Gulf Coast Oil Disaster Takes Backseat to Politics
Obama's Katrina? President Dines with Oil Tycoons as Gulf Coast Suffers
Quail eggs, caviar and misplaced priorities
Ironically, one of the delicacies President Obama enjoyed at the upscale Getty dinner was quail eggs topped with caviar. Perhaps the dish was served in memory of the pelican eggs coated in crude oil along Barataria Bay, LA? Nice touch.
According to organizers, the fundraisers for struggling U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) raised $600,000, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised an additional $1.1 million. All that money should help Sen. Boxer's campaign, right? Apparently not.
California Republican Party Chair Ron Nehring said of the President's attempts to save Boxer's campaign, "We noticed that as of today they have even more to talk about while they're spending all this time together: according to the latest polling, public support for each of them is in the low 40s."
Getty Oil, the Gulf Coast and politics
Gordon Getty, host of the Boxer VIP dinner, is the son of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty and heir to the Getty fortune. Interestingly, the Getty family has been criticized for years for allegedly amassing their wealth by exploiting oil under public lands in the United States. According to a TIME/CNN article, Gordon Getty was able to drive up the price of his family's stock in one year from $500 million to $1.3 billion before selling the oil company to Texaco.
National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Amber Marchand said of the President's San Francisco fundraising schedule, "President Obama and Barbara Boxer's hypocrisy is astonishing. In the wake of this ongoing national crisis, why didn't the Democrats reschedule his fancy fundraiser with the billionaire oil heirs and allow the President to direct his full attention toward the massive disaster that is plaguing the Gulf Coast?"
Republicans are not the only ones criticizing President Obama for his slow response to the Gulf Coast oil disaster. Democratic analyst Donna Brazile, strategist James Carville and other Democratic leaders have been speaking out publicly against the administration's failure to act quickly and take leadership of the situation.
President Obama plans to visit to the gulf region Friday, but is it too little, too late? While the marshes of Louisiana continue to be soaked in oil, people from the area are starting to panic. Businesses are shutting down, wildlife is dying and families are wondering how they are going to make it through another disaster.
How about a fundraiser for the Gulf Coast, Mr. President?
Sources:
S.F. Dishes Presidential Palate, Not Politics, San Francisco Chronicle
Obama in S.F. for Boxer Faces Critics on Spill, San Francisco Chronicle
Texaco and Getty Oil: History's Biggest Takeover?, TIME/CNN
President Delays Gulf Coast Spill Recovery Efforts For San Francisco Fundraiser With Oil Heirs, NRSC
Published by Kim Linton
Kim Linton began her writing career in 2001 as a contributor for Ministrymaker Magazine. Kim's work has since been published on a variety of websites including Woman's Day and Intel, and featured on several... View profile
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46 Comments
Post a Commentarrg, quail eggs and caviar a-la-oil-spill...
what can we say...I can only agree with Lee; trust in God to give the much needed wisdom we need now...well written piece and a timely article indeed. sounds like we've got alot of praying to do...
I'm just trusting that God will give wisdom in that situation. It's a travesty.
Where is the urgency? This disaster is out-of-control. It's no wonder the people from Louisiana are starting to panic.
Hummmmmm,Caviar huh? Interesting.....
great article. caviar?..quail eggs?... it's just great to see the president exploring the diversity of an exotic menu while Rome burns...
So true, so true. I've been away from internet writing for 6 weeks, just coming back to find your delightful writing.
The specter of something darkly pervasive, consuming and controlling, is becoming manifest within President Obama. It is more than political agendas, more than reality disconnects. Could it be pathological? As the sea gull and pelican fly, Indiana is a long way from the BP Oil Spill and the Gulf, Kim. However, you are not beyond the reach of this pathology. Beware, be safe. From the beach, Michael K. Miller
Great report!
Nice one, and hits the nail on the head, let's make some noise! All gov't and politicians seem to put their money in the wrong places...let's use this as a hard learned lesson and make oil companies responsible for ALL costs with the messes they create; no caps on the amounts...whatever the damages are, should be what they have to pay, even if it bankrupts them.
Or, Patricia... we could allow the oil companies to drill in SHALLOW waters, where leaks would be much easier to repair, or even in places like ANWR, Alaska where maintenence could have been done immediately, if such an accident (which is rare) happened again.