Partisanship once again trumps statesmanship. (H/T Dambala @ AZ)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sydlY3No7TY]
Joe Barton’s 6th Congressional District stretches across the central counties of east Texas, far inland from any threat of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. From that safe vantage point, the compensation fund established by BP at the insistence of President Barack Obama may appear to be a “$20 billion shakedown” that makes Barton, a Republican, “ashamed.”
But seen from the perspective of South Mississippians living near, and dependent upon the Gulf of Mexico, the fund is merely a down payment on BP’s liability.
According to the Associated Press, Barton “incited rare Republican-on-Republican rage” over his comments and he tried to back away from what he had said in order to save his standing in the GOP in Congress.
There have been far too many feet in far too many mouths in connection with the BP oil spill. But Barton’s observations were inexcusably partisan and unconscionably unsympathetic to the ecology and economy of the entire Gulf region, including Texas.
sop
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOwweeeeeeeeeeeeee We now have two(2) Bartons that need to resign immediately or be removed for treasonous and unethical acts. The other Barton being the acting (in the real literal sense of the word) Jefferson Parish Attorney, Peggy Barton, who orchestrated the infamous “denial letter”, based on erroneous case jurisprudence, for public records requests in JP.VIVA LA JEFFERSON ! OOOOOOOwweeeeeee
Little monkey you read my mind!
Both Bartons are bought and paid for.
Both using our tax dollars and our blood, sweat & tears.
SHE has been at the trough since the early 1990’s and knows all about her buddy Wilkinson’s corrupt despicable violations. WTH she was his bully-girl : calling people all the time to say ” Tom told me to tell you that if he has to call you it is going to be ugly.”
How many Assistant Parish Attorneys and PAO employees have gotten that call?
How many have gotten her emails or phone calls or in person comments that ” despite leaving for Korea to visit her husband, who has been there for five or so years, she is still available by email, albeit not until 4:30 pm our time”? Did she put in for Leave? Or did Tom ( Wilkinson) change the rules for her like he did for Debbie Villio? Hmmmm. Keep swinging Curious.
Superb chronicle of work on the oil spill by noladder.blogspot.com. He takes no prisoners in doing this work, and as a citizen of Louisiana it is important to me to see someone take on the establishment in the tradition of old-style journalism.
Carol welcome to Slabbed. Our Katrina brother Editilla has been very good to us through time and we consider him family here on Slabbed. I agree his work covering the spill on the Ladder has been second to none and the links he’s hung on the Ladder has inspired more than one post on Slabbed including this one.
How does Haley Barbour’s assertions that the $20bn escrow “is going to make it less likely they (BP) will pay for everything”, stack up against the opinions of people actually laying money down taking positions on BP’s stock? (Hat tip Editilla):
Well Dayum! Thanks Y’all for having a conversation over here about yer’ho so humble Editilla! HA! Wit’out me! Hahahaha Well.. you know…
I wouldn’t be here if slabbed hadna pulled my sanity outta McDonald’s wit’a rifle I’m tollin’ya.
Ahem, anyway… I’d love to have been the shit fly on that white house wall with Eric Holder sitting in on this meeting between our President and those Limey Pinky Pirate Yats’men Bastad Petroleum Jelly Rolls.
Holder: “This is your Brain with $20 Billion deposited in escrow.”
Tony Fey Heyward: “Excuse me?”
Holder: “This is your Brain in Handcuffs.”
Svendish the Hockey Pucker Chairman: “But Ve said Ve arth sorrthy?”
Holder: “Hey you blond-haired blue-vein, we will make Cheese out of your broke ass. You will go straight to jail, you will not collect dividends, and you will become Angolacized in Louisiana first.”
Jus’dreamin….
And btw
I have trouble watching that Live Feed anymore, since Oil Drum pretty much has me convinced that the Well Casing is COLLAPSING BENEATH THE BOP.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6593#comment-648967
(comment from dougr June 13, 2010 – 3:17am)
As the Well Casing inevitably collapses there will be no containment. There may be a very very very SLIM CHANCE the relief wells make it before the collapse spreads downward as the Drilling Shaft is Ejected from the Well –but that is without ANY Hurricanes and IF They Hit This Vein…. but Even Tinki’Winki gon’havta suck this ass.
So, once again our world along the Gulf Coast will Change Big Time, the kind of Change that doesn’t look back.
And another thing since it’s happy hour…
I’d been harping on Carol Forsloff to come dig on da’slabbernation.
Very Glad to see her here, and have been enjoying the hell outta her new News Outlet Venture: Green Heritage News.
http://greenheritagenews.com/
Y’all have doubtless seen them turn up on the Ladder.
