Five weeks have now passed since the Deep Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico began leaking oil. After a fire and sinking of the rig used by BP to tap into oil a mile deep in the sea bed, we learned that it took at least nine days before the Obama administration took the event seriously. In fact, we’re now finding out that some government officials may have known about safety issues on the rig long before the fire. This weekend, former Alaskan governor, Sarah Palin, who knows way more about the oil industry than Barack Obama, fired off another volley of criticism on the Media’s free ride to Obama, and his being the Number One individual recipient of BP campaign contributions in the past 20 years!
With oil now entering Atlantic currents and threatening to spread along the entire Eastern seaboard, the Main Stream Media and Leftist environmental groups are still giving the Obama administration a pass. You’d think that the Media would be getting irritated by now with Obama’s lack of open press conferences (last one was in July ‘09) and the use by the White House of it’s own private news division to interview Elena Kagan. Not the first time the Obama administration has done that, either.
Can you image what sort of mass outrage there would be if all of this happened while George W. Bush were still president? A few voices in the MSM and the Far Left have taken Obama to task on his continuation of the Patriot Act. Cindy Sheehan is still around complaining about Obama and his war efforts. But for the most part, Obama remains ‘clean’ of any fault.
Sarah Palin is one of the few opposing voices even in the Republican Party. While she supports domestic oil drilling, she accurately points out that we have plenty of options which are far safer than doing deep water, distant off shore drilling. White House shill, Robert Gibbs, tried to dismiss her arguments, but he seems to have forgotten her personal experience with the oil industry, not to mention that her husband is ‘rough-neck’ himself.
Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, is trying to get a new barrier deployed to protect his state’s shoreline, but is meeting opposition from the Obama administration. The EPA is demanding that an environmental impact statement be filed first. I suppose they haven’t considered the impact on the environment if the barrier is not deployed! Already, some 50 miles of coastal wetlands have been contaminated. Maybe when the whole Gulf coast is soaked in oil, the EPA will take some action?
This disaster has longer term implications than the Katrina Hurricane, and Obama is doing nothing about it. Where is the outrage? When will the ‘true believers’ stand up for their causes? Obama has had five weeks to act and has failed to do so. Sarah Palin is absolutely correct in her criticism of Obama’s handling of this crisis. Of course, what real crisis has he acted on yet? The border with Mexico is a war-zone. Our economy is in shreds. Terrorists are more active now than ever before. We’re losing credibility around the world. All Obama has to show for his first 17 months in office is a massive government take-over of health care after ginning up a phony crisis on that. And now the Gulf oil spill. Maybe when tar balls start floating ashore on the Potomac River, Obama will spare a few moments to deal with the crisis? Don’t hold your breath!










May 24th, 2010 at 6:55 am
PLEASE,this may be a learning moment for red states….
Lets’ face it, the red states along the Gulf of Mexico sold out to BIG OIL a long time ago…………….and now theyv’e “fouled thier own nest”……..so, it’s time to blame someone……..let’s blame Obama……or better
yet the Federal Government…….if that won’t
work…..”s**t happens” as Ryan Paul would rationalize it.
Well, why is it that the Northeast and the West
didn’t buy into the offshore drilling?
Too risky?
Ryan Pauls’ solution to this is let BIG OIL
self-regulate…….if you red states buy this bs you deserve what you get.
ed
May 24th, 2010 at 7:39 am
Take heart, Andrew. This crisis is inspiring anger — and anguish — in hearts on the right and left alike. Obama’s catching some heat for this, that’s certain.
I voted for the man and still support him on most issues, but I’m absolutely heart sick over the Gulf fishermen who can no longer work, the dying wildlife in the area, and the devastation the whole region will face for years. Your disgust with this whole scene is palpable, justified, and widespread.
But Sarah Palin can still suck it…
May 24th, 2010 at 7:39 am
Well she has no credibility when she “slams Obama” (with lies) again – she’s like the high-school class troublemaker.
From http://www.opensecrets.org : “BP: All Recipients. Among federal candidates (1989 – 2010)…There’s a $3,751 difference between what Obama received & the next highest recipient, Don Young (R-Alaska)!! Big friggin deal – hardly justifies publicly accusing the President of the United States of collusion with BP.
Did she bother to fact-check? No just ran her idle mouth and counted on the media not fact checking (which they didn’t)?
Obama, Barack (D-Ill) $77,051
Young, Don (R-Alaska) $73,300
Stevens, Ted (R-Alaska) $53,200
Bush, George W (R-Texas) $47,388
McCain, John (R-Ariz) $44,899
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/recips.php?id=D...
