Cheney, Baby Cheney ...

While half of the World Wide Web is having fun, riffing on the war cries of the PartyofNoicans, of "Drill, Baby Drill", there are more darker reasons the United States (and, likely, the entire planet) will soon see the most largest, horrific oil spill in history.

Things are terribly bleak down in the Gulf of Mexico, with Louisiana, and virtually the entire Panhandle, stretching to Florida, is in the beginnings of smelling foul with oil, washed over and completely covered, the ramifications to last for decades.



The spill is much larger than British Petroleum, or the government, is stating publically.

The Cheeseburger That Sweats ((h/t Barry Crimmins)), and the Flying Monkeys of the Right Wing Freak Show have already begun pinning this on Obama.

They're already calling it "Obama's Katrina"

Sorry, but he hasn't done a fly over, while wildlife and animals line up at the Convention Center, for days-upon-days, with no food or water.

Nor, has Obama patted Janet Napolitano on the back with a "Heck of a job Nappy".



But, by way of Katrina, in one of those "six degrees of separation" things, we can start building the blame for this back to The Commander Guy, and the Shadow President himself, Dick Cheney.

For one, the company that must have the record for most No-Bid Contracts in a single administration, Halliburton, is front-and-center, their fingerprints all over the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig disaster.

Oil Blowout: What Did BP and Halliburton Know, and What/When Did They Tell Us?

We still don’t know what caused the blowout and explosion, but the Wall Street Journal is running a story suggesting the cause may have been related to the process Halliburton used for sealing the holes and gaps created during the drilling process.

Scarecrow goes on to detail a bit more about Halliburton;

8. Enter Halliburton. It’s job, worldwide, is to plug the gap between drill hole and pipe to stop the leakage, and to partially close the hole to allow more control over the pressure from oil/gas trying to escape up the pipe. If it doesn’t do this well, the pressure can cause a dangerous surge, and because the gas is highly flammable, there is a danger of a blowout and explosion when the escaping gas/oil reaches the platform.

9. This happened recently in Australia, where a rig also being sealed by Halliburton blew up and was destroyed, while millions of gallons of oil gushed into the ocean. This may not be a rare occurrence; blowouts do occur; we just don’t hear about them except when the explosions are large and easily detected.

Ah, but let's go back just a bit further.

Do we all remember the Cheney Energy Task Force?

That was at the beginning of the regime, when The Bush Grindhouse became an Energy Jamboree, so evil were the wheeling-and-dealing, so many hands were stained with the payola, that they went to court to suppress having any of the information of the meetings see the light of day.

A few years later, we got a glimpse'

Papers Detail Industry's Role in Cheney's Energy Report

In all, about 300 groups and individuals met with staff members of the energy task force, including a handful who saw Cheney himself, according to the list, which was compiled in the summer of 2001. For six years, those names have been a closely guarded secret, thanks to a fierce legal battle waged by the White House. Some names have leaked out over the years, but most have remained hidden because of a 2004 Supreme Court ruling that agreed that the administration's internal deliberations ought to be shielded from outside scrutiny.

[snip]

British Petroleum representatives dropped by on March 22, one of about 20 oil and drilling companies to get meetings. The National Mining Association, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America and the American Petroleum Institute were among three dozen trade associations that met with Cheney's staff, the document shows.

[snip]

The development of a new energy policy was Bush's first major initiative after he took office. He turned over responsibility of it to Cheney, a former chairman of Halliburton Co., a Dallas-based energy services firm

[snip]

Some key proposals, such as opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, have never won congressional approval, but some measures to encourage oil and gas production, coal output, and the development of biofuels and nuclear power have been included in Bush's budgets and in the 2005 energy bill.

"Cheney had his finger on a critical issue," said David G. Hawkins, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "He just pushed it in the wrong direction."

Under The Shadow President, regulations were gutted that can be tied into BP not going as far as they could, in protecting their rig and, hopefully, avoiding a catastrophic oil spill.

Today, on The Ed Show, Shultz had a segment with Environmental lawyer Mike Papantonio, who has already filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Fishing Industries, laid out, astoundingly, how BP failed to have an "Acoustic Switch" on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig, a fail-safe that would have shut off the oil at the source, equipment that costs only $500,000, and is required by every other country where they drill (in an era where BP had $40-Billion in profits).

You can go HERE to watch the interview.

Well before this is over, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig spill is going to make the Exxon Valdez look like a half-glass of milk that was knocked over.



Louisiana, the entire mouth of the Mississippi, and, of course, New Orleans, has still been in recovery mode, from Hurricane Katrina.

With this oil spill, it, almost, appears that The Bush Grindhouse, and "Cheney, Baby Cheney", are reaching back, trying to finish off the job.

Amazing, not out of office a full two-years, and they are still reaking despicable havoc.

What needs to come out of all this, additionally, is that this is THE LAST OIL SPILL.

Yeah, Obama has put on the brakes as to any new drilling contracts, but he needs to go further and announce, it's dead.

No More Drilling, Baby, No More Drilling!

Henceforth, all monies are going into developing safe, renewal energies, all our energy goes in this project, a Rooseveltian-like rallying of the country to this purpose.

Let's go there, Mr. President, step up to the plate, make the call.

The destruction being wrought on the Gulf Coast, the jobs lost, the wildlife and habitats destroyed, should be the only item needed to launch this effort.


Bonus Links

EnviroKnow: Rep. Waxman Requests Information from Halliburton Regarding the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig

Brad Johnson: Oil Rig Disaster Could Soon Be Worse Than Exxon Valdez

David Neiwert: Gee, whatever happened to 'Drill Baby Drill'? Its proponents are awfully quiet these days UPDATED

Joe Conason: Will Palin, and Obama, rethink offshore drilling now?