Robinson on Joe Barton Apology

A GOP chorus of Joe Bartons on the BP oil spill
The BP apologist is mainstream among conservative Republicans.
- By Eugene Robinson

Select quote:

"A group constituting roughly two-thirds of all Republicans in the House takes the position that President Obama was wrong to demand that BP set aside money to guarantee that those whose livelihoods are being ruined by the oil spill will be compensated. In other words, it's more important to kneel at the altar of radical conservative ideology than to feel any sense of compassion for one's fellow Americans. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how today's GOP rolls."


My commentary:

6/23/2010 5:08:21 PM

The whole point of having a civil court system is to establish an objective venue to settle damage claims. This is the best rights-protection the victims of BP’s well failure, and individuals generally, have. All sides get a hearing, and the facts dictate the outcome. In politics, political connections reign supreme over any facts. Whether the $20 billion represents a shakedown of BP or a protective shady deal cut between Obama and one of his campaign donors is beside the point. The real issue is the Executive Branch’s usurpation of the judicial system.

We are in dangerous territory, if justice is the goal. Considering the assault on the rule of law by this powerlust-driven administration, it is shamefully trivial for Obama Democrats and their supporters to babble about the GOP “favoring” oil companies. They claim to be the voice of “average” Americans, whom they derogatorily call “the little people”. Yet, they have no problem stripping them of their right to their day in court, and replacing that objective venue by throwing them into the world of political calculations.

Plenty of Gulf oil spill victims are going to be shafted if this deal leads to government officials doling out the cash, rather than judges and juries, which it probably will. And plenty of non-victims will be rolling in BP loot. In a court of law, each individual stands tall, win or lose. When power politics trumps justice, the un-politically connected become “the little people”. Mr. Robinson worries about ideas, or “radical conservative ideology”, which he doesn’t bother to name and refute. Meanwhile, he protects the real threat - arbitrary government power. He sees nothing wrong or un-American about a King – excuse me, a president – having the power to force a private company to hand over its money, oblivious to the danger that that precedent poses to all private companies into the future. So much for a government that protects our rights!

Today’s Left-Wing Washington rulers are throwing their fellow Americans under the bus, that they may gain a photo-op handing a check to favored victims. And then Mr. Robinson accuses Republicans, who at least have some semblance of respect for the constitutional separation of powers that protects us from the growth of tyranny, of having no “sense of compassion for one's fellow Americans.”

This, ladies and gentlemen, is how today's Democratic Left rolls.