16 June 2010

Going Apoplectic Over BP

Last year, when the congress-critters in D.C. were waxing indignant over AIG, a Republican senator suggested that AIG execs commit hari-kari. Well, not to be outdone by his Senate counterpart, Republican Rep. Joseph Cao has now made a similar statement regarding BP.
"Well, in the Asian culture, we do things differently. During the Samurai days, we'd just give you the knife and ask you to commit hari-kari. My constituents are still debating on what they want me to ask you to do."

Rep. Ahn "Joseph" Cao (R-LA02)
First, Rep. Cao, you are in America, and our culture doesn't have a tradition of ritual suicide. If you'd like to fully embrace the Asian culture that you reference, however, you are free to return to your native land.

Second, I'm sick of the bumbling, incompetent leaches in D.C. complaining about the bumbling, incompetent leaders of the private sector. When the federal government gets its own house in order, then I'll listen to their advice; until then, however, it sounds a bit too much like a whore complaining about the lack of virtue and morals in others.

The federal government had regulations in place regarding offshore drilling, and the federal government was supposed to be monitoring the oil companies and enforcing those regulations. Were the regulations not up to par, Rep. Cao? If they were not, then you and the rest of the federal government should be held accountable for that. Or maybe the regulations were plenty strict, but they just weren't being enforced. Again, that would be a failure on the part of a blame-shifting government that never seems to hold itself accountable.

The next time government officials like Rep. Cao and Sen. Grassley want to suggest that others kill themselves for poor performance, maybe they should take a good hard look and the abysmal performance of the very government that they are a part of. And if, after that assessment, they still want to call for private sector leaders to commit ritual suicide, then I would ask that they please lead by example.

USMC 9971 OUT

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