Trying to OutHilary, Hilary?

Just so you won’t have a lack of political possibilities to worry about, I am pleased to offer another  such possibility. The good thing is that this one should be a few years in the future, I think.

The first lady has been somewhat prominent in the news of late. One day, she’s photographed on the Gulf Coast, giving a thumbs up ands encouraging people to vacation at the Gulf. There is plenty of unspoiled beach available and it would be  a great to support the folks in the region. So, where is  the  Obama family  taking its  upcoming mini-vacation? Why, glad you asked. The answer is Maine. Perhaps he has not played any of the 150 golf courses in that great state and just has a hankering to do so. 

Her other high-profile appearance this week was  at the NAACP convention. You know, the event at which the “Tea  Party” was deemed to be a racist organization and then the next day, it wasn’t ? Wondering what she had to say?

Well, the first lady was the keynote speaker at the Kansas City, MO event and she seemed just a bit disgruntled. She spoke of crumbling schools, of the high rate of imprisonment of young black Americans and that the founders would agree that the work was not done. Which founders, not the country’s, but the NAACP’s. I shall just list the names and add that it would be quite enlightening to look them up. They were Mary White Ovington, Henry Moskowitz and William English Walling. She went to say that it was not time  to rest on our laurels but  rather to increase our intensity.

Thinking  about these events , especially the second made me  wonder if there are some aspirations in Mrs Obama’s future, political aspirations to be precise. Shucks, she could very well be involved in  setting policy already, taking  a page from Hilary’s playbook. So, in 2 and 1/2 years or 6 and 1/2 years or even 10 and 1/2 years when the President  leaves office, I just wonder if another Obama will be entering the  political arena. It will be  a long-term watch but could prove interesting.

Gulf Coast Shenanigans

” Otherwise, how are things, was an oft used phrase by the  late, legendary Paul Harvey. Incidentally, he seems to be one of those folks that cannot  be adequately replaced. I often wonder  what his take would be on this or that major news event.

But today I am using the phrase as an intro to a BP update. No, quite unfortunately the oil spill  has not been contained, although a few small good things have occurred and more could have occurred with a bit more co-operation/communication?

BP CEO Tony Heyward, their point man in dealing with the crisis on site, appeared before  members  of Congress and  the  questioning was anything but friendly. He did not help himself either by some  of his comments which appeared at times to be a bit insensitive. Given the nature of the Congressional beast, hearings and questioning were inevitable. I’m just not certain what worthwhile purpose the hearings have at this point. Maybe a little extra face time on C-Span or the major networks. Or a few good headlines like senators grill BP  executive or something like that. Obama even weighed in again saying he wishes he could fire Heyward. Real productive move.

I would rather the president work more closely with Louisiana Gov Bobby Jindal who really seems to be working hard on this thing as he should. But, yet one of his major efforts was actually stopped for a time the other  day by whom? Why, none other than the U S Coast Guard, from whence  came Admiral Thad Allen. Certainly the Admiral or his boss ( hint Barack H …..) had nothing to do with  stopping the oil removing barges from their task. As recently as Tuesday, they were hard at work. On Wednesday, they sat idle and remained so for over a day. Why? Jindal isn’t sure. He said that every time  he talked to  a Coast Guard representative, he got a different answer. And  Coast Guard spokesman, Lt Cmdr Dan  Lauer said they were all in this together since the real enemy was the oil. Chew on this, the Coast Guard had to confirm there were fire extinguishes and life vests on board  and then were having trouble reaching the people who built the barges. ( Not sure the relevance there, but what ever.) Jindal cannot overrule the Coast Guard although  he attempted to reach the White House with his concerns. Finally after what have seemed like an eternity to the Governor the barges were back at work.

Does this seem at all similar with  the feds refusal of international help for weeks before finally accepting the proffered Dutch assistance this week? Sure does to me. Do you see the spectre of politics at work anywhere? Just wondering. Han g in there Governor Jindal and keep the pressure on!

Just another week in the Gulf.

Should you boycott BP ?

There has  certainly been  a lot of talk about that very thing. And there are probably  people doing that. After all, their stock has dropped some 16% in recent weeks. Boycotting a company that has allowed such a disaster to occur and that seems unable to fix it or fix it quickly enough has a certain populist appeal. Boycotts have happened before as a way to force a company to do something or other.