Carol was the first journalist to really turn our way in the midst of that horrible surge of Katrina Shorthand, with a 6 part piece from the inside of the snake farm.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/269069
We are so lucky to get bonafide gumshoes like Carol and Georgianne Neinaber and even Harry Shearer, working the beats.
Heck Editilla, with that kind of endorsement from you we gotta have Carol on our blogroll thus it is done.
Regarding the relief wells, Robert Marie said as much a few weeks ago on one of our oil spill posts. From what I remembered from my time working offshore such talk didn’t initially add up but the deep water factor is what makes this a clusterf*ck. So I asked around and the last conversation I had was with someone who had good connections into the maritime community. The answer is Robert is most likely spot on as amplified by the link you left.
My best friend who is an industrial mechanic said a very simple solution would be to fit a sleeve with a valve over the now cut casing. Once in place you simply shut the value off. Again I pondered why such a simple solution, at least to the layman, was not considered. Bad casing below the sea bed again offers an explanation.
The relief wells are a long shot at best. It will be wise if everyone expected the worst there and prepared themselves mentally for that eventuality.
Besides the catastrophic environmental damage a 10 year gusher would have on the ecosystem you can go ahead and kiss BP’s ass goodbye because financially they can’t withstand it. Hell all the oil companies combined could not take that financial hit.
I watched the well video once and turned it off. Like you said it crawls into your head and that’s the last thing I need right now. Ignatius made similar remarks to me in an email so we aren’t alone there.
sop
PS. Jail time is in order for those BP employees involved in the corner cutting that lead to this mess IMHO.
sop
This Post by SOP and the Comments (including SOP’s own) are “pregnant” with issues, many potentially “contentious”. Accordingly, I’ll stick with the “simple stuff” that liberals and conservatives can all agree on: Watch these names among the BP employees who the United States Department of “Injustice” takes an interest in: Donald Vidrine, Robert Kaluza, Mark Hafle, and John Guide. Also watch for the disclosure of the name of BP’s Vice-President” or “Manager” for “Regulatory Compliance” (or the lack thereof). And just so you “Obummer-Lovers” are aware that I haven’t forgotten about you, if anyone from BP ever sits in the dock on criminal charges, then several MMS (Yes, as in the Obummer administration) personnel and former personnel should be sitting there with them. For now, just focus on two names, although there are several “more”: Susan Elizabeth Birnbaum, who has been “missing-in-action” since she was “sacked” (some say resigned voluntarily, on her own terms – Yeah, right, and I have a beautiful bridge to sell you), and Frank Patton. Maybe one or more of these KILLERS can share a cell with me! Ashton O’Dwyer.
Ashton I agree on with you that any MMS employees that hopped in bed with BP on this and contributed to the disaster should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
sop
A newspaper in London reports BP is trying to raise 50 billion dollars to pay for the oil spill. I imagine that would secure a civil resolution.
Two “more” names and a few more “positions” for feeding into the meat-grinder: With BP: “Sherie Douglas”, Regulatory Advisor who communicated with MMS regarding well control problems (and the “testing” of the BOP, which I don’t believe ever happened before 4/20/10) as early as March 2010. With MMS: David Trocquet, District Manager in New Orleans, who I believe O.K.’ed the postponement of the BOP test “indefinitely” (I don’t believe the test was ever performed prior to 4/20/10). UNKNOWN – “Drilling Director in New Orleans” (remember, Frank Patton was the District Engineer, and he’s already made the “hit parade”). And them there’s someone who could prove to be a “good guy”, namely Chris Oynes, who quit after the casualty of 4/20/10, and had been an MMS “whistleblower” responsible for “nailing” the Regional Supervisor for the Gulf of Mexico Region, Donald C. Howard, who had been taken on hunting trips “with officials of offshore oil and gas companies”, and who was no longer with the agency when the BP well was permitted and being drilled. They say that the first people to turn on their colleagues usually get the best deal from prosecutors. (Now when are the indictments going to start being issued for the deaths, injuries and property damage from KATRINA, with the 5-year Anniversary right around the corner?). Ashton O’Dwyer.
In my opinion, as it relates to the oil spill, AROD is analogous to the geek hacker…hire him, don’t convict him…his insight, coupled with his experience is what we needed some 50 days or so ago, and we still need now. The truth is, he should be Jefferson Parish’s homeland security guru.
So what if he insults a Federal Judge in public (place), they are for the most part an insult to the public (taxpayer), ie. Porteous, etc….
C’mon people, let’s get serious… auvoir