While I have continued to WISH for President Obama’s success, I have been straightforward in my concerns about the direction of his administration.  The history of my concerns are well documented in the archives of this site.  That being said, the past few days have shown me how important President Obama’s success really is.  Some of the “stuff” coming out of the mouths of the oppositional party is UNBELIEVABLE.  I’ve stated many times here that I loathe (well, I might have used different language) the idea of choosing the “best” option of two bad options when I vote.  I’ve also said on several occasions that President Obama’s decision to allow George W Bush and Dick Cheney to walk away from all the damage they caused without even an investigation was TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE to me.  However, after listening to Haley Barbour, Sarah Palin, Dick Armey, and some of the other “right” wingers the other night respond to our president setting up a 20 BILLION dollar fund to help defray the costs of the BP oil catastrophe I couldn’t believe my ears – that in this great nation people with that lack of intellectual capacity could manage to worm their way into such powerful positions.

Sarah Palin was almost a “heartbeat” from the presidency.  Before I go on, John McCain will be forever remembered for unleashing this arrogant baffoon on the rest of us.  Can you even imagine if Palin were in charge right now (or McCain for that matter)? So, let’s start with her comments.  It’s been a couple days ago, so if you’re reading this I’m sure you’ve already heard this – but, it bears REPEATING!  Sarah Palin was on Bill O’Reilly’s show on Fox “news” and he was trying to throw her some “softballs” in order for her to show the nation what she would do to solve this BP oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico.  I won’t go into all the details of her response, but the one that really STUCK in my ear was her comment about seeking help from the “Dutch.”  OK, if you didn’t hear this, hold onto your …… hat.  Sarah Palin actually said the “Dutch” have experience at plugging dikes!  I’m not kidding you, I heard this with my own ears.  I’m a school teacher and over the years you get proficient at reading lips as people are talking.  I’M SURE SARAH PALIN SAID THAT!

If that doesn’t get your attention, then there’s Haley Barbour – the governor of Mississippi and former Republican campaign chairman.  This guy is also a “piece of work.”  President Obama was down in Mississippi meeting with many of the Mississippians who have been adversely impacted by this catastrophe – walking side by side with Barbour as he was doing so – and promising them support so that they won’t be financially ruined by BP’s recklessness.  OK, that’s all well and good.  Then Obama goes on national TV and promises to get BP to set up a fund to pay for these losses without Mississippians (or victims from other states as well) needing to go through all the “red tape” normally required for claims such as theirs and, thus, eliminating possibly years of haggling for these people to be reimbursed for their horrible losses.  Then, unlike most American politicians, President Obama actually came through, and the next day there was a $20 BILLION (with a B) fund set up, to be administered by a third party, which will be used to pay the losses of these Gulf residents who are losing their way of life along with their income.  Additionally, Obama got BP to put up $100 MILLION for payments to oil rig workers who are likely to be unemployed until the investigations of the cause of this CATASTROPHE are completed.  Job well done, correct?  Well, according to Haley Barbour (remember, republicans owe a lot of campaign debt to BP and the other oil companies), this was a bad idea because it could cause BP not to be able to generate enough money to pay the claims that are certain to be coming – en masse!  You heard that right, Barbour said, getting BP to put up $20 BILLION was a bad idea because it could cause them difficulty in paying the claims of his citizens and those of the other Gulf states.  The logic of that comment was so absurd that I was almost embarrassed to write about it.  (I’m sure that last characterization will get an “elititist” accusation from good ole Lars Larson toward me)

How does Dick Armey figure in all this.  Well, he’s the “Freedom Works” dude who’s going around the country stirring up all the “tea party” candidates and then trying to rationalize the stupid remarks they keep making.  He, of course, was blaming the oil catastrophe on President Obama, and – at the same time – suggesting to Rand Paul, Sarah Palin, and some of the other “tea partiers” who are being crammed down our collective throats as some kind of “populist” uprising that they SHUT UP!  At least I’ll give Armey enough credit that he can tell when people are saying such stupid stuff that it’s going to come back to haunt them.  If I remember right, his comment about Palin suggesting the Dutch could put a finger in the dike was that she was probably thinking “I wish I hadn’t said that.”  While all this is going on Armey is also trying to defend the likes of Sharron Angle, the tea party (republican) candidate for Harry Reid’s senate seat as she claims that if she doesn’t win in November the voters still have the “second amendment remedy.”  I’ll let you figure out what that means!  These people really have a high opinion of themselves!

