Who deserves the No. 1 spot in the blame game for a spill that is on the verge of reaching catastrophic proportions? Is it BP, Transocean, Halliburton, incompetent and corrupt government regulators?
Nope, Krauthammer tells us, it's none of the above. In his most recent piece, our guy Chuck seems to lay heavy blame at the feet of environmentalists. And as Dave Barry might say, "I'm not making this up!"
Consider the lead on "A Disaster With Many Fathers," Krauthammer's piece from last week:
Here's my question: Why were we drilling in 5,000 feet of water in the first place?
Many reasons, but this one goes unmentioned: Environmental chic has driven us out there. As production from the shallower Gulf of Mexico wells declines, we go deep (1,000 feet and more) and ultra deep (5,000 feet and more), in part because environmentalists have succeeded in rendering the Pacific and nearly all the Atlantic coast off-limits to oil production. (President Obama's tentative, selective opening of some Atlantic and offshore Alaska sites is now dead.) And of course, in the safest of all places, on land, we've had a 30-year ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
So we go deep, ultra deep -- to such a technological frontier that no precedent exists for the April 20 blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.
So "environmental chic" caused the Gulf oil spill. To borrow a phrase from Alabama political candidate Dale Peterson in his widely parodied ad, "Betcha didn't know that."
Krauthammer does admit that environmentalists aren't the only ones who deserve blame. In fact, he concedes that BP should shoulder a smidgen of the blame. What a guy, that Chuck!
But then he balances out any signs of sanity with this classic conservative talking point. If the well continues to gush through August, as it almost certainly will, the disaster becomes "Obama's Katrina."
Sounds like the Washington Post has set the bar pretty low for its op-ed columnists these days.
5 comments:
Thanks for calling out Krauthammer... I saw the editorial in my local paper and was stunned.
Krauthammer says we would't have experienced this oil-drilling disaster if... get this... we just had more oil-drilling. This is sick right-wing double-think.
As I read the article I also couldn't help but notice Krauthammer's implicit blaming of the victim. In his twisted mind, the people who warned of the potential for this disaster (environmentalists) are now to blame. Next week, maybe we'll see a new Krauthammer piece titled, "Rape Victim Was Asking For It."
Dave, he sort of already has - see about 2/3 of the way down:
http://www.enotes.com/rape-campus-article/
if... get this... we just had more oil-drilling.
No, jackass.
What he meant was that on-shore (or closer to shore, in any case) drilling has been the Evil fought for decades. Congrats, the Greenie heads won.
So we don't drill close to shore, where things might surely be horrific if something goes wrong. Yes. But it's easier to cap an oil well that is gushing in 50-350 ft of water than, say, oh...about 5000 or more.
Context, Chico. Context.
To listen to the Greenies and other neo-hippies prancing around in the streets, the proximate answer to oil woes is to just do with oil, or perhaps continue paying the Sons of Allah in the House of Saud for oil by default, as drilling over here is now on the docket for mockery and more legal sanction if things turn more ill than they already are.
Put that legal snoot on the Schnauzer to some better use, will ya?
Maybe fining leftover corn chips in the sofa, or...something.
I believe we should stay focused on the fact that BP and its partners chose to forego safety measures in order to achieve cost savings. And now those decisions have led to environmental disaster. The primary issue is not whether or not we are drilling on or off shore, but whether or not those involved in drilling are doing so safely. If we try to use this spill as an opportunity to promote polictical standings, we will not stayed focused on correcting the primary problem that caused this disaster in the first place: the negligence of the oil industry. If we allow the oil industry to act without proper safety measures, it is not going to matter where we drill. Disastrous spills on or off shore are going to happen. Safety and accountability should be our foremost concern right now, not political blame-gaming.
If these eco-wackos were blocking drilling in the ANWR and using this FRAGILE EARTH poppycock we wouldnt have to drill in the gulf and wouldnt have to depend upon OPEC all the time
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