Posted by howdydoody on Sun, Jun 20, 2010, at 9:22 AM:
Was Congressman Joe Barton's apology to BP the right thing to do?
Replies (13)
I am hoping that this is the first in a series of apologies from Barton. He has done a lot of harm since taking office in 1985.
-- Posted by Lumpy on Sun, Jun 20, 2010, at 9:30 AM
Ike,
I don't believe I have ever encountered anyone so full of hate.
-- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Sun, Jun 20, 2010, at 10:04 PM
Excuse me Spaniard, you are obviously NOT a Republican. Why do you feel that you must lump ALL Republicans in one pile? should we start calling ALL Democrats baby-killing murderers? Maybe, all Democrats are American hating marxists? Get my drift? If your going to put people in a group you better be prepared to be put in a group yourself!!
-- Posted by agape on Sun, Jun 20, 2010, at 10:09 PM
Humbug, Ike. You've been swimming in the sheep dip too long.
-- Posted by voyager on Sun, Jun 20, 2010, at 11:16 PM
Unfortunately he picked a pretty poor time and place to tell the truth. Apologizing to BP was stupid. But if anyone doesn't think this was a shakedown is fooling themselves. Incompetence abounds. What a mess.
-- Posted by blogbudsman on Mon, Jun 21, 2010, at 5:05 AM
If you had stopped your statement at "I could care less" you would have approached 100% accuracy.
-- Posted by voyager on Mon, Jun 21, 2010, at 8:18 AM
blog is Barton in disguise.
-- Posted by howdydoody on Mon, Jun 21, 2010, at 8:45 AM
Do you folks who are always criticizing POTUS ( and you know who you are) care not to respond to Barton's apologogy to BP? I find it strange that your silence is deafening. A simple yes or no will do.
-- Posted by howdydoody on Mon, Jun 21, 2010, at 4:32 PM
Posted by rightwingmomma on Sun, Jun 20, 2010, at 10:09 PM
Hmmmm, wonder what group this poster leans towards...
-- Posted by Theorist on Mon, Jun 21, 2010, at 2:20 PM
Yes, if you're a despicable republican.
-- Posted by Spaniard on Sun, Jun 20, 2010, at 9:23 AM
It is obvious, Theorist... she is one of these.
-- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Mon, Jun 21, 2010, at 4:37 PM
HowdyDoody wrote:
"Do you folks who are always criticizing POTUS ( and you know who you are) care not to respond to Barton's apologogy to BP? I find it strange that your silence is deafening. A simple yes or no will do."
I don't think a simple yes or no is possible.
Do I think Mr. Obama's demand for a $20 billion escrow fund is a 'shakedown'? Yes.
Should Mr. Barton have apologized? NO. Mr. Barton didn't do it, and he is not a spokesman for Mr. Obama, so the apology has no meaning. It's no more effective than Mr. Obama apologizing for government actions that happened long before he was born. It is abusrd.
Does Mr. Barton's apology have any bearing on anything at all? Not really, it was another stupid comment made by an elected official. One of thousands. Whoppee.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Mon, Jun 21, 2010, at 5:01 PM
"Shakedown: act of extortion: an act of extorting money from somebody using threats" From MSN Encarta online dictionary.
Mr. Obama has been making threats directed at BP, very publicly and vocally, telling Americans that he would make them pay for the spill.
Now, with no trial, no completed investigation of the causes, he has compelled them to set up an escrow account to pay for damages, using the power of governmental leverage (i.e. 'threats') to obtain compliance.
That's why I say it is a 'shakedown'. That's probably also why Mr. Barton says so, but I have not heard his explanation.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Mon, Jun 21, 2010, at 8:18 PM
Shapley,
Does seem to take the attention away from any possible governmental culpability doesn't it?
-- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Mon, Jun 21, 2010, at 9:23 PM
Have_Wheels wrote:
"Does seem to take the attention away from any possible governmental culpability doesn't it?"
I can't say that they are 'culpable'. Reportedly, BP did request permission from MMS to 'cut the corners' they supposedly cut, and the evidence is that permission was granted. A watchdog that just watches, but doesn't bark, isn't a very good watchdog, in my opinion. Still, it is BP's and Transocean's responsibility to operate in a responsible manner.
Between BP's engineers, Transocean's engineers, and MMS's engineers, there should have been someone with enough expertise to recognize the problems before they got to the point they did. Early evidence indicates they may have miscalculated the pressure at the wellhead. Judging by the constantly-revised flow estimates, they may still yet not have a good handle on that figure.
-- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Tue, Jun 22, 2010, at 8:30 AM
Was Congressman Joe Barton's apology to BP the right thing to do?
Replies (13)