PLEASE NOTE – 4 of 5 top recipients are Republicans!
I didn’t hear the Alaska oil expert offer any advice on how to plug the leak…
May 24th, 2010 at 7:49 am
Agreed that Obama hasn’t been criticized harshly enough for his handling (or lack thereof) of this oil spill.
It’s funny though, I never heard anything from Palin about the technical subtleties of off-shore drilling before this disaster. She was all “Drill Baby Drill”, no exceptions or nuances. If she were such a capable technical expert, I’d expect a much more qualified endorsement to begin with. Which makes all her grandstanding now, after the spill, totally bankrupt. She’s right there with Obama.
May 24th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Truthfairy – the TOP recipient is Barack Obama. Case closed.
May 24th, 2010 at 8:27 am
Drill baby drill!
Remember when she said that? That was totally cool, because she like drilling for oil. Oh, and she opposes regulation, because, ya know, that’s for commies n’ stuff.
So hey… when is Sarah going to let herself be interviewed by somebody who might ask her a question that wasn’t submitted to her in advance? Or maybe let somebody tape one of her speeches?
I know you guys don’t care about stuff like transparency, or reality, but many do. Will Sarah stand up? I wouldn’t be a bus ticket on it.
May 24th, 2010 at 8:41 am
So hey… when is Sarah going to let herself be interviewed by somebody who might ask her a question that wasn’t submitted to her in advance? Or maybe let somebody tape one of her speeches?
Haha, yeah no kidding. I thought the iPad was locked down, but that’s nothing compared to Palin.
May 24th, 2010 at 8:41 am
Beth,
So now you’re the judge, jury, and executioner?
Four of five are republicans, why do you ignore this fact and still attack Obama. Oh yeah, it’s his policies not his color right?
What would you and AZ have Obama do? Don his superhero cape and team up with spong-bob and aquaman? There isn’t much Obama can do if BP can’t do it then I would presume no one can. BP et al has the equipment for this sort of “accident” the feds do not. The feds research facilities that have some oil spill hardware are already in Louisiana.
I can already hear you Obama haters bit-h and moan if and when the feds takes over: Obama’s Boot Firmly On Oil Company’s Throat and Wants to Take Over Production of Oil Worldwide. What a bunch of lying, hypocritical morons.
Beth are such a ….
May 24th, 2010 at 8:46 am
John,
I heard her speech and read the transcript from a women’s convention last week I think. She comes off like a dingbat. Her prose is elementary at best and laughable in its emphasis of “homeyness” Sarah Palin has a great pair of gams though. When she gives up on her supposed political career the porn industry waits with baited breathe.
May 24th, 2010 at 8:55 am
Ed,
The red states are run by a cabal of greed-driven, progress hating racists. They will never be good stewards to this planet. They sit in their ivory towers scheming how to get richer by sucking the planet dry and squeezing every penny out of the poor and middle-class.
Texas has one of the worst criminals sitting in the governor’s office right now. Bobby Jindal is paid for puppet of the ultra-rich right. That’s two indoctrinated idiots and there are others too numerous to mention.
May 24th, 2010 at 9:18 am
OB is not presidential material – he’s too busy pushing his own Left Wing Agenda. The security of the US is not on his Agenda – it doesn’t get Dems elected. It’s too bad that Palin seems to be the ONLY open voice for the Right and is willing to stand up and be heard. Where is the rest of the Right Voice? Only in blog’s like this, I guess!
May 24th, 2010 at 9:24 am
Andrew, you’re incorrect in stating that the Obama administration is not taking any heat by the MSM or liberals. I’ve been hearing for weeks now that drilling permits continue to be issued. I read a story today about environmental waivers still being granted – on MSNBC, picked up from the New York Times. If you go to many environmental sites, you will see they are very upset with the Obama Administration and Department of Interior right now.
As for Sarah Palin’s criticisms, she basically just made some vague inferences that BP campaign contributions could be connected to Obama not “just dog-gone diving in there to understand the complexity.” I’m sorry, but I can’t take any substantive suggestions from that. To me, it just looks like another opportunity for Sarah Palin to build herself up by tearing someone else down. Just like she took a political swipe at Huckabee when a man whose sentence he commuted committed a murder years later.
Well, it says a lot about our society that you make more money as a professional heckler than someone who does the dreary and apparently thankless work of actually devising and seeing through real solutions. Like the anonymous engineers either at BP, the EPA, the Coast Guard, or certain state agencies that are probably getting by on three or four hours of sleep a night as they desperately try to figure out how the hell to plug this leak. Or all the unpaid volunteers who will work tirelessly to help clean up the wildlife and their habitats.
