MW: An A$$ Kicker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Posted by: chatblu on: June 12, 2010
- In: Current Events | Ecology | Economy | Government | Obama | Open Thread
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I watched with great interest as our President said in marked frustration that someone needed to tell him whose a$$ he should kick. Sheesh. I guess we have to do everything for him. I therefore present (ta-dah)my nominations to the Widdershins Guide to A$$es That Should Be Kicked:
(1) The entirety of both Bush Administrations. Yes, I said both of them, because both catered to the oil patch, and now patches of their goddamn oil are headed straight for the pristine, revenue-producing beaches of my non-oil-patch state. Now that I think of it, throw in the whole Reagan “deregulation” administration for good measure.
(2) Most specifically, Dick Cheney. Dick and the boyz who wrote our secret energy policy, relaxing already weak regulations to limp-noodle stage.
(3) SCOTUS, who allowed (2) to stand.
(4) MMS: the agency charged with regulating and licensing drilling. Some of the stories are so bad that they are funny, including the gem about snorting crystal meth off of a toaster oven – you just can’t make this stuff up. Suffice to say that there was a circular relationship between MMS and the industry. MMS under Bush 43 was bad enough, but Obama’s MMS has had plenty of time to discover the nuggets such as “no harm to sea lions and walruses” in the Gulf of Mexico, backed by an authotity who had been dead for several years. The MMS head has resigned, but I wonder if there really is anyone there who actually gives a damn about the Gulf of Mexico, and its actual residents of all stripes.
(5) BP: Sorry, British pensioners, I’ve had it with “too big to fail” here – much less “across the pond”. Robert Reich states that the President should utilize his “extraordinary powers” and place them into receivership. I agree wholeheartedly. This entire mess began with bad judgement on their part, and they have consistently obfuscated the severity of the problem. 
(6) Ken Salazar: There were concerns about Ken when you appointed him, and they have come to life here. He should just go. Oh, and take Janet Napolitano with you. Both have been less than stellar.
(7) Republican Party “Small Governmenters”: Time was, our “brightest and our best” were encouraged to go into government services. No mas. Now, we no longer encourage our intellegentsia to run the governmental agencies. Be careful what you wish for………….
(8) The Chamber of Commerce/Rep. John Boehner: You guys really think that the taxpayer should assume the position again for this one? Surely you jest.
(9) Big Oil – period: If you ever had a chance to repair a bad image, this was it. Had you come in and offered to help with skimmers (or just about anything), it would have gone a long, long way.
(10) Your own sweet self: Close your eyed, and just pretend that this oil is rolling onto the shores of The Lake in Chicago. Proceed accordingly. While you’re at it, pretend that the lifestyle and livelihood of the Gulf states is important. Then, open up that proverbial can of WhoopA$$ and have at it.
Widdershins, I’m certain that I have left out any number of perfectly kickable a$$es, so I ask for your input here. Otherwise, it’s an open thread.
27 Responses to "MW: An A$$ Kicker’s Guide to the Galaxy"
June 12, 2010 at 8:15 AM
I’m beginning to think that this is one big-a$$ toaster to accommodate the number of people who are snorting off of it. I saw the video, and that inspired my post.
June 12, 2010 at 10:37 AM
I’m going to use the teeth-together donkey picture with my students: “this donkey could be saying sssss, see his tongue isn’t showing” (since he’s not lisping!)
June 12, 2010 at 4:58 PM
I’m so glad you did mention MMS. I vaguely know some folks who work there, but some heads have got to roll, and sadly they probably won’t. They’ll be allowed to just retire and go away if they have the time in.
When I heard the thing about the MMS inspectors on the rigs letting the rig people fill out the inspection reports in pencil and they just trace over it and sign off, I wanted to get a firing squad ready.
June 12, 2010 at 5:06 PM
Well, ain’t this a kick in the a$$:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/12/95789/coast-guard-rejects-bp-oil-leak.html
June 12, 2010 at 5:37 PM
Okay, now for a change of pace.
I was over at Towel Road and they had this clip up from America’s Got Talent.
June 12, 2010 at 6:05 PM
Chat: He does a French Fop fabulously and his voice isn’t bad but I think he’s mic’d. Anyway, it *was* interesting!
June 12, 2010 at 6:49 PM
Obama should kick his own @ss not once, but several times for this one:
Indeed, Obama and his team overlooked some important points as they prepared to give the green light to more offshore oil drilling. Expanding the drilling was something he’d promised to do during his campaign, when gas prices topped $4 a gallon, and it was a lure he planned to use to win Republican votes for legislation aimed at curbing climate change.
Among their oversights:
•Obama thought that funneling information through White House “czars” such as energy and environment adviser Carol Browner would get him all the data he needed.
