Republican leaders think so. This is tremendously stupid politics. The public — particularly Republicans — are weary of taxpayer bailouts already. Now we want more? Oh, sure — count on Republicans to say, "Well, we bailed out the banks. So why not BP?" But that argument falls flat. The bailout of the banks was necessary to stem the economic downflow. … Read More
Another Oil Spill In The Gulf
Lovely: As if there wasn't enough oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico, satellite images have revealed a 10-mile-long slick from another drilling rig, which apparently began leaking days after the Deepwater Horizon disaster began. Citing an environmental group and federal documents, the Mobile, Ala., Press- Register reports that the smaller leak, from the Ocean Saratoga platform, apparently began around … Read More
Religious Nutjobs Of The Day
From Newsweek, presented without comment: A growing conversation among Christian fundamentalists asks the question that may have been inevitable: is the oil spill in the gulf a sign of the coming apocalypse? About 60 million white evangelicals live in America, and about one third of them believe that the world will end in their lifetime, according to the Pew Research … Read More
Visualization of Oil Spill Over Your Home
Here's what the oil spill would look like if it was centered at my home: Try it yourself.
Hurricanes and the Oil Spill
With hurricane season upon us, questions are being asked about the effect of hurricanes on the oil spill and, conversely, the effects of the oil spill on hurricanes. NOAA has the "answers", although it involves a lot of guesswork, since there's never been a situation where a major hurricane passed through an oil slick of this size. I have reprinted … Read More
How The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Has Turned The Right Wing Into Socialists (and Hypocrites)
Crazy Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), like many of her fellow Republicans, isn't satisfied with the federal response to the BP oil spill disaster because — get this — she wanted to see the federal government seize control and ownership of more private property. Seriously. "Where were the boats that could have been commandeered by the government to be sent into this … Read More
BP Gas Pump In The Near Future
More anti-BP internet memes here, including a nice re-working of their logo.
Obama’s Katrina?
A lot of "serious" right-wing contributors are comparing the Obama's response to the Oil Spill to Bush's response to Katrina. Read, for example, how unhinged the Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan I don't see how the president's position and popularity can survive the oil spill. This is his third political disaster in his first 18 months in office. She continues: I wonder if … Read More
Is Kevin Costner Making Himself Useful?
The spill in the Gulf rages on. Animals are washing ashore dead. Efforts to stop the thing are proving unproductive. It is the worst environmental disaster the world has ever seen. And one man may have a solution: Kevin Costner. Yes, that Kevin Costner. Mr. Costner appeared in New Orleans last week to demonstrate a $24 million oil extraction device … Read More
Rand Paul Doubling Down By Showing Support For BP
Bruce Bartlett may have said it best when he wrote that Paul suffers from foolish consistency syndrome: I don't believe Rand is a racist; I think he is a fool who is suffering from the foolish consistency syndrome that affects all libertarians. They believe that freedom consists of one thing and one thing only–freedom from governmental constraint. Therefore, it is … Read More