Rand Paul is taking heat today for a statement he made this morning:
“What I don’t like from the president’s administration is this sort of, ‘I’ll put my boot heel on the throat of BP.’ I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business,” he said. “I’ve heard nothing from BP about not paying for the spill. And I think it’s part of this sort of blame game society in the sense that it’s always got to be someone’s fault instead of the fact that sometimes accidents happen.”
Personally, I couldn’t agree more with him. The idea of Obama putting his ‘boot heel on the throat of BP’ does sound reminiscent of communist dictatorships, which is quite un-American. It wasn’t just about ‘political point scoring’ as Gabriel Malor wrote, but also about using the full weight of the executive, at least in message, to hold this evil BP to account for all its misdeeds. BP being an oil company doesn’t make them the enemy. Accidents do happen, and I’m not so sure that a full investigation has concluded suggesting otherwise.
It would seem fitting for the government to hold hearings and conduct investigations, but aren’t we innocent until proven guilty? Even still, BP provides a great service to this nation and should be considered a friend – not a foe.
As far as whether Rand’s statement will hurt him politically, maybe Dan Reihl has a point. I don’t know. When I hear it, it makes sense to me, but then I’m a conservative.