BP Shakedown Cop-Out

Friends:

The is adapted from an e-mail message I sent to Todd Schnitt, after hearing his idiocy regarding the Shakedown of BP by the Tyrant-and-Liar-in-Chief (a/k/a T&LIC, i.e., Obama):

Schnitt:

I am not happy to hear that you espouse and agree with Rahm Emanuel’s philosophy that “we should never let a good emergency go to waste.” Unfortunately, that is the attitude of tyrants and despots—the tyrants and despots that now occupy the White House and control our government. I have known for a while that you have a bit of a lefty bent to you and your rant about the shakedown during the 4:00 p.m. hour on your June 17, 2010 show confirmed it.

I agree that the oil spill is a disaster. I agree that BP has a huge share of the responsibility for the spill and the damage it has and will continue to cause. However, they should not be held responsible for ALL the damages caused to everyone along the Gulf Coast. Legally, they would not be responsible for the damages caused by the moratorium on drilling, etc., put in place by the Tyrant-and-Liar-in-Chief (a/k/a T&LIC, i.e., Obama). In legal parlance, the moratorium is an unforeseeable, superseding, intervening cause of the damages to all those who have been put out of work by the moratorium. There was no need for that action . . . unless you are trying to destroy the industry, or take it over. When the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred, the shipping of oil in tankers was not shut down. When a plane crashes, killing hundreds of people, the government does not ground all flights. When a car crashes and kills people, the government does not stop people from driving. The moratorium was an extreme overreaction by the T&LIC. He had no clue, and still does not have any clue, about how to manage this disaster. So, to look like he is doing something, the T&LIC resorts to bullying. Those tactics work just fine in Chicago, especially since corruption is normal in Chicago. They are morally and legally reprehensible when done by a president.

There is a more important principle here that you are completely ignoring. This is a nation of laws and not of men or of emotions. Your reaction in this situation is purely emotional. BP has admitted that they were responsible and would pay all “legitimate” claims. They have been paying legitimate claims. They have been paying for clean-up. Because we are a nation of laws, laws should be used to solve this problem, not bullying tactics. The T&LIC and his regime have done more to prevent the resolution of this problem, than they have done to provide solutions or assistance. But, this is typical of what happens when government and bureaucracies get involved.

Once you get your emotions out of the way and analyze the situation logically and objectively, you cannot conclude anything but that the $20 Billion Escrow Fund set up by BP was a shakedown by the regime. If it was “voluntary” as you claim, they would have set it up sooner. There is no doubt that the regime threatened BP with all kinds of prosecutions and legal action, including taking them over, if they did not pony up. But, to you and the regime, it appears that the rule of law does not matter in this case. This is exactly the kind of thing the FDR regime pulled during the depression. It outrages me that the rule of law and the Constitution are discarded, just because there is a disaster like this.

I fully support Barton’s initial apology. Just because Boehner, Miller and other repukegans don’t like what Barton said, doesn’t mean they are right or that you are right. You are bootstrapping your argument that Barton’s comment was wrong by using other repukegans who disagree with his assessment of the situation. You claim to be an independent thinker who calls it like it is. So, what happened to calling it like it is? I guess, you call it like it is only so long as your desire to dive in the Gulf and spend time on the beaches is not threatened. This action by the T&LIC and his regime is morally reprehensible, legally unsupportable, and totally unconstitutional. But, I guess, for you, those wimpy repukegans, the regime of the T&LIC, and the despotcRATs, the Constitutional limitations on government aren’t valid or important when there is an emergency and a disaster. Besides, we should "[n]ever let a serious crisis go to waste. . . . [because] it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before." It gives the T&LIC the "opportunity" to do things like forcing a private company to divest itself of all of its profits for a year by intimidating and threatening its officers. Wait, . . . isn't that what happened to the financial institutions who were forced to accept TARP money. Oh, wait, . . . isn't that what happened to Chrysler and GM when they were taken over by the regime. The government is the root cause of this whole disaster because of it regulations and its cow-towing to the extremist environmentalists. You are wrong, Schnitt! Where and when will the rule of bullying end? Will radio stations be next to be strong-armed by the regime? You need to put your emotions aside and base your assessment on the facts and the rule of law. If this action by the regime continues and no one steps up to stop it, our Nation is doomed to become a dictatorship under the T&LIC and his regime.

When we are afraid of our government, instead of our government being afraid of us, we are in serious trouble as a republic. (By the way, the USA was set up as a REPUBLIC, and not a democracy. The Founding Fathers abhorred a democratic government, because they knew it was nothing more than mob rule.) I would suggest that you seriously consider the long-term consequences of the position you are taking in this matter. It is unfortunate, because a lot of people are being hurt. But, we have laws and courts to deal with it. It is not within the authority of the president to take these kinds of actions. It is the president’s responsibility to enforce the existing laws; it is not his prerogative to make it up as he goes. He does not have the constitutional right or authority to usurp the power and authority of the legislature or the courts. You either support the Constitution and the rule of law or you don’t. We either abide by the rule of law and the Constitution all of the time and in all circumstances, or we allow tyranny to exist. In this case, you are not supporting the rule of law or the Constitution. You cannot have it both ways. I am disappointed in your misguided, emotionally-driven position in this matter.

God Bless you.
God Bless the BSA.
God Bless our Troops.
God Bless America (the greatest country that has ever existed in the history of man).

Patriot Mark