was Barton's apology a BP ruse to steal headlines?

[grasswire]

The number one story of the day is Barton. Not BP under oath.

Was this a clever Rovian way to divert the news focus today?

Wouldn't be the first time this strategy was employed and successful.

[PM Martin]

1. Possible. Though, it makes the GOP look very bad.

It gives the Democrats a brutally effective soundbyte to use in the upcoming elections.

[POAS]

2. It was a conspiracy

cooked up in that meeting BP had with Obama yesterday and poor Joe Barton was the unwitting victim in their nefarious plot.

[Clio the Leo]

3. Not only that, but guess who masterminded the whole thing....

U.S. President Barack Obama greets U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX)


Yep .... crazy four dimensional chess!

[Cha]

4. Ha Ha!

[jobycom]

7. Priceless!

:rofl:

[tanyev]

14. Damn those diabolical chessmaster Chicago-style shakedowns!

*waving fist*

[babylonsister]

5. If so, they got really bad, negative, not productive headlines, so no. nt

[DrToast]

6. Uh....you think the Republicans would rather look like shit than BP?

Not sure I follow that logic.

[jobycom]

9. The logic could go something like this:

Barton, the RNC, and BP agree to have Barton say that, and everyone else turn on Barton. That way the Republicans look tough on their own members and they can claim they are more objective and even-handed because they condemn BP but not as irrationally as the Dems. Barton then apologizes, keeping the focus on how tough and fair the Republicans are while keeping it off how many times Hayward refused to answer any questions. Barton doesn't care--he's going to win reelection easily in his district, where they like what he said, and it increases his visibility, giving him more power.

I've already read one article that was supposed to be just a straightforward story of Barton's retraction, but managed to make the Dems look bad for holding the hearings, and the Republicans look strong for standing up to Barton. I can't find the article I'm thinking of (It made the comment that the hearings were just the Democrat's usual need to flog a corporate head, for instance), but here's another that makes it seem like a Repub triumph.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/17/AR2010061703756.html?hpid=topnews

[jobycom]

8. No, Barton's really that much of an ass. nt

[DrToast]

11. LOL...yep. He has a history of saying stupid stuff

There's no nefarious plot here.

[mucifer]

10. no barton's line was a talking point on right wing radio so I think it backfired

[Ganja Ninja]

12. No I doubt it.

Barton only broadened the focus to include the GOP. And besides, the oil is still flowing and will be for at least a couple of months. What good would it due to try and distract people for only a couple of days?

[cleveramerican]

13. spot on!

I think your are correct.
and it seems to be working

[ProSense]

15. No, not everything is a conspiracy. In fact, the MSM is being its usual GOP complicit.

Tony Hayward is all over the news I saw this morning. Oh, they mention Barton briefly, but other than a showing him, not a single clip of his comment.

How many stations are playing this clip over and over? Barton's comment is getting less play than Biden saying BFD.