We have never been "drill, baby, drill" people here, understanding that the ocean is a complicated place where man has little influence. If America could possibly run on wind, solar and nukes, that would be ideal.
But we also understand that for more than 300 million Americans to live in comfort, oil is vital. So we are not oil business bashers, except when they engage in price fixing.
Like most sane people, "Talking Points" is furious about the BP oil spill and would like action against those responsible. So when we saw the TIME magazine cover story placing specific blame, we took notice. Unfortunately, TIME has diminished some good reporting with some lazy ideological nonsense, so let's run it down.
TIME lists 12 responsible agents. Three of them are BP pinheads, including the current CEO Tony Hayward. Fine so far, as historically BP has had all kinds of safety problems.
Americans Chris Oynes and Elizabeth Birnbaum are named. They were members of the Obama administration who managed the Minerals Management Service, the government agency that's supposed to oversee offshore oil drilling. Oynes has retired, Birnbaum was fired, and they are guilty.
Then ideology pops up, as Dick Cheney and President Bush are cited for blame. TIME says they were cozy with big oil, which is true. But while Cheney and Bush are ranked fifth and sixth most responsible, President Obama is ranked eighth.
The truth is that all three men are equally responsible because they did not make oil drilling safety a priority. If TIME wanted to be fair, the magazine would have lumped the three in together.
Finally, the magazine holds the American driver responsible for the oil spill because we continue to buy gas-guzzling cars and tool around all over the place.
I guess TIME believes that if all Americans drove Yugos, the accident would not have happened. That's fantasy, of course. Oil is needed in all parts of American industry. Yes, Americans want big vehicles and the freedom to drive them, and yes it would be better if we cut back, but drilling will not be affected by oil consumption in our lifetime.
What TIME ignores and what absolutely did contribute to the disaster is the intense environmental movement, which has prevented much shallow-water drilling and the ANWR Arctic exploration.
Now, I am a big environmental guy, but as I told President Obama man-to-man, that ANWR deal is crazy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: Let's start drilling in ANWR. Are you afraid of scaring…
PRESIDENT OBAMA: ANWR, I think…
O'REILLY: What, a caribou is going to be scared? Come on. You're with the folks. They can't pay their heating bill and you're worried about a caribou going what's that pipeline doing?
OBAMA: Listen.
O'REILLY: What? What?
OBAMA: One of the great things about this country as you travel around is we've got some beautiful real estate here.
O'REILLY: Oh, come on. Nobody goes to ANWR. You know, what, are you going to run shuttles up there?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Bottom line: TIME allowed its left-leaning posture to skew it's take on the oil spill villains.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
Our pal Jon Stewart is a bit worked up over the Gulf oil spill and President Obama kicking butt:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Back in Washington, the president has finally bowed to public pressure and taking control of an organized, urgent and fully resourced centralized relief effort. I'm kidding. I'm sorry, he's bowed to pundit pressure to show emotion. Who should receive the brunt of the president's size 12 Air Jordans?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: In case you're wondering who is responsible, I take responsibility.
STEWART: He has to kick his own ass. I hope he's been doing yoga!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Is Stewart a patriot or a pinhead? You make the call.
Click here to watch "Pinheads & Patriots"!
But there is no doubt about this dumb thing that happened at a Tea Party demonstration:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me tell you something while you're talking right now. The reason why that we're in this mess, that this clown, George Bush, who you love so much, deregulated everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't touch my property again, and don't push me again.
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my gosh! Somebody call the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't touch my wife. You got it?
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
The far-left loon that provoked that fight, Govenor Spencer, is definitely a pinhead.
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