0 The fiasco in the gulf

I want to preface my commentary by making it clear that I have nothing but contempt for BP. My irritation with the company began a few years back when they bought a couple of wind farms and started marketing themselves as, "an eco-friendly," company. I guess that Madison Avenue illusion has been shattered now. Not only have they created an environmental disaster of biblical proportions with their cost-saving shortcuts, they've poisoned the well (no pun intended) for the other companies who conducted business responsibly. Now we can count on less domestic oil production, and more dependence on countries who don't like us very much. But that is another story for another day...

Today I want to talk about the schizophrenic behavior of the Obama administration. Take for example this headline from Bloomberg:

BP Seeks to Catch Most Oil as U.S. Exerts Spill Role

"May 30 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc said it will seek to contain a majority of oil gushing from its Gulf of Mexico well with a new tactic to plug the leak as a White House adviser said the U.S. is now telling the company “what to do.”

I guess we're supposed to take comfort from that?

The president wants so badly to appear competent but he doesn't know what to do. The intellectual/egghead is coming face to face with the fact that the private sector will eventually come up with a solution. The federal government will only get in the way of progress. Bobby Jindal would love to try building barrier islands off the coast of Louisiana, but the Corps of (alleged) Engineers has him held up until they consider the environmental impact. How about the environmental impact of a gazillion gallons of crude oil?

Here's the deal. The president wants to be perceived as being competent and in charge. In fact he is neither. From now until this friggin' leak is plugged he is going to dither back and forth between demanding to be in charge while side-stepping any responsibility. Frankly I'm embarrassed for our country.

On a related note I'd like to remind readers that we are drilling in 5000 feet of water because the radical environmentalists chased the oil companies off the coast. The blowout probably never would have occurred if it had been on dry land or in shallow water. If it did, it would have been capped in a day or two. And if it were at Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, the oil would have solidified to the consistency of roof tar within minutes. They could have picked it up with a loader and hauled it to the refinery in an open rail car.

But then what has rational thought ever had to do with radical environmentalists?