Posted 6/15/2010 08:59:00 PM by Douglas

Saw Barry's Oval Office address tonight. On one hand I find it disgusting that he wants to take so much credit for causing and fixing the spill and providing aid (to states that didn't vote for him, anyway) but what I really find fascinating, and somewhat endearing, is his child-like innocence and gullibility. Sure, he can say "ass" and not get a whoopin', but this was a private company drilling for energy this country (and rest of the world) desperately needs. He says the Government's Minerals Management Service screwed up by getting lax on regulation, but what is his solution? MORE regulation! A true politician, which he is, sees this as a perfect solution. Mainly because they don't have another one, but also because it's not the system that's built on greed and corruption, it's the fact that it wasn't my guy in there getting the kick backs. I wish I could point to an example where this wasn't the case.

Secondly, our "addiction" to foreign oil. This is a horrible ecologic catastrophe, but does Barry think that we're out there drilling in 5,000 feet of water or importing a billion dollars of oil a day because we just don't like those cars and power plants that run on sunshine, rainbows and our good intentions? Without a doubt, more R&D could be done for advancing energy independence, but every one he spouts off, wind, solar, ethanol, fuel cells, baby-farts, every one except nuclear is thermodynamically unviable. And if they weren't, we already be paying them a billion dollars a day for energy instead of arguing about where to put a few million dollars in government subsidies in wind farms that don't even generate enough electricity to pay for themselves before they have to be replaced. But that's a rant for another day.

What really got me is his total lack of definable goals. Oil spill? We'll clean it up. Plentiful renewable energy? Sure, it's on the way. We're Americans! The question is how, and he's never been a man to mire himself with the details of anything. That's why this statement really chaps my hide about our ability, specifically in the technology sector, to solve problems:

You know, the same thing was said about our ability to produce enough planes and tanks in World War II. The same thing was said about our ability to harness the science and technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon.

Ya know what? Boeing didn't develop long ranger bombers because someone thought it might be a good idea. The requirements were defined, the challenge was understood, and technology was developed that changed the world. And now is not the time to pull out Kennedy's moon challenge example, Barry. Guess where all those unemployed engineers at Houston's JSC are looking for work? The oil patch. How do you like that hope and change?

But as long as I'm making fun of Barry's boyish gullibility, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this one. Holy cow, she was on Fox right after the address, and I really can't believe she's still around. People say more people vote for American Idol than vote for president, and if she's running in 2012, that's clearly not a bad thing. Give it a listen, if you dare:


If you can listen to more than six seconds of her and are not reminded of this train wreck, I hope you don't vote. They're the same thing:


Maybe Miss North Carolina would have taken the call from the Norwegians when they called to try to tell us how to plug the leak in the gulf. But Barry let that call go to voicemail, and the world will never know.