I remember a legend I heard while training up to be a Navy officer; the fleet was being inspected, and an admiral was standing at attention along with the crew of the ship when suddenly an enlisted man broke rank and started urinating on the deck. That was the end of the admiral's promising military career. To many people, this is fundamentally unjust: the admiral had no control over the irrational actions of this one sailor. But for the military, this underscores the teamwork/mission concept and the fact that leader accepts the consequences, good or bad, for his command's performance. On a smaller scale, we see a similar injustice: a major league baseball team comprised of marginal, low-paid talents in a small market loses a hundred games during the season, and the manager gets summarily fired at the end of the season, never having personally thrown a home run pitch, committing an error, or striking out with the bases loaded.
Tony Hayward, BP's embattled 53-year-old CEO, is like the hapless manager whom knows in the dog days of August no matter what team he puts up against the New York
I have zero tolerance for misguided populism from conservatives. I'm still seething at the blatantly political and heavy-handed treatment last week of Joe Barton (R-TX), by Minority Leader Boehner and other allegedly "conservative" Republicans, worried about Barton's comment being replayed thousands of times this fall; I'm relieved to see a number of conservatives siding with me in this matter. I'm SO SCARED [not!] that the clueless progressives are going to bash me as the tool of Big Business; last time I checked, BP never paid me a penny, but they paid a lot for the coronation of Obama. I'm annoyed enough at boycotts against the independent owners of BP filling stations, that I'm going to fill my next tank with BP gas just to make a statement. [Let me further irritate the progressives: I'm also going to download a tourist brochure from Arizona...]
Let me simply say, with regard to Barton's apology, that his mistake was thinking he should apologize in the spirit of Obama's apology tours. (Perhaps Barton should have apologized, on Obama's behalf, to Prime Minister David Cameron. Let's start an American conservative "apology for Obama" tour in Britain, Israel, Afghanistan, etc.) It is not Barton's place to apologize for the anti-business Obama Administration. What he SHOULD have said was that the Obama Administration owed the American people an apology for its own botched leadership during the crisis and to BP for its unconscionable, counterproductive attempts to scapegoat BP, despite its own regulatory sign-offs on BP's activities, and to abuse its authority, whether it's threatening a criminal investigation of an industrial accident or bypassing the rule of law to force a suspended dividend, demand payment for the expenses of other companies due to the Obama-imposed moratorium, or establish an escrow account.
But as for the ludicrous kerfuffle over Hayward's attending a yacht race Saturday--after, in fact, he was no longer BP's point of contact on the spill incident: according to Senator Shelby (R-AL) during yesterday's talk soup as "gall" or "arrogance". Now, never mind that Obama has, during the same time, attended numerous sports and entertainment events, played golf, done political fundraising, and I don't recall Shelby talking down Obama in the same way. Guess what, Shelby--I'm sure Hayward probably took time to sleep and eat during the crisis, too. Heaven forbid that Hayward actually got to spend a few moments with his family that week, including on the yacht. (It's not like Shelby is a "family values" politician, is he?) But whenever I hear morally self-superior progressives or pandering conservatives, like Shelby (wanting Obama to leave enough of Hayward's ass to give him a chance to kick it, too), it may be hard to understand--unless maybe if you have kids or grandkids, but today they have these new-fangled devices called cellphones and notebook computers, wireless or satellite Internet services available to Hayward. As a DBA, I was wearing pagers and cellphones over a decade ago. It would be one thing if BP's pipe capping attempts were at a standstill, waiting for Hayward to get back from the yacht race...
And as for Cavuto, who I normally admire: your commentary "Hayward Needs to Pull a Gilligan and Get Lost": I am well-aware that Hayward has committed a series of irritating public relations gaffes. But seriously, Cavuto, why are you letting yourself worked over trivial stuff like attending a yacht race, after he had already surrendered daily operational control of the spill incident? I understand your point that he has served as a socially inept representative of the private sector, but COME ON. Last week's questioning was more about Congressmen taking turns whacking Tony Hayward with a grandstanding kendo stick for their political ads this fall--and then turning on their fellow Congressman Joe Barton for noticing the emperor is wearing no clothes. Come now, Cavuto: when Obama adds $3T to the national debt, how serious are $17B or $100M cuts in the budgets? If you're going to attack symbolism, at least choose the right symbolism.
