"...the critics on the right can't have it both ways."

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_06/024219.php

THE IDEOLOGICAL HITCH TO THE GOP'S SPILL CRITICISM.... President Obama chatted with Politico's Roger Simon yesterday, and the original headline on the piece was pretty misleading: "Obama to Politico: Congress shares the blame for BP." The revised headline was a little more specific, but still missed the point: "Obama to Politico: GOP shares the blame for spill."

I haven't seen the entire transcript, but based on what the magazine published, that doesn't appear to be the point the president made in the interview.

In an interview with POLITICO, the president said: "I think it's fair to say, if six months ago, before this spill had happened, I had gone up to Congress and I had said we need to crack down a lot harder on oil companies and we need to spend more money on technology to respond in case of a catastrophic spill, there are folks up there, who will not be named, who would have said this is classic, big-government overregulation and wasteful spending."

The president also implied that anti-big government types such as Tea Party activists were being hypocritical on the issue.

"Some of the same folks who have been hollering and saying 'do something' are the same folks who, just two or three months ago, were suggesting that government needs to stop doing so much," Obama said. "Some of the same people who are saying the president needs to show leadership and solve this problem are some of the same folks who, just a few months ago, were saying this guy is trying to engineer a takeover of our society through the federal government that is going to restrict our freedoms."

This doesn't sound like a president trying to extend blame, so much as it's Obama taking note of the fatal flaw in Republicans' attacks.

And can anyone seriously disagree with his analysis? Imagine if, before the April 20 explosion, the White House had announced its desire to expand government regulation of the oil industry, impose new safety and emergency mandates, and spend taxpayer money on equipment and technology. Is there any doubt what we'd hear from Republicans, their lobbyist allies, and the media that's been trained to be on the lookout for "big government"?

It often goes unsaid -- which is why I'm glad Obama said it -- but this simple truth is the problem that underscores the right's criticism of the administration's response. Conservatives are dissatisfied with the president's actions to date, but what they tend to downplay is that they'd be even more dissatisfied with the kind of steps that would have prevented the disaster in the first place.

It's why GOP arguments have taken on a child-like quality: the disaster happened, Obama's president, therefore blame the disaster on Obama.

The Politico headline notwithstanding, this isn't about the president assigning blame; it's about drawing attention to the fact that government regulation and spending can prevent catastrophes like these -- and the critics on the right can't have it both ways.

[impik]

1. Well, since the critics from the Left do just the same...

[blm]

2. Government needs to get out of the way and let BP, Massey, Goldman Sachs, et al, do what they want

at the expense of the American people and the environment...that always works out so well for us, doesn't it?

[babylonsister]

3. Yet that's always the gop's argument. Too bad no one requires

that they prove how effective that would be/has been.

[blm]

4. it certainly can't be proven by history

.

[iamjoy]

5. But Mr. President, You Didn't

See, that's the problem. If Obama had been calling for tougher regulation months ago and been stymied by Conservatives, we could blame them for this disaster. I doubt it would have worked with the Conservatives, because they have this cognitive dissonance that the world would be a utopia if we had a clone of Ronald Reagan as President. and of course, the media would buy into it.

But then, I am the opposite of Conservatives. They blame Obama for not stopping the leak. I'm mad at him for not doing more to prevent it. Maybe I'm mad at myself too, I had a knee jerk reaction against drilling in the Gulf near Florida, but no reasoned understanding of what the dangers were and what was (or wasn't) being done to minimize them.

And we do need to find the silver lining to this ugly black cloud and not let the opportunity pass. We need to make sure people understand why regulation and independent oversight is necessary - if it means lumping Obama in with Dubya regarding the MMS, so be it.

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. I really wish he had.

[Sheepshank]

6. Janus, my personal image of GOP

and it became so obviously duplitious in Obama's early days:

1. Obama is the shining light on a pedastal, happens to walk on water...then later, he's the anti christ (well, given that was all said tongue in cheek. I think they changed their tune when the GOP assumed the left actually thought of Obama as some sort of religious icon and they wanted to set everyone straight)

2. Obama is like Hitler...then later, Obama is like Stalin

3. GOP tried everything to kill anything related to HCR. Even to the point of making what they indicated were acceptable revisions, then voting against it wholesale...then later, it's a platform item

4. TARP money is evil and will be downfall of our economic stability....then later, here we have jobs, and roads and lookie here Anywhere City, here's a check (Gotta love Jindal).

5. Obama will be influenced by the evil, hateful Rev, Wright.....then later, Obama is a Muslim.

and my recent example of oxymoronic statement come courtesy of a "caption this" post here on DU



It's so obvious in it's pathetic in it's "grasping at straws" type of desperation.

[Tarheel_Dem]

7. I love Steve Benen. And I think it's time the president addressed the...

nation on this issue. He's so much more polite than me, because he's already taken the blame for the government's response, but there's plenty of blame to go around. Everytime a step is taken toward regulation, the Republicans, and their allies in the media go on their predictable attacks that the Dems and the White House want to kill jobs. And guess what? Some people believe it, until a tragedy happens.

[BeyondGeography]

8. "GOP arguments have taken on a child-like quality."

K&R

[Igel]

10. "And can anyone seriously disagree with his analysis? "

Yes, and easily.

One problem with trying to deal with perceived discrepancies in the data is to misunderstand the underlying structure of the data.

You don't understand how a photon can show properties of both a particle and wave. You bring your assumptions to the table, don't question them, and promptly declare the data to be flawed. Then you diss the scientists for being stupid, blind, etc. Instead, the proper recourse is to ask the question, "What if the data are right and the discrepancy is introduced by my assumption(s)?"

That way leads to wisdom.

So it is with the repubs on this issue. It's not the best example, to be sure, but it's a consistent theme: Short-term responding to emergencies, good; long-term extension of control and centralization of authority, bad. It's the difference between martial law as a result of rioting and the imposition of a police state, they'd possibly say: Dealing with an immediate problem versus seeking to prevent all kinds of behavior that could possibly become a problem. But if government authority is simply government authority, then martial law for 48 hours versus a police state for 48 years is a matter of degree, not of quality.

I have to assume that Obama understands this. He's not that stupid. I also have to assume that he didn't hit on this particular strategy himself (on my more cynical days, I would, but I'm not that cynical today), but that he expects lots of people so fixated on their own assumptions that they can't question them to dutifully nod their heads and reach the preferred inference (I didn't say I wasn't completely lacking in cynicism, now did I?).

[Cha]

11. Prez pointing out HYPOCRISY..

"Some of the same folks who have been hollering and saying 'do something' are the same folks who, just two or three months ago, were suggesting that government needs to stop doing so much," Obama said. "Some of the same people who are saying the president needs to show leadership and solve this problem are some of the same folks who, just a few months ago, were saying this guy is trying to engineer a takeover of our society through the federal government that is going to restrict our freedoms."

Thank you, President Obama for driving this point home.