Friday, May 21, 2010
Bashing BP Is "Un-American"?
So, Rand Paul has just denounced Barack Obama as being "un-American" (do we need a special House committee for this?), for criticizing British Petroleum's behavior in the Gulf of Mexico. Something funny about this is not just the name, but indeed the ownership: while there are certainly some American stockholders, BP is overwhelmingly British, indeed was substantially owned by the British government itself for many decades from WW I up into the Thatcher era. Since when is it "un-American" to bash a British company for misconduct?
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9 comments:
It can only be unAmerican because only an America hater would say discouraging words about capitalist firms.
I guess Dr. Paul did not watch the Sixty Minutes stories on the chain of events - largely really bad choices driven by BP putting speed over safety - that ultimately led to this disaster. When the full story comes out, I suspect most people will be blaming BP.
Rand is simply exposing his ignorance and lack of sophistication in the areas of world affairs and political ideology. With this second gaff coming from him in as many days it would seem that Dr. Paul gives little thought to his comments, shooting from the hip so to speak, but hitting himself in the foot each time. He may be the best thing that has yet happened to the Democratic Party.
Read the quote:
PAUL: No, the thing is is that drilling right now and the problem we’re having now is in international waters and I think there needs to be regulation of that and always has been regulation. What I don’t like from the president’s administration is this sort of, you know, “I’ll put my boot heel on the throat of BP.” I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business. I’ve heard nothing from BP about not paying for the spill. And I think it’s part of this sort of blame game society in the sense that it’s always got to be someone’s fault. Instead of the fact that maybe sometimes accidents happen. I mean, we had a mining accident that was very tragic and I’ve met a lot of these miners and their families. They’re very brave people to do a dangerous job. But then we come in and it’s always someone’s fault. Maybe sometimes accidents happen.
He's saying its 'unamerican' to challenge businesses in general.
He DID NOT say it was un-American to challenge "businesses in general".
Rand Paul was referring to was a quote the White House spokesman used.
WH Press Briefing held by Robert Gibbs on May 3, 2010:
MR. GIBBS: "Look, we’re -- I mean, in the Gulf, I’m sorry. We're -- I used this phrase yesterday, as Secretary Salazar used this phrase, and that is we are going to do what we have to do. We will keep our, as Secretary Salazar said, our boot on the throat of BP to ensure that they’re doing all that they -- all that is necessary, while we do all that is humanly possible to deal with this incident. Absolutely."
"Since when is it "un-American" to bash a British company for misconduct?"
Since when is greed, criminal neglect, and malfeasance un-American?
Rand Paul: "I’ve heard nothing from BP about not paying for the spill."
That just shows his ignorance. BP's liability is limited to less than $100,000,000. If BP had any intention of paying more than the legal limit, they would have said something by now.
Barkley,
Suggest changing the headline to:
Bashing British Petroleum is "Un-American"?
Although, considering that the UK is the 51st state (America's Poodle), criticizing British Petroleum may well be rightly considered Un-American. :)
just fyi - BP changed its name to Beyond Petroleum.
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