And as for Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton's distinction this weekend between Obama's rounds of golf versus Hayward's yacht racing, everyone knows that these pastimes have nothing in common, like, say, rich men's hobbies and toys. No doubt Burton is confident when Obama is finished shaking down BP, Hayward's yacht will be his... And then once Obama has Hayward's yacht and enters it into the America's Cup race, the competition committee will award him the trophy in advance, based on his future sailing...
The Kyl-White House Kerfuffle on Border Security
Over the weekend, the junior senator from Arizona, Jon Kyl (R) made news last week in an Arizona town hall meeting by claiming that Obama in a private meeting told him the reason he was not acting more forcibly on the border enforcement is that it would cut the legs out from underneath "comprehensive immigration reform", i.e., amnesty. White House Deputy Secretary Bill Burton disputed Kyl's account, pointing out a number of steps they've taken. Who's telling the truth?
Gee, I wonder. What has been the Obama Administration's reaction to well-documented news stories of battles over the last several months between Mexican police and drug lords in northern Mexico near the US border? Is it possible that you might expect a flow of refugees from Mexico trying to flee a violent situation? How well has the Obama Administration proactively taken steps to guard against a spillover of violence and/or deal with refugees in response to the unrest?
What has been the response of the Obama Administration to recent news stories of the murder of an Arizona rancher or a deputy being ambushed by armed aliens? More boots on the border? No. Finishing the fence? No. Closing down 50 immigration centers across the US? Yes. Now, if you're serious about cracking down on illegal immigrants, why are you shutting down (versus adding to) detainee facilities?
John Morton has also indicated that ICE might exercise its discretion in terms of dealing with any aliens arrested under Arizona's new law, regardless of whether, in fact, the foreign visitors are authorized.
The fact is, progressive Democrats are throwing all sorts of money at government spending. Except for cracking down on sanctuary cities like San Francisco. And they insist on discussing the disposition of over 10 million unauthorized visitors versus pouring resources into border detection, although there's some evidence that religious extremists are reportedly among those caught crossing the border. Question: if a religious extremist comes through our southern border, how is Obama going to explain that?
There are plenty of pro-immigration conservatives, including myself, whom would be willing to consider an expanded legal visitor program, in addition to legitimate, fair immigration reform focusing on merit-based factors, including professional skills/education, knowledge of English, etc. But border protection is a national defense issue, and the safety of the American people, including the citizens of Arizona, is NONNEGOTIABLE, Mr. President.
Advantage: KYL.
Political Cartoon
IBD cartoonist Michael Ramirez shows what happens to fiscal discipline when the American voters in 2006 and 2008 elected Democratic Congresses and a Democratic President. This caused a failure in Constitutional checks and balances when tax-and-spend progressive Democrats found one of their own in the White House and overwhelming majorities to steamroll spending bills and budgets through Congress. Oh, Obama promises to save $17B here and $100M there, which is sort of like saying, "Hey, if you agree to add $3T to the nation's outstanding balance, we'll give you a reward points rebate on the national credit card..." What a gimmick: give the taxpayer back less than 1% for going along with massive progressive spending programs! Never mind all this federal debt requires you, your children, your grandchildren, your grand-greatchildren, your ... paying interest and principal. We have become serfs to progressive spending sprees.
Quote of the Day
A man's feet should be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world.
George Santayana
Musical Interlude: Chart Hits of 1971
The Carpenters, "Superstar"
Bread, "If"
Paul Stookey, "Wedding Song (There is Love)"
Paul Revere & The Raiders, "Indian Reservation"
Gordon Lightfoot, "If You Could Read My Mind"