•He failed to drill into the government bureaucracy to test that information. He didn’t, for example, ask about the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service, which had prepared a report in 2000 on the dangers of deepwater drilling that proved to be eerily predictive of what happened in the Gulf. The MMS regulates offshore drilling.
•He never talked to the Coast Guard about its 2002 oil-spill drill in the Gulf or to the man who ran it, Adm. Thad Allen, who later would oversee the response to the Deepwater Horizon spill.
•He didn’t reach out to outside experts, such as the National Academy of Engineering, to question claims that deepwater drilling technology was dependable.
(snip)
For Obama, a former campaign adviser said, the decision to expand offshore drilling was born in the 2008 campaign, when gasoline prices were soaring and Republican rival Sen. John McCain of Arizona was scoring with his promise of more production — drill, baby, drill — to drive down prices.
Obama also warmed to new offshore drilling as part of a bipartisan proposal in Congress, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to allow expanded drilling while pushing higher fuel efficiency.
The president and his political aides looked at proposing expanded drilling as a way to win Republican support for a broader energy bill aimed at climate change.
“Involving offshore drilling way back in the campaign, and then in March, has been part of a series of bank shots all intended to address other issues, as opposed to being a free-standing priority,” said an environmental activist who’s close to the White House, who asked not to be identified because he was criticizing the administration.
“It was not a full-blown policy proposal,” the activist said. “It was bait in the water.”
You mean…Obama ISN’T a policy wonk?! 
This guy does not govern, he campaigns. He still hasn’t changed modes, and sadly, I doubt he ever will. He has no interest in governing except for the cool perks, like getting flown around in Air Force One and meeting Paul McCartney. Oh, and he does favors for friends in the Chicago Way.
June 12, 2010 at 6:55 PM
If I remember correctly, he stated that he qualification for running the country was running his campaign. He’s still doing the latter rather than the former.
June 12, 2010 at 8:29 PM
I hate to even bring this up but…
If Bill had been in office and most likely HRC also, they are such policy wonks they would have been discussing all the pros and cons until 3:00 a.m. or something, getting hold of any and all experts they could.
The other thing too is I doubt they would have **ever** given a permit to a company like BP to deep drill, with their record on safety issues, and I mean with the MMS.
Chat@12: did he even run his campaign or was it Axelrove and Pfloufe (whatever his name is)?
June 12, 2010 at 8:50 PM
From the article with Obama saying:
Oil drilling has been going on in the Gulf, including deep water, for quite some time.
That is a lie. Deep-water drilling is relatively new. There is the deep-water issue, a mile to sea floor, then there’s the drilling that deep below the sea-floor (14,000 feet in this case?).
Also spake Obama:
“Oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills,” he added two days later. “They are technologically very advanced. Even during Katrina, the spills didn’t come from the oil rigs, they came from the refineries onshore.”
Not even relevant Mr. Prez because before a storm, waaay before a potential storm arrives in the area, the well is secured before the crew is removed. Here’s a pic of BP’s Thunderhorse after Hurricane Dennis in 2005:
http://debby416.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/thunderhorse_afterhurricanedennis2.jpg
So he’s comparing apples and oranges and didn’t understand the concept of a blowout.
June 12, 2010 at 8:55 PM
People actually told me that Obama was as much of a policy wonk as Hillary. What a fucking joke that was. Giving a speech written by a vacuous frat boy doesn’t equal having a clue how to understand and apply policy.
June 12, 2010 at 9:08 PM
There’s not much on the tube so I’m watching San Francisco with Gable, Jeannette MacDonald and Spencer Tracy.
Love the earthquake scene and the aftermath/finale as they go trooping up the hill with Jeannette singing.
June 12, 2010 at 9:30 PM
Triage center on Grand Isle for oiled birds has to move-they’re getting too many of them coming in.
June 12, 2010 at 9:50 PM
@23 – Despite the presence of Kevin Costner, 13 Days was an excellent movie, I thought.
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June 12, 2010 at 8:04 AM
;lol: Priceless post, chat!
Did you see the video of Obama saying “whose ass to kick?” Strike me down for heresy, but I thought to myself, “Even Bush would have delivered that line more convincingly.”
Our “cool, no-drama” President has no outrage, no passion. He simply cannot rouse himself to give a sh*t, except when someone dares to question him personally. Then, he gets defensive and petulant, but not ANGRY. You have to have passion to get angry.
I can add one more to the list: T. Boone Pickens, oil magnate extraordinaire, who said everyone was making “too much” of the gusher that spill the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill every 8-10 DAYS. Also, the Gulf businesspeople who are insisting that the drilling moratorium be lifted. They must be snorting crystal meth off a toaster.