The Buck Stops on Obama’s Desk

[IndianaGreen]

Published on Saturday, May 22, 2010 by CommonDreams.org

The Buck Stops on Obama’s Desk

by Lewis Seiler & Dan Hamburg

Meanwhile, inexplicably, BP remains in charge of the situation. They decide who are the "legitimate interested parties" to information. (Obviously, this does not include the general public!) For example, air monitoring along the shore and over the sea is being done by an organization called The Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, hired and paid by BP. BP has also determined what kinds of chemical dispersants to use. They chose the eerily labeled Corexit, and sprayed at least 600,000 gallons of it on the sea. If by "corrects it" we mean hides it, as in "out of sight, out of mind", they chose wisely. However, it turns out that Corexit is also, according to the EPA, "carcinogenic, mutagenic, and highly toxic." EPA has ordered BP to change to a less toxic dispersant but significant damage has already been done.

The cherry on this most unsavory sundae came with the news that no less mainstream a news organization than CBS was recently ordered to leave public beaches by the Coast Guard. When the reporters protested, they were told that "This is BP's rules, not ours." As was pointed out on the Daily Kos, "It seems as if BP, a foreign corporation, has taken over a branch of the U.S. government and is ordering US citizens off of public beaches, with the Coast Guard acting as its enforcer."

We had grave concerns about Barack Obama from the time he became a serious candidate for the presidency. Obama ran for and won the world's most powerful office with a very spotty resume. He got his initial big boost from outlaw enterprises like Goldman-Sachs (which gave nearly $1 million to candidate Obama) but the oil companies weren't far behind. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, BP and its employees have given more money to Obama than to any other candidate over the past 20 years!

This is, of course, legalized bribery. And with the recent Supreme Court travesty of Citizens United, it will only get worse. This is not the country we signed on for; instead, it is a country, in Ralph Nader's words, "of, by and for the corporations". Contrary to his rhetorical flourishes, President Obama is just another sycophant to corporate America. We are risking the future of the planet and our species by allowing this deadly ruse to go on.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/22-6

[niceypoo]

1. Change you can believe in

[Go2Peace]

2. Exactly. Regardless of what party, this is *what government is for*!!

The "talking point" being put out here is bullshit. What do we have government for? It's to protect us and our interests. This is their freaking job, I don't care if our President was Bush or Mother Teresa. This is a FUNDAMENTAL objective and RESPONSABILTY of government. To get in the middle and get it fixed. Assigning blame is for *after* it is resolved.

[Go2Peace]

3. It's frightening that some Democrats soley see government through a partisan lense

There are some fundamental requirements of good Democratic governement that transend partisan politics. Partisans will go to extremes and in the end would cause the same problems we see with Republican partisans.

It is a fundamental Responsability for the government to take charge, and yes even ownership, of this. If we don't believe that what exactly do the supposed liberal Democrats on this board think that Government's role should be? Because the partisan take on this of some members here is far closer to libertarian/Republican views on government than they might realize.