TwiceRight.com has
ran a very interesting video of Anderson Cooper’s thinly-veiled attack on Obama. Their point was that Obama is making the oil disaster go away be criminalizing up-close reporting on the issue. Here’s the video:
A couple of points about this video:
- I originally heard about the distance ban on No Agenda over the Fourth of July weekend. No Agenda airs 11am – 1pm Central (1100-1300). If the line in this clip can be trusted that this footage was shot on the evening of the Independence Day, then that would mean that the information would not have been out before the No Agenda show aired in order for clips to be made of this Anderson Cooper clip.
- During the Independence Day broadcast of No Agenda, I believe the distance discussed was 10 feet and there wasn’t talk about felony charges. In this video the “compromise” (and remember with Liberals the compromise is always I win, you lose then you lose some more) was 65 feet, but the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT wanted the distance to be 300 feet.
- Anderson Cooper spent a lot of time talking about transparency and Admiral Thad Allen being opaque (non-transparent for those of you in Huntsville.) Cooper tries to frame Allen to take the fall for not being transparent. While Admiral Allen has his part to play in this quagmire, it should be pointed out that it was BARACK OBAMA who promised that he would have the most transparent administration.
- I think on the charge of non-transparency Admiral Allen should be held responsible for his evasiveness, but I think that Cooper fell short of laying the blame where it ought to be laid: at the foot of the President of the United States. As head of the Executive branch and especially as the Commander-in-Cheif (thus Admiral Allen’s boss) Obama has failed to be an effective leader in this situation. An effective leader would admit to his mistakes, remove barriers to solutions, take the advice of experts and not refuse help when offered.
- Billy Nungesser, President of Plaquemines Parish deserves a major kudos for standing up and telling the truth: the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT is exacerbating the problem. On-paper resources are not in the field, nor are they available to be put in the field. Nungesser even admits to telling Vice President Joe Biden that the disaster hasn’t reached critical mass yet and that it was possible to avert catastrophe if the government would provide fast, effective leadership. By looking at the actions of the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT it is obvious that Nungesser’s advice was shat upon.
Comments (8)
You know these reporters love this administration, they voted for them. Basically campaigned for them and lost a lot creditability doing it. This is not an easy report for Anderson Cooper to make.
@trunthepaige - No, it’s not. And he still tries to insulate Obama from the fallout. But, baby steps, right?
Its an amazing start coinciding it was still a love feast only a year ago
@trunthepaige - Indeed.
I honestly get tired of hearing how much the media coddles Obama. I could really give fuck, but being from the Gulf Coast of Alabama more and more it’s becoming nationally known that things aren’t transparent about this oil spill. I know many people who have been directly affected by this mess, a lot who are working in the clean up. This has truly been one huge cluster fuck. So many lies have been told about who was actually helping with the clean up initially ( lets just say it wasn’t the locals who were losing money, it was a LOT of people from up north). A lot of shady shit is going on with the administration and the oil spill just like the last and their lies about starting the was. This is why I’m in the middle, because both ends are a bunch of self serving bastards. Neither is better than the other! Lying assholes!!!!!
@notjus4ne1 - You say you don’t care, but then you go on to talk about the lack of transparency of the administration. If you care about this lack of transparency, then you do care about this clip, because what Anderson Cooper says in so many words is “The President has put the press under a gag order.”
The Constitution says:
Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Amendment 1
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives
So presumably, the President has issued an executive order. Even if he did, Executive Orders only have effect on the operation of the Federal Government and do not have the effect of law upon a citizen. If Obama has somehow created law through some other process, he has exceeded his authority and Congress ought to exercise its check on the Executive Branch by voting for Impeachment in the House and holding hearings in the Senate.
If Congress passed a law that stated that media could not get within 35 feet of bombs, etc. then Congress has violated the First Amendment and the Supreme Court ought to declare the law un-Constitutional.
Oh, the Coast Guard. They have one movie made about them four years ago and they think they’re hot stuff.
But seriously, this was interesting. Nice to see some semi-unbiased reporting from the man.
@crystal_air - Agreed on all fronts!