But what does a boycott of  BP accomplish? Well, hurts their bottom line , costs them money and maybe in the minds of some boycotters “gets them back” for what they have done not done  the case may be. And I can certainly empathize with those folks in the Gulf  Coast area, in Louisiana, Mississippi who want nothing to do with the company.

Projecting the boycott’s results out there, one could envision a significant loss of revenue for the company. What are  they doing with  a lot of that revenue right now? Of course, the ongoing clean up with lawsuits etc sure to follow. Locally, an article in the Daily Advance indicated that buying habits here have been largely unaffected. Admittedly, the sample is small and unscientific. On the other hand, the threat of new penalties  by the Obama Administration could be the real engine driving down the stock price.

So, sadly the spill and its effects continue with even modest  clean up  results  doing little to alleviate concerns about the long-term impact on the Gulf and beyond. A very tough situation indeed.

Tag Team of Blame

When I was a kid, I often watched professional wrestling with my dad. At that age, I was convinced that everything I saw was reality. So, I  would get really agitated during tag team matches when one wrestler would slap hands with his/her partner indicating it was time to leave the ring and yet remain  in the ring to double team their opponent.

Now, being so much more mature than during those early years, i no longer watch pro wrestling. But I remember the concept of a tag team and in the last couple of days, I have observed exactly that. Only this tag team is of a political persuasion. I am noy quite sure if these two are ” good guys” or not. But I have my suspicions.

The individuals in question are Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ( Speaker since January, 2007 an important fact to remember) and television personality Joy Behar, formerly of The View. I guess tv personality is the term for Ms Behar. I’m unsure if there is a better term, such as  one who promulgates wacky opinions and theories, but that doesn’t matter.

This week, both individuals have reached the same conclusions about the Gulf oil spill. Both are convinced that the Bush administration or Bush/Cheney in Ms Behar’s words are at fault. Me Pelosi maintains that it is the lax regulatory atmosphere fostered by Bush and still being implemented by Bush appointed who are burrowed deep  within numerous unnamed federal agencies. A request to her office to identify these individuals has received no response at this time. Appointees which a Congress controlled by Democrats would have had to approve, at least to some degree.

As for Ms Behar, she is quite disturbed that Obama is being blamed when he is just trying to clean up a mess caused by the Bush people. She refers, by the way, to Obama’s firing of Minerals Management Service head Elizabeth Birnbaum. At his Gulf coast press conference, when asked about that, the president asserted that he knew nothing of the firing. Again, a minor point, though a bit Clintonesque, I think.

Ms Behar, the Obama people gave this particular oil rig an  award, provided  BP waivers 10 days before the explosion and oh yes received significant campaign money from BP. Got to blame Bush though which  is interesting since the president said that he was tired of the finger-pointing and blaming. Better let your supporters know, or maybe they are just  doing the blaming on your behalf. Good political move, huh?

Barack Obama = Jimmy Carter

I never thought I would hear it again but sure enough I  did. Way back in the years of malaise known as the Carter presidency, Carter related a question and answer that he had with daughter Amy, then around 8 or 9 years of age. Prior to  a debate with candidate Ronald Reagan, Carter said he asked Amy what the most important issue was. She said she thought nuclear weapons.

Now, to be forever filed under the category of when will they ever learn is this response between President Obama and daughter Malia, age 11. Obama related the conversation the two had a few days ago when she asked him when are going to plug the hole Daddy. referring of course to the BP oil spill.

Now, Glenn Back chose to make fun of Obama’s daughter for which he rightfully apologized. My take on this is completely different.  I see it a s a perfectly legitimate question for her to ask. My problem is Obama bringing it up at his press conference, particularly when he has requested that his daughters be off-limits from the media spotlight. Can’t be both ways. I fault him for  whatever media furor there is. Somewhere along the line in the press conference preparation, someone probably should have shortstopped this response, unless it was off the cuff.

Second Obama/Carter comparison comes from none  other than Obama fanatic Chris Matthews who was disappointed in the press conference per se . He then drew an analogy that I had not heard. Some have tried to compare the oil spill to what Bush faced with Katrina, given the same locale, etc. Matthews drew a comparison between the oil spill and the Iranian hostage crisis that stretched out so painfully  and probably was a very significant factor in Carter’s election loss. Time will undoubtedly tell.