Foot in Mouth Disease

2010-6-19 Foot in Mouth Disease
Dear Sally,
Would you believe that Texas Congressman, Joe Barton, called the $20 billion Obama insisted that BP put in an escrow account to cover future claims due to the oil spill in the Gulf, a “shakedown” and apologized to Tony Hayward for the president’s effrontery? I’d call that money reparation for BP irresponsibility for not having a Plan B to cope with this kind of catastrophic occurrence. When reporters checked on Barton they discovered he was snugly in bed with the Texas oil Industry, which explains his disregard of BP’s responsibility. But he wasn’t the only voice on the Far Right willing to shill for BP, a Multi-National Corporation, and part of a Cabal that seems to rule the global economy.
Numerous spokespersons--actually, the usual suspects—came out with sweeping criticism of the president who, they contended, overstepped his authority. Dick Armey called it “extortion” and unauthorized by the Constitution. Laura Ingraham and Michelle Bachman agreed, calling it unprecedented and unnecessary. I heard Rush Limbaugh do a mocking voiceover on Obama’s speech that was typical of the demagogic creep. He suggested the money would be channeled into his favorite projects, not to repair of the Gulf region. The appeal he has for so many Americans is an indicator of how desperate our “Take Back our Country” crowd really is. To have Limbaugh as the de facto head of the Republican Party is to invite disaster at the polls. But in the short term he bemoans the way of life that seems to be slipping away from white, racist Americans, tapping into the panic they feel about the current transformation of our society. Charles Krauthammer was equally denigrating in his Friday column, tagging the president as “dreamer in chief”and“fake healer” who was pushing a “costly false ‘green’ nirvana.”
It’s a funny thing how the Right thinks: When Bush acted unilaterally or by executive fiat they would say he was being presidential, but when Obama acts in the public interest in a national crisis they accuse him of “overreaching his authority” and pushing the country into “socialism.” I grew up in a Midwest household where FDR was greatly admired and where it was understood that the government had to intervene sometimes to protect the national interest in an economic crisis or in disasters like the oil spill. Government wasn’t a bogeyman to my family, or the problem, like Reagan liked to say. It could even rescue us at times; even the banks when absolutely necessary.
Actually, the best criticism of the president’s speech in the Oval Office came from the Left, from Rachel Maddow, who two days after the speech did a bit she called “the Fake President.” She gave the speech she would have preferred to have heard from Obama, one with a more insistent tone, some moral outrage, and with a more progressive agenda. If you missed it, Sally, you can find the tape on the Huffington Post. Rachel also pointed out what a blunder the Far Right was making by siding with BP, a big mistake that might pay off nicely for the Democrats in November, that is, if they have the savvy to run with it. The mistake is one of those knee-jerk things that conservatives are subject to in their hatred of Obama: they can’t resist heaping scorn and blame on him, whatever the issue. They are being very short-sighted here, as they didn’t think about the repercussions of their profound identification and allegiance to an uppity Multi-National Corporation that has called Gulf victims “the small people.” Voters will measure that allegiance against what damage the oil spill has done--the despoiling of the Gulf (for how long no one knows), the coastline and wet lands, the fishing industry, the wild life, the tourist industry, the culture, and how many people will be without jobs.
Jerry