So, the President of The United States finally caved in to something he opposed during the 2008 campaign cycle. Amazing, isn't it? Honestly speaking, most of us knew it was just a matter of time. The question now, is the gesture too little, too late?
We are talking about off shore drilling. Let us drift back to the campaigns of Senator John McCain and his running mate Sarah "I Want To Be Like Glen Beck" Palin. What was the rally cry in most of the coastal communities that were visited by McCain and Palin? Oh yes, that's right. That rally cry was "Drill Baby! Drill!". Senator McCain had long been an advocate of off shore drilling as a means of reducing our dependency of foreign oil, and thus breaking the strangle hold that Saudi Arabia has on the United States of America. Then Senator Obama rejected the notion o n the grounds that drilling will have a profoundly negative impact on the environment. Instead the Senator who would become President leaned more so on Clean Coal Technologies, Cleaner-Safer Nuclear Energy, Wind and Solar power, all of which would have taken much longer to achieve their goals than drilling.
Now, it seems that President Obama is making a massive shift in his energy policy. He really had no choice, since the Democratic Party had been successful in a nearly complete isolation of the Republican Party, President Obama now realizes that he actually needs some Republicans in his corner. Truly ironic that it took him so long to be hit by that Epiphany. Out of all of the states which border on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, a majority of them are Republican controlled. Yes indeed, Obama may not have needed the Republicans on Health Care, but rest assured he is going to want to have some Republican friends leading up to the November Mid-Term Elections and beyon d, otherwise the next two years are going to make Bill Clinton's first four year look like a major success.
Bottom line is this America; President Obama has painted himself into a very unique corner, one that only the Republican Party can get him out of. It is one thing to want to get things done using only the majority in Washington DC, but it is the Minority that pulls the purse strings in Washington DC. Each and every one of those 178 House Republicans could, in his or her own way, create a very bad day, or term for The President. What President Obama needs to realize is that he lacks the experience, communications, and negotiation skills to effectively smooth the troubled waters in Washington DC. He can not continue to hurl rocks into troubled waters. Do I think it was a good idea to open up to Offshore Drilling? Certainly I do, with oversight from the EPA and OSHA. Do I feel this will smooth over relationships between the White House and The GOP? Are you kid ding? They, the GOP, have every right to look upon this gesture and ask "Ok Buddy, What Do You Want To Back Door Us On Now?". Offshore drilling is a step in the right direction, but this gesture amounts to an olive branch that may have come too late to salvage the peace.
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