May 24th, 2010 at 9:25 am
[...] Pundits — Sarah Palin Slams Obama, Gulf Oil Spill Enters Fifth Week var addthis_pub = ''; var addthis_language = 'en';var addthis_options = 'email, favorites, digg, [...]
May 24th, 2010 at 9:26 am
NF Voice, you will not change or even open any minds with insults and name calling. You and I probably agree more often than not, but your rants above give the other side fair fodder to criticize. Your “greed-driven progress hating racists” line was over the top, no?
May 24th, 2010 at 9:38 am
Also, I’m getting so sick of headlines on both right and left sites that say “So-and-so SLAMS So-and-so Over…”
Huffpost does this constantly, too. It’s annoying. I want news and real ideas, not this constant subjection to flamewars between famous people.
I know, I know, then why post on this thread…I guess just to vent my frustration.
May 24th, 2010 at 9:55 am
@Newfaggledvoice: Typical R*ce-Baiting LibTroll complete with filthy innuendo for Sarah Palin.
May 24th, 2010 at 9:56 am
@ Truthfairy & newfangled voice
OooooKay, so the next 4 out of 5 are Republicans. How about the top 10? The top 20? The top 100???
It’s so easy to play with numbers. Just ask ‘Me’, he/she/it is a master/mistress of it.
Doesn’t it strike anyone funny that this relative newcomer on the national scene is always the top money getter be it from oil companies, Wall Street, George Soros, etc?
Another point is one should take a closer look at http://www.opensecrets.org because when you look at their list of top campaign contributors, 4 of the top ten are Indian tribes, all of whom are staunch Democrat supporters, plus most of the rest are unions, who, needless to say are also Democrat supporters. Number One is the National Educators Association.
I have an idea. When Congress passes another law to overturn the Supreme Court decision on financing free speech, let’s include everybody! Let us only permit individuals to make campaign contributions. No corporations, no unions, no entities what so ever. I wonder how that idea will go over?
May 24th, 2010 at 9:59 am
If team Obama handles this like everything else the gulf states people and wildlife are screwed.
For a very long time.
Those who care should be glad theres voices giving this administration heat
May 24th, 2010 at 10:07 am
As for Sarah Palin detractors, personally I tend to blame her handlers from the McCain-2008 campaign. Why they would deliberately set her up to be ambushed is beyond me? I’m guessing that Megan McCain may have had a hand in it.
Let’s not forget, you ‘transparency fans’, how Obama dodged the press during the primaries, and still does to this day.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:09 am
@ Ginnie
I make more money being a “professional heckler” than a BP engineer?
I’m going to bring that one up with the boss at our next staff meeting! Beth, please make a note to put that on the agenda! Tee-Hee!
May 24th, 2010 at 10:12 am
micky: “If team Obama handles this like everything else the gulf states people and wildlife are screwed.”
What do you think he should do? We talked on another thread about the wisdom or not of allowing BP to take the commanding position in all response efforts. Is that something you think the Obama Administration needs to change?
Do you think we should put a halt on giving environmental review waivers? Do you think they should stop drilling on certain rigs to inspect if certain safety measures are in place?
I am honestly interested in what you see as a problem or hindrance right now to minimizing the impact of this horrific incident.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:13 am
Andy, I was talking about Sarah Palin. I don’t consider you a heckler in her league at all. Sometimes, you actually have some substantive things to day.
Sometimes.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:14 am
oops, typo…to “say” not to “day.”
May 24th, 2010 at 10:15 am
Andy, good luck with that.
The sad thing is that the finger pointing needed to stop a long time ago, but it hasn’t.
I think it’s funny that the current administration is saying that they don’t have the expertise or resources to do anything to help plug the leak, but when it comes to other decisions like healthcare they are all for government control. You can’t have it both ways.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:18 am
@ newfangled voice
If ‘I’ were advising Obama, I would have told him on Day One to fire up the Coast Guard, US Navy, everybody on the list, to make every possible effort to assist BP, or take over, the clean up operations. I would’ve worked the phones and called Woods Hole and anybody else who might have deep diving subs and equipment to get their butts down there and check out the situation.
Heck, we now have NASA investigation brake failures on automobiles. Let’s set them on this, too! Call up the gang at Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore. THIS IS A MAJOR DISASTER!!! And your pal Obama did NOTHING for nine days. Not he, not his appointees, nobody on his staff!