Energy & Environment

Shifting leadership is an effect rather than a cause of disintegrating policy, and the shift from Gen. Stanley McChrystal to David Petraeus — back to Petraeus — seems OK in that it brings a familiar face and the appearance of stabilization to an Afghanistan war policy on CTD status. (Not yet dead, but Circling the Drain.)

Let’s hope he’s not a fainter. But things are getting bad now in the Gulf. A liberal blog reports that there’s “been a viral message spreading over the web that there's a life and earth threatening methane bubble in the gulf, caused by the gushing well, which will explode and even cause an earthquake and a real volcano, in some versions of the story. Some accuse Obama of hiding nefarious goings on.”

Yes, a congressman apologizing on camera to BP was obnoxious, and calling the White House meeting with BP executives a “shakedown” was provocative. One hundred forty-four Republicans in the House had called it a “Chicago-style shakedown.” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), every liberal’s demon mouth, called the $20 billion a “redistribution of wealth fund.” Even liberal New York Times columnist Frank Rich referred to it as a “down payment of blood money.” White House adviser and tactician Rahm Emanuel told an ABC Sunday talk show that the president “forced” BP to set up the fund, The Washington Post reports.

Maybe it's from all those years of driving on the wrong side of the road. It's hard to say.

What's certain is that BP continues to make every conceivable misstep in its handling of the Gulf oil spill. If Tuesday's concessions to the White House checked Americans' ill will ever so slightly, hostility toward the oil giant resumed in even higher gear after BP CEO Tony Hayward's dismal performance before a congressional subcommittee Thursday.

In retrospect, it seems a working blowout preventer was also required for defenders of the oil industry this week, as BP's Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg took to microphones in the White House driveway to pledge his concern for "the small people" and then the House GOP's leading man on energy issues called the $20 billion compensation fund a "tragedy" and offered a profound apology to BP. Taken together, the two sets of comments turned what was originally a bad week for the White House into a Democratic campaign commercial for the midterm elections and was as close to a "Saturday Night Live" skit as reality gets.

Much has been made of Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-Texas) unbelievable statement at the hearing yesterday. Apologizing to BP and calling the funds to help people in the Gulf a “shakedown,” Barton showed his true colors. After accepting over $1.4 million from oil interests, he showed how deep “in the tank” he really was!

I have to hand it to him — how much more loyal can you get? But, as they say, with friends like him, who needs enemies? Not only did BP have to wince, but it was the Republicans who realized the fix they were in yesterday. Unfortunately for them, it was a fix of their own making.

If Republicans were still in control, they would favor a BP bailout for the oil spill, as the last Republican president created the bailout for the banks. And the Tea Party people should demand a Republican apology, or they are simply Republican hacks wearing Tea Party costumes.

Where President Obama went wrong on the oil spill was that he didn't move fast enough to reverse Republican policies. Where Obama went right was to realize that BP, not taxpayers, should pay for the oil spill.

I almost fell out of my chair when I heard Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) apologize to BP this morning. Keep in mind, Mr. Barton is the senior Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, with oversight over offshore drilling, and he is apologizing to BP?

Where do Republicans get these guys? As BP has deceived the nation about the size of the spill and delayed making payments to good citizens facing the hardships caused by BP's disaster, a senior Republican is worried that BP's feelings are hurt?

The first order of business will be deciding what to call that $20 billion BP compensation fund. How about "a start”? As in, $20 billion doesn't begin to cover the liability for the careless disregard for anything but profit that caused such devastating losses in the Gulf of Mexico region, including the loss of life. It'll take more than any financial penalty to achieve a just result.

The president of the United States took to the airwaves last evening to once again put his marker down on how he views the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It seems every day that passes, the storyline surrounding the leak gets worse, not better. So I don’t blame the president for trying to manage this mess from the Oval Office. He really doesn’t have much of a choice.

I and many Americans could do without the usual blame finger pointing back to years ago and previous administrations, but hey, Rahm told the POTUS it’s a free swing, so he might as well take it, right?

All I can say is thank heaven for my DVR. Otherwise I would have missed the first couple of innings of the Washington Nationals game. And for what? For President Obama throwing puffballs in his first play from the Oval Office.

There he was. The president of the United States, in the Oval Office, telling us he was mad as heck. He couldn't even work up a "mad as hell,” as he assured us he simply will "refuse" to let this destructive oil spill destroy the Gulf way of life.