Tom O'Toole
Golfing in the Gulf? Obama fund-raised while Jindal "berm-ed"
FacebookTwitter
By Tom O'Toole
May 28, 2010

Switching back and forth between CNN and Fox News last night, I found that when it came to the Gulf Oil Spill, the two usually contrary channels agreed on two crucial points. First, the graveness of the crisis had reached epic proportions. Secondly, the Obama Administration (whose attitude appeared to be that since BP caused this mess, BP should clean it up) was doing next to nothing to solve this problem.

"The political stupidity of [Obama's] advisers is unbelievable!" exclaimed CNN analyst, James Carville, the usually staunch Obama backer. "He's got to get down here, and put someone in charge. People are dying!"

Meanwhile, Fox was making it clear that, now a full five weeks after the disaster occurred, President Obama was (still) not in Louisiana but in California for yet another political fund-raiser. "He is clearly putting his emphasis on fundraising now," concluded Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, as Fox was taking glee in showing Obama being heckled by an "I'm telling without asking!" gay protester at the recent dinner for Senator Barbara Boxer. Then, after CNN showed Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal, out in a small boat explaining his state's predicament of poisoned water and dying, oil-coated wildlife, and the subsequent unemployment, Fox told the tale of local heroes, tired of waiting for Federal funds or approval, "borrowing" 30 British Petroleum fishing boats and putting down sand berms to block the oil's advance on their own. And Jindal, the report said, not only commended the Louisiana leaders for commandeering the BP vessels, but vowed to join them in jail if Obama's Coast Guard halted their efforts.

And where, you say, was British Petroleum during these past five weeks while their underground well's leak now threatened the economy of the entire southeastern United States? Like Obama, they were sitting around making statements, each week half-heartedly throwing another hare-brained solution at the problem. Heck, this wasn't their country, and if their spill, unchecked by Obama's mighty mites, accomplished what the War of 1812 didn't, well, so much the better. I wish I had as much confidence in BP's latest mud-followed-by-concrete scheme as the President's men do, but based on their next plan of attack should the mud shoot fail, I cannot.

"And if the mud and concrete plan doesn't work," said a BP spokesman on CNN yesterday (and I swear I'm not making this up) "the next thing we'll try to plug the hole with is rope and golf balls."

"Golf balls?" my wife Jeanette repeated, slightly bewildered.

"Call off the Coast Guard, and call up the PGA!" I declared.

"Well, if it works, perhaps Tiger Woods can redeem his reputation," Jeanette, always looking on the good side of a situation, added.



And yet, as a Christian, one is taught to always look for the positive light even in the darkest of hours. Perhaps this disaster (and his heroic handling of the situation) thrusts Governor Jindal back into the 2012 presidential race. Personally, I believe the devoutly Catholic Jindal is one of the few who could beat Obama, for not only can he match the President's shrewdness, but Bobby's ability stems from honesty where Barack's comes from bulls — , I mean baloney. Yes, it is currently comforting to many Republicans to believe that Barack is merely incompetent. But I caution that Obama has often proved in the past to not be as stupid as he seemed. While one does not have to go along with the conspiracy theorists (that Obama actually planned the oil spill to give the Democrats a reason to stop all drilling and go full speed ahead with their "Global Warming" energy alternatives) on this one, conservative Christians should at least note that Obama does have one thing in common with the original "fun-razer."

When the Emperor Nero set the slums of Rome on fire, fiddling while Rome burned, he was the first ruler to (unjustly) blame his country's problems on the Christians, claiming this fledgling but courageous sect had done the evil deed. Now it is Obama who falsely accuses America's Christians (especially former President George W. Bush) as responsible for many of our country's ills. On the other hand, it is interesting to note that many of those die-hard Christians of A.D. 64 also considered Nero to be not just their nemesis, but the Antichrist as well.

© Tom O'Toole

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)

Click to enlarge

Tom O'Toole

Thomas Augustine O'Toole was born in Chicago and grew up in a devout Catholic family with five brothers and two sisters. He was the sports editor of Notre Dame's Scholastic magazine, where his story "Reflections on the Game" won the award for Best Sports Feature for the Indiana Collegiate Press Association... (more)

Subscribe

Receive future articles by Tom O'Toole: Click here

More by this author

October 14, 2016
The fight for pro-life: Two election-time poems


April 20, 2015
A simple schism: Hesburgh's death "A New Beginning" for Notre Dame?


March 18, 2015
"I can't breathe" revisited: my hoop hope for the Lady (and Mike Brey) Irish


March 4, 2015
Rudy, the Gipper, and the Hesburgh Heresy: reflections on the (immortal) soul


February 28, 2015
Fr. Theodore M. Hesburgh (1917-2015) dies, pray for his soul


February 27, 2015
Charles E. Rice 1931-2015: a real Notre Dame man


February 22, 2015
Voris, Vox Cantoris, and the Vatican: a prayer for the elephant in the room


April 17, 2014
Campus Crossroads Project to transform Notre Dame into neo-Nazi nuthouse


March 24, 2014
The saints on sodomy: why the Church Fathers were harsh on homosexual sex


March 22, 2014
Fr. Miscamble, friendship, and the future of Notre Dame


More articles

 

Stephen Stone
The most egregious lies Evan McMullin and the media have told about Sen. Mike Lee

Siena Hoefling
Protect the Children: Update with VIDEO

Stephen Stone
Flashback: Dems' fake claim that Trump and Utah congressional hopeful Burgess Owens want 'renewed nuclear testing' blows up when examined

Jerry Newcombe
Church should be about worship, not entertainment

Laurie Roth
Trump, the truth, and America will prevail in spite of leftist evil plans

Cliff Kincaid
Terrorist attack in Baltimore

Tom DeWeese
DOJ ignores 2nd Amendment

Linda Goudsmit
CHAPTER 11: Critical Race Theory: A species of the ideological thought genus Marxism

Pete Riehm
They have tried everything to destroy Trump, but assassination

Tom DeWeese
When your red state governor dresses in blue

Rev. Mark H. Creech
Revelation Chapter 22: Eternal recompense

Tom DeWeese
YIMBYs, workforce housing, and community land trusts: All means to an end to private property

Jerry Newcombe
The vice president visits an abortion clinic—and the people yawn?

Pete Riehm
Like our Commander-in-Chief, America is clueless, feckless, and powerless

Selwyn Duke
Did anti-white, DEI bias steal a state final spot from a white basketball team?
  More columns

Cartoons


Click for full cartoon
More cartoons

Columnists

Matt C. Abbott
Chris Adamo
Russ J. Alan
Bonnie Alba
Chuck Baldwin
Kevin J. Banet
J. Matt Barber
Fr. Tom Bartolomeo
. . .
[See more]

Sister sites