I'm From the Government, and I'm Here to Propose...More Government

As oil steadily spreads east, and newscasters lead nightly with heartrending pictures of silk-coated pelicans struggling to free themselves and stretching now useless wings, it is painfully evident the Obama administration’s policy of finger-pointing and maligning big oil has not saved our marshlands.  Though full of machismo, President Obama’s “declaration of war” on the spill in his June 15 address was short on substance and failed to inspire confidence.  His self-described “battle plan” offered no concrete solutions or immediate answers for a weary Gulf coast and a crestfallen nation.  The speech was rife with platitudes and empty militaristic imagery, which is ironic given that the months since the spill have manifested Obama’s inexperience, even to his staunchest of allies.  The birds, seemingly frozen in oil and in time, have become a symbol of this presidency, while this tragedy has showcased the follies of liberals’ belief in the unbridled expansion of the power and size of government.

To be sure, the Obama administration and Congress have followed their leader into battle.  Over the past two weeks, Congress has conducted trial-like hearings with BP CEO Tony Hayward and BP America President Lamar McKay.  Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) called for McKay to resign.  Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, a Republican who represents New Orleans, suggested McKay’s pound of flesh could be exacted more harshly.  “Mr. Stearns asked Mr. McKay to resign,” Cao said. “Well, in the Asian culture we do things differently.  During the Samurai days, we just give you a knife and ask you to commit harakiri.”  Following Hayward’s robotic stream of responses that investigations must be completed before he could testify as to BP’s negligence, Rep. Edward Markey (D-PA), chided, “Is today Thursday, yes or no?”  Though later retracted, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) termed the hearings a “shakedown.” 

Many prominent conservatives have spoken out against the hearings as premature and gratuitously aggressive and have recognized that all efforts should converge on the single objective of stopping the spill.  Other right-wing figureheads such as Mark Levin, Michael Savage, and Rush Limbaugh have done more than criticize the hearings and have gone so far as to liken the hearings to Stalinist Russia.  Though President Obama is certainly no friend to big oil, and his vision for capitalizing on this crisis through the blitzkrieg passage of cap and trade is steadily surfacing, the iron fist that implemented the Great Purge and forced collectivization bears no likeness to President Obama or his administration; to suggest otherwise is to diminish the suffering of true victims. 

Though President Obama cried he would “not settle for inaction,” these hearings are paradoxically the ultimate act of inaction.  Mere pomp and circumstance, they are an empty show put on by a puerile government that believes the answers to what ails this country—even the oil drenched Gulf—can be found in sterile Washington offices and closed-door meetings.  Neither the parading of BP executives before Congress nor the demonization of big oil contributes to the goal of saving the Gulf.  There is most certainly a time for investigation, accountability, and reckoning, but that time is not now. 

If the hearings have taught us anything, it is that government, with all its impenetrable red tape and crippling bureaucracy, is not the panacea the far left would have us believe.  Federal relief efforts in the Gulf have been sluggish due in large part to that same bureaucracy, which not only appointed a commission to explore criminal charges against BP, but has also created the position of an “oil czar,” who will undoubtedly consult with the same environmentalists who pushed for deep sea drilling as he or she formulates a recovery plan.  If this administration has been on top of the crisis since “day one,” as it has repeatedly attempted to convince the public, there should be no confusion regarding the chain of command, but that’s precisely what “big government” does.

Ronald Reagan once quipped, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help,’ ” and those fighting this disaster on the front lines such as Governor Bobby Jindal have pleaded with the federal government to either lead, follow, or get out of the way.  Governor Jindal has expressed his outrage and frustration not only with the federal government’s seeming lack of urgency, but also with its bureaucracy, which is both stymieing and even aborting the relief efforts his state has implemented.  Jindal described the hoops through which he was forced to jump to clear barges for siphoning surface oil:  “Twenty-four hours were lost unnecessarily,” he said. “That's thousands of gallons of oil that could have been sucked up if they had been allowed to do their jobs.”  Sixteen barges were ready or had already been deployed from the Delta Marina, but the Coast Guard halted them, because they did not have proof of certified inspections for fire extinguishers and life vests. “It’s the most frustrating thing,” Jindal said.  “Literally, yesterday morning we found out that they were halting all of these barges.  They promised us they were going to get it done as quickly as possible,” but “every time you talk to someone different at the Coast Guard, you get a different answer” the Republican Governor complained.  Thanks to Governor Jindal’s public and tireless remonstrations, the barges are operational, but other governors are now facing red tape as thick as the sludge in the Gulf.

Had the Bush administration or FEMA insisted on inspecting every helicopter airlifting evacuees from New Orleans or the firefighters sifting through the wreckage World Trade Center for survivors, there would have been countless more deaths.  President Obama’s “battle plan” for the Gulf, comprised of clean up by committee and hearings by commission, is only obstructing real progress.  For those countless legions who in chorus chanted “Yes We Can” and looked to Obama as their savior and great hope for change—one who would smite evil bankers, speak credit into existence, and restore America through burning bush revelations—the President has failed to fulfill prophecy with regard to the oil spill.  Rather than looking to our elected officials, we should turn to the true Hope of the world, the one whose very voice spoke the oceans into existence, and pray for divine guidance as we deal with the consequences of failing to protect this earth and its precious resources with which we have been entrusted. 

~ elf