Folks,
After the 9/11 attacks the right wing conservatives tried to pin blame on Clinton for not dealing with the Al Qaeda threat forcefully. But progressive left did not accept this. The hypocrisy of the right was out in the open when Condi Rice had to concede they were
specifically warned about Bin Laden being determined to attack the U.S. Yet, Bush administration did nothing for 8 months when the attack came.
Now contrast that with what happened with oil drilling in the gulf. As far back as September 2008 it was widely reported that Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the Interior Department was a pit of corruption. See this article from
Washington Post dated September 11, 2008. Here is just one sentence from that article.
In the report released yesterday, investigators said they "discovered a culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" in which employees accepted gratuities "with prodigious frequency."
So, it is clear when Obama came into office he was fully aware of the corrupt nexus that existed between MMS and the oil industry. What did he do? Nothing. He let MMS corruption go on for more than 16 months since he took office.
The license for drilling the leaking Deep Water Horizon well was issued by MMS under Obama's watch. Obama continued to mouth the truisms of the oil industry that drilling is perfectly safe, nothing to worry about. He even went so far as to gladly embrace the "drill baby drill" mantra of sister Sarah and
opened up offshore oil drilling.
All this while he did nothing to revamp MMS. They continued to be the corrupt pit they were 3 years ago. See this report from NY Times of
March 25, 2010. Here is the lead off sentence from that article.
Federal officials who oversaw drilling in the Gulf of Mexico accepted gifts from oil companies, viewed pornography at work and even considered themselves part of industry, the Interior Department inspector general says in a new report.
If Bush can't blame 9/11 on Clinton, then Obama can't blame Bush for this mess. Allowing the progressive left to give a pass to Obama is downright hypocritical.
In a related note, the people BP has hired for the clean up work were made to sign a contract that includes a gag clause preventing them from speaking to the media.
Cheers!
