The Gulf oil spill: It’s Bush’s fault … continuuuuued

The Sunday Morning talk shows were a blame game fest and frankly at this point it’s become obnoxious. Don’t you think. But the facts are simple … someone should tell these clowns Bush is not in charge of the clean-up … Obama is. He said so.Yes we have already heard this from Senator Chris Dodd (D, Countrywide) but the hits keep on coming. First up, from ABC’s This Week … Senator John Kerry. Listen as he stumbles and fumbles his way through his defense of Obama. Hey, it’s about the cleanup, Sally.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmNnWDQLyZQ

If you still have brain cells left, fasten your seat belt for Arianna Huffington. It’s Bush and Cheney’s fault … oh, and Halliburton.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9ijwlVg5ks

Never let facts get in the way of a good story. And while the reasons behind the collapse of the New Horizons rig need to be discovered, right now it’s the handling of the clean-up that is the number one issue along the Gulf … and I would say the President gets a less than passing grade … even on the curve.

Red State does a good job of detailing drilling safety under George Bush.

President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar have done their best to shift the blame of the Deepwater Horizon disaster to the Bush Administration and the supposed ‘cozy relationship’ it fostered between the Minerals Management Service and the oil and gas companies it regulates.

The public consciousness perceives a corrupt and incompetent agency, turning a blind eye to the shenanigans of their industry buddies.

In reality:

  • Statistical measures of offshore safety performance improved significantly throughout the Bush years.
  • Ditto the drilling well blowout incident rate.
  • Bush-era internal investigations led to significant improvement in ethics throughout the organization.
  • The Bush Administration increased royalty rates on new leases for the first time in recent memory.

But isn’t a pause in order? Or does a pause actually mean an end to drilling? You tell me.

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Jim Vicevich

Jim is a veteran broadcaster and conservative/libertarian blogger with more than 25 years experience in TV and radio. Jim's was the long-term host of The Jim Vicevich Show on WTIC 1080 in Hartford from 2004 through 2019. Prior to radio, Jim worked as a business and financial reporter for NBC30 - the NBC owned TV station in Hartford - and as business editor at WFSB-TV in Hartford for 14 years while earning six Emmy nominations and three Telly Awards.

6 Comments

  1. Wind on June 7, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    Watching Laura Bush last night respond to the question, ” Does it make you angry that this administration keeps blaming your husband on all that is wrong?”, really showed me what a class act She and George were in the White House and as individuals. Her reply was that she just ignores it and then has a laugh about it. Much much cooler than the current president who can’t take any critique of his inabilities to run a country or take responsibility.? His constant saying that ” I am the president”, tells me he really hasn’t grasped the fact that he won the election.



  2. porschepete on June 7, 2010 at 12:53 pm

    Blame never solved one problem. When someone starts blame game it means

    they don't have any idea how to solve the problem.



  3. David R on June 7, 2010 at 4:02 pm

    There is a big difference between blaming Bush for neutering the agency in charge of overseeing off shore drilling, and Obama for failing to?mobilize every available assett to mitigate this disaster. It’s too late for criticizing Bush to make any difference, so let’s keep the heat on the current administration until they’ve pulled out all the stops. ?



  4. Dimsdale on June 7, 2010 at 5:34 pm

    Then obviously, using Democrat-"think", Bush would have been justified in blaming Katrina on Clinton.  Isn't it funny (and typical) that Democrats always want to look forward and get away from the "blame game" when looking back indicts their behavior?  But should a Republican screw up, the otherwise somnambulant media will jump on the blame wagon with the blessings (read it: talking points) of the lefties.

     

    I agree with Wind: Øbama confuses "class" with "crass".  A product of his "honorary" education (see: where are the Columbia college transcripts at?"; dangling participle deliberate).



  5. Ellyon on June 8, 2010 at 3:49 am

    I don't care anymore about these idiots who want to push blame on anyone. JUST FIX THE LEAK!!!!!!!!!HE the chosen one wants to be in charge than be incharge of getting it done.



    • Dimsdale on June 9, 2010 at 5:31 am

      Øbama likes to talk about "kicking a$$", but it is really hard to do when one's foot is always in one's mouth.



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