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Leaks and Lies (Oliver North)
Townhall.com ^ | June 18, 2010 | Oliver North

Posted on 06/17/2010 8:17:46 PM PDT by jazusamo

WASHINGTON -- For two months, the Obama administration has been skirting the truth about its inept response to the April 20 BP Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion and the resulting fire and oil spill. The O-Team claims it has been "on top" of this problem since "day one." Reality shows that both the leaks and the lies continue.

On June 15, President Barack Obama, master and commander of the teleprompter, tried using his first address from the Oval Office to convince the American people that his team was doing all that could be done in handling "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced." It was, even his supporters agree, a failure.

It's not that the president and his speechwriters didn't try. He attempted to emote. He tried to express his anger at BP's "recklessness." Having previously likened the Gulf catastrophe to the terror attack of 9/11, he referred to "our brave men and women in uniform." He even described his plan for dealing with millions of gallons of petroleum spewing into the Gulf of Mexico as a "battle we're waging" and said the oil is "assaulting our shores and our citizens." He then went on to lay out his "battle plan."

By the end of Obama's blessedly brief remarks, it was apparent the only new resources he's committing to "fight" this "epidemic" -- his words, not mine -- are lawyers and about 17,000 National Guard members. He went on to "urge the governors in the affected states to activate these troops as soon as possible." The contrast between the number of uniformed personnel being sent to the Gulf Coast and the paltry 1,200 dispatched to help protect our southern border from a tidal wave of violence was inescapable.

So, too, is the evidence of political opportunism, egregious error and outright fabrication in what the O-Team claims to have done -- and what it plans to do -- in responding to the catastrophe. The very fact that Obama devoted nearly a third of his Oval Office remarks to advancing his cap-and-trade energy plan is proof that the administration still lives by chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's maxim: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste."

Though Obama and his spokesmen steadfastly maintain they have been doing "everything possible since day one" to mitigate the consequences of the ongoing spill, it simply is not true. Fox News is not alone in reporting on the administration's unwillingness to waive provisions of U.S. maritime law known as the Jones Act that bar foreign-flagged ships from transporting cargo or passengers between U.S. ports.

According to O-Team press briefings, Jones Act waivers will be granted when needed. This begs a question: Why isn't there a veritable fleet of oil-recovery, -skimming and -containment vessels from the Persian Gulf, the Philippines, China and Russia already at work off U.S. shores? And it's not just the issue of foreign ships; it's also a matter of American companies' being rebuffed after offering to help.

According to Obama, "mitigating the consequences" of this disaster for the "people of the Gulf" really matters. For decades, we have known that one of the most effective pieces of equipment in reducing shoreline damage from chemical and oil spills is floating containment boom.

On May 21, both of Maine's U.S. senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, wrote Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident manager and the head of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, alerting them that miles of certified containment boom, manufactured by a company in Maine, was immediately available for overnight shipment to the Gulf Coast. Yet as of this writing, none of this critically needed boom has been shipped.

Attorney General Eric Holder's June 1 announcement that the Department of Justice will pursue criminal sanctions against BP may sound good to those who want to launch punitive expeditions, but it does nothing to stop oil from gushing from the seabed. And his promise that "every cent of taxpayer money will be repaid" from a $20 billion "escrow account" is completely without foundation because BP could be driven out of business.

Obama also used his Oval Office remarks to announce the appointment of a new head of the Minerals Management Service, the government agency responsible for regulating oil drilling and mining. One might expect the person appointed to this post to be someone possessing at least minimal technical competence. Instead, the president chose a career government attorney -- a lawyer who made his "bones" as an assistant special prosecutor in the effort to bring down President Ronald Reagan over the so-called Iran-Contra affair. Obama should be glad there are no special prosecutors looking into his actions in the "Offshore Drilling affair." Yet.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: 20100420; capandtrade; capntrade; crapintrade; irancontra; jonesact; lawyers; liarinchief; mms; obama; oilspill; olivernorth
Obama should be glad there are no special prosecutors looking into his actions in the "Offshore Drilling affair." Yet.
1 posted on 06/17/2010 8:17:46 PM PDT by jazusamo
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To: 2rightsleftcoast; abner; ACAC; advertising guy; Arkinsaw; athelass; aumrl; basil; bboop; BAW; ...
OLIVER NORTH PING!

Photobucket

Please Freepmail me to be added to the Ollie North ping list.

2 posted on 06/17/2010 8:19:58 PM PDT by jazusamo (But there really is no free lunch, except in the world of political rhetoric,.: Thomas Sowell)
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To: jazusamo
I have heard that 16 other nations offered immediate help and were turned down.
3 posted on 06/17/2010 8:26:10 PM PDT by guitarplayer1953 (Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to GOD! Thomas Jefferson)
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To: jazusamo

Thank You Ollie for this most fine screed!


4 posted on 06/17/2010 8:29:00 PM PDT by Randy Larsen ( BTW, If I offend you! Please let me know, I may want to offend you again!(FR #1690))
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To: jazusamo

“.......Yet.”

Thanks for the ping jaz.


5 posted on 06/17/2010 8:35:28 PM PDT by rockinqsranch (The Left draws criminals as excrement draws flies. The Left IS a criminal organization.)
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To: guitarplayer1953

He has no intention of stopping the spill. he needs it to push cap and trade scam now like Beck said on his show.

