GOP Leaders Play Games While Oil Pours Into the Gulf

[babylonsister]

Mitchell Bard
Posted: June 10, 2010 03:54 PM

GOP Leaders Play Games While Oil Pours Into the Gulf

snip//

In light of such a disaster, it would seem appropriate to have a rational discussion about what happened, and what it means for the future. After all, the spill has turned a possibility into a reality, and BP's reaction has been actual, not theoretical. If nothing else, shouldn't we try and learn lessons from this disaster?

It would seem that things are pretty straight forward, if you put politics aside. But when do we ever put politics aside in this country anymore? So we get Rush Limbaugh blaming the Sierra Club, Sarah Palin blaming environmentalists, Republicans trying to pin the disaster on President Obama (with the nonsensical and illogical Katrina-BP comparisons), and a parade of leaders (most, but not all, Republicans) standing up for BP (like John Boehner, parroting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, saying tax payers should help BP pay for the cleanup). We have also experienced a line of politicians (again, mostly Republicans, but not all, including Democrat Mary Landrieu) saying that despite the oil disaster in the Gulf, we should keep drilling. Rep. John Culberson, a Republican from Texas, wrote a letter to President Obama opposing the moratorium on off-shore drilling, saying that the BP spill was nothing but a "statistical anomaly" since only "0.001 percent spilled" in the past. I wonder if Culberson would also argue that the nuclear reactors in Chrenobyl are safe, since they operated fine for nearly a decade with only one incident.

I feel like all perspective has been lost. It's like many of the politicians (again, mostly but not all Republicans) can't forget even for a millisecond the interests they truly represent (and those interests clearly don't include the best long-term interests of their constituents). Rather, in the case of Republicans like Boehner, priority number one is the corporate interests they always protect (the same ones they have looked out for in opposing health care reform and financial regulation). It's not surprising that when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says "jump," Boehner starts hopping.

It's one thing to oppose policy for the wrong reasons, but when politicians defend BP after the oil disaster, we've crossed some kind of line.

snip//

The emergence of a right-wing media machine, led by Fox News, for which the truth of "facts" is less important than their strategic value, has enabled Republicans not only to oppose a moratorium on off-shore oil drilling, but to deny that the current oil disaster is, in fact, a disaster. I can't help thinking that if there was still an objective news source to which a majority of Americans looked to get their facts about current events, it would be almost impossible for a politician to deny the impact of the BP spill. And we would be forced to face the real issues surrounding off-shore drilling.

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mitchell-bard/gop-leaders-play-games-wh_b_608037.html

[Angry Dragon]

1. Yes he would.........in answer to this question

"I wonder if Culberson would also argue that the nuclear reactors in Chrenobyl are safe, since they operated fine for nearly a decade with only one incident."

Yes he would.......if he was getting money from them

[KharmaTrain]

2. And The Corporate Media Loves 'Em

I've been hearing a meme building the past couple days that if there's a moritorium on drilling it will be an "economic disaster" as thousands of oil workers will somehow be laid off. The fact it minimalizes the real disaster that is going on is insult enough, but the truth is a moritorium is about new drilling, the other wells can and are pumping away. BP can surely find ways to employ all those who may lose their jobs with mops and shovels.

The millions BP and other oil companies are throwing at their rushpublican toadies and the corporate media is an attempt to change the focus...they want you to think about cheap gas not the mess on the beaches. It's to avoid any discussions about finding alternative solutions and get off this country's oil addiction. It's junkies stuck both on their oil and big money fixes.

:hi:

[babylonsister]

3. The media's complicity makes no sense to me

Well, I guess it does, but they are citizens, too, we can presume, and you'd think they'd be as angry as the rest of us. rethugs I have no explanation for.

:hi:

[KharmaTrain]

5. The Live In A Bubble...

No one demonstrates it more than Tweety...he claims to have his hand on the pulse of the "average guy" but you can see how it's a charade. Most these people only care about their careers and it's controversy and "access" that means the difference between being an "A lister" and sitting in the back row. Most of these stenographers have never really lived in the real world...and as soon as one story dies, they're chasing after the next one. The victims of these tragedies are just bit players.

:hi:

[Scurrilous]

4. K & R

:thumbsup: