He reminds me of a geeky professor I once knew in college.
Posted on 04/30/2012 1:41:18 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Michael Kinsley once defined gaffe as the accidental telling of an embarrassing political truth. EPA official Al Armendariz has paid for his 2010 gaffe, captured on video and highlighted by Senator James Inhofe, with his job:
The Obama administration's top environmental official in the oil-rich South and Southwest region has resigned after Republicans targeted him over remarks made two years ago when he used the word "crucify" to describe his approach to enforcement.
In a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson sent Sunday, Al Armendariz says he regrets his words and stresses that they do not reflect his work as administrator of the five-state region including Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
They don’t reflect his work, eh? Then why would he be bragging about taking that kind of approach to enforcement at an EPA conference? Somehow, I’d trust the unguarded moment a lot more than the spin.
Thomas Pyle of the Institute for Energy Research, which pushes for policies that support domestic energy production, says that Armendariz’ original comments reflect the reality of those who have to deal with the EPA when pursuing exploration and extraction:
“Administrator Al Armendariz’s comments are representative of the arbitrary and punitive enforcement strategy that has developed at the EPA in the last three years. His resignation, while appropriate, does nothing to stop the regulatory assault on traditional energy producers currently led by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. A pattern of politicized rule-making and reckless scientific analysis envelop the agency, despite the damage-control efforts being coordinated at the White House.
“Words are important, but actions speak louder than words. And while Administrator Armendariz’s comments were reprehensible, the agency’s ongoing effort to intimidate and even bankrupt coal, oil and natural gas producers is far worse.”
Ask the Sacketts whether crucifixion is the rule or the exception. Armendariz’ departure may allow the EPA to spin a little longer, but the agency has “crucified” too many people for their approach to remain a secret. All Armendariz’ admission did was to corroborate the large body of evidence from inside the agency.
Update: Senator Inhofe says that this won’t stop his investigation into EPA enforcement practices:
“After his revelation that EPA’s ‘general philosophy’ is to ‘crucify’ oil and gas companies, it was only right for Administrator Armendariz to resign today – but his resignation in no way solves the problem of President Obama and his EPA’s crucifixion philosophy,” Senator Inhofe said. ”In his letter to Administrator Jackson, Armendariz again pointed to his ‘poor choice of words’ as the reason for his resignation – but Armendariz was just being honest: his choice of words revealed the truth about the war that EPA has been waging on American energy producers under President Obama.
“We will continue our investigation into the situations surrounding EPA’s apparent crucifixion victims: the American people deserve to know why, in at least three separate cases, EPA tarnished the reputation of companies by accusing them of water contamination; then when the results of their study did not turn out the way they hoped, and they had no definitive evidence to make that link, they quietly walked back their accusations. We will get to the bottom of this – and we will continue looking into EPA’s actions on hydraulic fracturing beyond these three cases as well.
“Especially as Region VI holds some of the most immense oil and gas resources in the country – including in my home state of Oklahoma – I will be watching who President Obama appoints to replace Armendariz very closely.”
At least this gets the media off the administration’s back. Oh, wait …
Update II: Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AR) joins in:
The Obama Administration’s desire to punish job creators goes all the way to the top, and that’s the real issue. Excessive and overly burdensome regulations are hurting our economy and actually killing jobs. If President Obama’s regulators were listening, they’d know that Americans want a healthy economy where hard work is rewarded and everyone has the opportunity to play by reasonable rules and succeed.
he regrets his words and stresses that they do not reflect his work
***
:|
Whenever a pattern emerges about the left’s beliefs,
they attempt to paint them as a series of isolated, non-connected datapoints.
It’s overwhelmingly obvious to us, though, that this belief system is pervasive in leftist ideology.
Why him? Cause he got caught?
That’s the way that entire worthless department thinks. The EPS’s a real target for savings if we ever had any government with a spine.
'50, 7 states' is a gaffe or 'J-O-B-S is a four letter word' is a gaffe.
This guy said what he believes and gave a poor analogy for it (call it exaggeration for effect) and he did so in front of a receptive audience.
Saw his picture. He’s a little worm. He couldn’t “crucify” anyone.
Why doesn’t this article include ther actual quote? Makes reading it a waste of time, except that it clarified in my mind that I don’t want people fired for piddling, politically incorrect vocabulary. Let the EPA go down in flames for what it does, not what it says.
The author of this article refers to gaffes as “the accidental telling of an embarrassing political truth.” In truth, they have come to mean anything a politician, especially a candidate for elective office, does or says that gets them in trouble. Further evidence that journalists don’t care about words.
I think this liberal environmental zealot should be imprisoned, frankly. His demeanor, his words, and likely his subsequent actions within the EPA are criminal in toto.
He should further be fined an amount equal to every friggin thing he owns or can cash it. This is a war with these people, folks. They are everyman’s enemy.
That sounds about right. I had an English professor who was this wormy.
RE: Why doesn’t this article include ther actual quote? Makes reading it a waste of time,
_________________________________
For everyone’s edification :
Armendariz made the original remarks at a local Texas government meeting in 2010. He relayed to the audience what he described as a “crude” analogy he once told his staff about his “philosophy of enforcement.”
“It was kind of like how the Romans used to, you know, conquer villages in the Mediterranean,” he said. “They’d go in to a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw, and they’d crucify them.
“And then, you know, that town was really easy to manage for the next few years,” he said.
Armendariz went on to say that “you make examples out of people who are, in this case, not complying with the law ... and you hit them as hard as you can” — to act as a “deterrent” to others.
In a rational country he would/should experience severe repercussions. The only reason he resigned is that this is Obama re-election time; and, if Obama is given again the “flexibility” he covets, this guy will probably be re-hired; and, had this not been re-election time, he wouldn’t have resigned in the first place. These people have got to be defeated, harshly, if necessary, even preferably.
Resigns, my ass...the Dems couldn't fire him quick enough. Since he is so environmentally sensitive, he will be lucky if he can find a job pumping septic tanks after this.
and the mutt what posted the video in the first place, cause he thought is was soooooo cool and edgy, i wonder what he thinks about all this now??? not so popular among the RATS now i bet...
So now he goes back to SMU?
But she did not quit until she got The Obammunists anti-capitalist political agenda instilled in the 10 EPA regions.
Now there are 10, oops 9, dedicated EPA political commissars.
yitbos
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