Well, I don’t know what to say about yesterday’s comments of Texas Rep. Joe Barton other than that we have witnessed a prime example of Obama Derangement Syndrom. Here’s what he said to BP CEO Tony Hayward, a person who assumed full responsibility for the spill and voluntarily agreed to the $20bn clean up fund, at the hearings yesterday:

I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday,” the Texan said of BP’s offer, under pressure from President Obama, to set aside $20 billion to pay damages to Gulf Coast residents ruined by the oil spill. “I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown.

Oh! I wish I could follow the mental contortions he had to go through to justify this apology! It reminded me of a similar episode, in Republican circles of course, a few years ago. Remember when Dick Cheney shot a guy during the hunt and had THAT guy apologize to HIM for standing in the way. “Sorry, Dear Leader, it was my fault your didn’t see me”.
I always wondered about the way a Republican mind works. And that is an enigma I want to understand, if only out of curiosity. Perhaps Joe Barton, being from Texas, thought he will come across as a lone speaker of the truth and will achieve a celebrity status, like that congressman that shouted “You lie!” at Obama during the State of the Union. However, he miscalculated with the occasion. It may be fashionable to be a contrarian, but not when a TV screen is split between a live picture of a still gushing well, a contrite BP CEO and you complaining about the Obama clean up tactics. What times!