Can anyone calm me down? I’m scared at what is going on. More and more.
Why don’t we all stop playing games. I know, you know it and most of the readers here know it. Obama is going to do something evil real soon. He wants to rule and never leave office. I had to say it. Here he is on video teaching Saul Alinsky tactics and he did the same for ACORN Marxists when he worked for them. http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/06/priceless-msnbc-mockumentary-discusses-obamas-days-as-brilliant-constitutional-law-professor-but-actually-shows-him-teaching-alinsky-tactics-video/
We are in trouble America. The final move has to be gun confiscation and that new UN Treaty that is being written right now to disarm the population is going to become a major worry after a few schools get shot up and children are killed. I can see Obama coming out saying we need to prevent it from happening ever again and calling for us to have gun confiscations to comply with the treaty that I am sure he will have rammed down the Senate. That is the only obstacle I see for Obama to try a takeover. 2/3 of the Senate must approve it. This isn’t a joke anymore. I am scared of this man and know we might be in the final days of the Republic. Not saying he will succeed. Just that he will try. Marxists always try to take over. It is up to us to stop him when he does try. Recent poll asked “If Obama Imposes the U.N. Gun Ban On America, Which Would Dissolve Our Bill Of Rights And Orders Gun Confiscation What Will You Do? http://www.usofearth.com/polls/?p=126
55% said fight, revolution. Will you be there for America if the unthinkable does happen? Will you stand up for our freedom? That is the question. Search inside yourselves and know we are in this together. We will all be free or we’ll witness America and the world in a new dark Marxist Age headed by Soros, Obama and their nut case eco-loons like Van Jones and the Apollo Group and the CAP (Center For American Progress). Copy this message you will see it all coming true in the coming months. Not years. I hope to God I am wrong but every day we move closer to dictatorship.

I hope this isn’t too ‘conspiracy’ like. I’ve read far worse here. Lets just say that I’m scared, really scared and can come up with many many scenarios where he does something evil. Anyone else getting that spidey sense more and more?


6 posted on 06/17/2010 8:43:17 PM PDT by DebraAI
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To: jazusamo
fail
7 posted on 06/17/2010 8:50:46 PM PDT by Nateman (If liberals aren't screaming you're doing it wrong.)
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To: DebraAI
I am reading the “Manchurian President” now, and David Horowitz writes about how the Alensky trained organizers infiltrate a group (the executive branch in this case) and destroy it from the inside out. Saul Alensky preferred this way over the Communistic way of war fare.

No, I don't think you are being too “conspiracy” with this. His actions/inactions regarding the oil spill has accomplished a lot. Destroyed the economy along the Gulf; put 120,000 (estimated) people out of work; the rigs will go to different countries and never come back; and Soros will make billions more.

8 posted on 06/17/2010 9:36:32 PM PDT by Humal
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To: DebraAI
We are well aware of "commander zero's" intentions and have been aware of the left's agenda from billy bob clinton's days.

Please don't be offended if folks here are a bit reticent about answering you. You just signed up a few days ago and some may view you as a potential agent provocateur.

If you are on the up and up...Welcome Aboard!

That being said, I don't see the Senate ratifying the UN treaty, the potential is always there of course.

9 posted on 06/17/2010 9:49:37 PM PDT by Eagles6 ( Typical White Guy: Christian, Constitutionalist, Heterosexual, Redneck.)
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To: jazusamo

When Katrina threatened, it was a RAT Gov. of La. that stalled as long as she could on calling out Nat’l Guard in an attempt to blame Bush while he repeatedly urged her to do her duty,,,,now it’s a RAT president who’s trying to stall on the well spill all he can. (You sure you want MORE of these crap heads in office? Better take a couple of Anacin, you’re are screwed up.)


10 posted on 06/17/2010 10:36:01 PM PDT by Waco
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To: jazusamo

Welcome to Zimbabwe, Ollie.


11 posted on 06/17/2010 10:38:14 PM PDT by Candor7 (Obama .......yes.......is a fascist... ...He meets every diagnostic of history)
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To: jazusamo
Because Obama lives in a world where people truly enjoy doing nothing but waiting for some government check to arrive, he honestly believes the people in the Gulf want to do the same.

He cannot understand people who want to work and enjoy earning their own way. Why would you want to go back to working on an oil rig or fishing or owning a restaurant when you can get them money from BP?

12 posted on 06/18/2010 4:06:26 AM PDT by when the time is right
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To: jazusamo
Who killed the spill?

Obusted in the Oval Office with a teleprompter?

Nope. Just a dope (head)there!

13 posted on 06/18/2010 4:49:53 AM PDT by Young Werther ("Quae cum ita sunt" Since these things are so!)
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To: jazusamo
Hubby made that comment yesterday morning in the kitchen before we left for work — almost verbatim.

There is great news, however, he attended the Missouri Republican Party Fund Raiser last night. Roy Blunt, Peter Kinder and others active in our state were there. Kit Bond had to cancel but sent the message ahead that Henry Reid had called a vote and it was better for him to stay in Washington and mind the store than come home and preach to the choir. The bad news was delivered by the new CEO of Emerson Electric who was one of the featured speakers. He stated that under the current administration and legislation, there is absolutely no incentive for any company to invest in America. He followed it up with the great news — in Missouri (a bell weather state if there ever was one) — the Republican Party has never been more flush with funds or volunteers. St. Louis is a Union town and there will always be a loyal following of Democrats. HOWEVER, the county and state are conservatives and the independents and conservatives are finally breaking away from the major “shining on” the media and Obama managed to pull off. We are primed and ready to defeat the Prince of Fools in the Oval Office and his minions in the House and Senate.

If Missouri heads right, then you can bet your bippie the rest of America is heading in that direction.

14 posted on 06/18/2010 8:33:43 AM PDT by Constitutions Grandchild
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To: Constitutions Grandchild

Thanks, that’s very good news about Missourians and I believe you’re correct in saying the rest of the country will follow. I’m truly looking forward to November.


15 posted on 06/18/2010 9:45:01 AM PDT by jazusamo (But there really is no free lunch, except in the world of political rhetoric,.: Thomas Sowell)
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