal mind will dream up for the Earth Day celebration forty years from now. How about a Noah-style flood of the entire earth? If not that, the liberals will think of some dire threat.