The week, however, was topped by Texas republican congressman Joe Barton as he APOLOGIZED to Tony Hayward – BP’s CEO – for the Obama administration’s “shakedown” of Hayward’s company.  If you haven’t heard this one, you need to google it and listen to it word for word.  This was beyond UNBELIEVABLE!  It was just icing on the cake for those of us who have been lamenting the cozy enabling relationship the republican party in America has had with the Corporate elite for the past 30+ (or more) years!  Of course, with these republicans, President Obama can’t win for losing – ANYTHING he would do would be met with obstinent objection!  That’s why EVERYONE is referring to republicans as the PARTY OF NO!  But, this disaster is BIPARTISAN!  It will surely be republicans and democrats (and independents and others) alike who suffer because of this BP MAN MADE disaster!  I’ve listened to republicans (and democrats) suggest that Obama “take over” BP, I’ve heard people suggest he enlist the military in stopping this leak, and the suggestions go on and on.  The reality is that there is no way President Obama can close this leak.  In fact, I believe it is in everyone’s interest that BP remain a viable company – giving them the incentive to figure out how to stop this thing.  From what I can surmise, the only way they are going to do that is through one of the two relief wells that are being drilled as I’m writing this.

So, the nation should be cheering the FACT President Obama is looking out for the interests of those being directly affected by this disaster.  Surely, the $20 BILLION will not be the total liability of BP.  But Obama made it clear there was no “deal” that went along with it.  This is just a fund that will prevent all these good people in the Gulf from having to fight through the courts for years to get their money (and, hopefully, put less of the money in the pockets of lawyers).  No one is precluded from suing BP, and BP will still be held liable for ALL the damage and for ALL the regulatory malfeasance.  Additionally, I was totally encouraged by Obama’s appointment of a person with the direct purpose of “cleaning up” the Minerals Management Service.  (Maybe, we’ll even get an investigation into how all this came about – remember the Bush/Cheney crew?)  This gets me back to Joe Barton.  How the Hell is anyone who’s able to get elected to Congress so INSENSITIVE that they would make the comments Barton made.  I mean, I thought the man was going to shed some tears for poor old BP!  He actually said he was ASHAMED of his government for FORCING (yes, he used the term “shakedown”) BP to put up $20 BILLION to cover the initial claims.  All I can say is that in my mind (and, I’ve given President Obama more than his share of grief from this “blog”) – great job by our president – TOTAL STUPIDITY by Joe Barton.

If the democrats can’t do something for the upcoming election with the words that are coming out of these republican’s mouths, then I guess they don’t deserve to be in office.  President Obama still has the opportunity to go on the offensive against these thugs.  While I’m pleased with the way he’s handling this present situation (can you imagine being in his shoes – all the CRAP Bush/Cheney left behind – including this Gulf crisis [remember, it’s the Bush/Cheney deregulation that opened the door for this kind of reckless corporate behavior]) I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive him for “looking forward instead of back.”  These republicans don’t deserve the time they’re getting on the news – any time they get should be answering questions about all the abuses of the previous eight years.  However, knowing Obama to be a pragmatist, I believe he’s taking the proper approach to this BP disaster.  Money won’t fix the damage being done to some of the most valuable parts of our nation, but it’s what he can do to keep the people there “going” until better solutions can be found.  Our government is not going to stop this well from spewing the millions of gallons of oil it’s putting into the Gulf each day – so, holding BP accountable – yet, keeping enough incentive for them to actually stop this thing ASAP – is the practicle way to go.  I believe most Americans see this, and maybe just letting republicans talk about the BP  catastrophe is the way to expose them for the insensitive thugs they are.  People like Joe Barton, Sarah Palin, Haley Barbour, and Michelle Bachman ( I didn’t even include some of her crazy comments – she called the $20 BILLION fund a “redistribution of wealth”) will most likely keep their lips moving, and – in the process – hopefully, what Obama should have done at the beginning of his presidency will happen anyway – the republicans will be exposed for the greedy, corrupt, corporate kissups that they are!