PrintMay 20, 2010
Obama is Kicking the Dog
Barack Obama has taken up the fine art of "kicking the dog," which is a narcissistic practice where a person in authority passes blame along to the lowest level, where, for lack of a fall guy, the dog ends up getting kicked. Obama claims that the buck stops with him, yet the president habitually avoids blame by pointing the finger of accusation at animate people and inanimate objects, which translates into presidential "dog-kicking."
Obama has proven to be a master blamer and finger-pointer. In fact, Obama takes finger-pointing to a whole new level. The president even finger-points at and blames people for finger-pointing and blaming. Dog-kicker Barack obviously considers blaming others an executive privilege and exclusive right.
Recently, while addressing the explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf, a temperamental Obama did some public canine-kicking in the Rose Garden. The president "harshly criticized BP and other companies for falling over each other to point the finger of blame at somebody else."
A "visibly angry" Obama chastised big oil for passing the buck, saying, "I did not appreciate what I considered to be a ridiculous spectacle during the congressional hearings into the matter."
Potentially in a position to ultimately bear some responsibility for the Deepwater Horizon tragedy, slickster Obama greased the censure wheel to ensure his own seamless slippage through an oily situation, and he did so by kicking a dog or two.
Often guilty of defying prior commitments with contradicting actions, Barack Obama began by holding British Petroleum to their pledge to "pay for the response effort." The president vowed to personally "hold them to their obligation."
Suddenly bailout Barack is a stickler for obligatory liability?
Pointing a long and growing-ever-longer finger toward the camera, void of even a hint of self-awareness, Obama chided BP, Transocean, and Halliburton executives, saying, "I will not tolerate more finger-pointing or irresponsibility."
So does the Obama "I don't have to count my time because I'm the president" exemption also extend to finger-pointing and passing the buck?
Mr. Obama said he was "not going to rest or be satisfied until the leak was stopped at the source ... contained and cleaned up." But rest assured: If the leak is not "stopped," "contained," or "cleaned up," it won't be Barry's fault.
The president assigned blame and did so by masterfully identifying himself with the victims. Barack said, "I saw firsthand the anger and frustration felt by our neighbors in the Gulf, and let me tell you, it is an anger and frustration that I share as president."
Obama even used the "blame Bush" maneuver to excuse himself from culpability. Barry said, "For a decade or more, there's been a cozy relationship between the oil companies and the federal agency that permits them to drill. ... That cannot and will not happen anymore."
For added fortification, Obama hauled out the Gipper, and by doing so exercised the skill of what can only be described as the highest form of manipulative obfuscation. Obama blasphemed Reagan's words and used them as a missile against Bush, B.P., and Big Oil by borrowing and misappropriating the old phrase, "we will trust, but we will verify."
A more apropos Reagan quote would have been, "How can a president not be an actor?"
Still pointing the bony finger of blame, Obama said that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recognized the need for reform prior to the spill, but he "often-times has been slammed by the industry, suggesting that somehow these necessary reforms would impede economic growth."
It's incomprehensible that the President of the United States would try to exempt himself from responsibility by suggesting that the Obama administration was prepared for a spill "from day one" but was hindered from effecting a viable solution by the oil industry. This is the same man who continually blames G.W. Bush for everything and anything, including natural disasters.
Mr. Obama said no one could reach the leak, which is five thousand feet below the surface of the ocean. Precisely, if the ocean didn't insist on being so deep, then there wouldn't be so much "uncertainty," and plugging the stubborn geyser wouldn't pose an ongoing quandary for Obama.
Hitting on a few more points, the president shared the government's use of "every available resource" to address the oil spill. Except, of course, resources unavailable because someone somewhere is preventing their use.
According to the ever-vigilant Mr. Obama, "Over one million feet of barrier boom have been deployed to hold the oil back. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of dispersant helped to break up the oil." Unfortunately, Obama did sacrifice an opportunity to shift blame onto the slippery, hard-to-contain nature of petroleum for a crisis that otherwise would be well under his firm control.
Obama added, "13,000 people and the National Guard had been deployed to help protect the shoreline and wildlife." Surely Barry would have greater success if "sea turtles, birds such as sea gulls and pelicans, dolphins, manatees, and Gulf sturgeon" would collaborate with federal efforts by avoiding the oil slick, as well as by steering clear of the water's edge.
As the Rose Garden remarks concluded, the president reiterated support for offshore drilling, because unlike George W. Bush, British Petroleum and most other living, breathing human beings, the blameless Barack, even in the face of uncontrollable plumes of crude oil, "never tires, never falters and never fails."
Concluding the Rose Garden scolding, Obama did personally accept one key responsibility, saying, "it's absolutely essential ... we put in place every necessary safeguard and protection so that a tragedy like this oil spill does not happen again."
Better think long and hard about that one, Mr. President, because in an imperfect world, having precautions in place could pose a problem the next time the need arises to point a finger, pass the blame, or kick a dog.
Author's content: www.jeannie-ology.com
