Adios, Dr. Amendariz--And The Questions That Linger

It was a Sunday afternoon execution, off the news cycle, unobtrusive. The resignation was written for him, no doubt, and he signed off. Dr. Al Armendariz, who so reveled in Roman political technique, was treated to, not Roman, but more approximately, Soviet political technique.

He is surely under orders to disa-blanking-ppear, lest he be disappeared by his former mentors whom he now must still regard as his present bosses. Surely a quiet bit of good-bye money has been arranged, just to help him maintain his loyalty, his silence, and to reduce the temptation to, say, write a book about his life in the Obama Administration for release in early October--complete with the requisite book tour and chat-show appearances. He probably didn't need to threaten them too extensively, and he knows that if he were to jabber, and Obama win in November...his wife teaches school and he has children and he'd like a shot at academia again someday...hmmm. Silence is golden, after all, is it not? Who knows, if Obama wins, he could be rehabilitated! It happened in the golden days of the Soviet Union, after all, why not here and now?

Thus: A reading from the Book of Regulatory, Chapter 13, Verse 13.

Al Armendariz, the top environmental official in the oil-rich South and Southwest region, resigned in a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Sunday, saying he did not want to be a distraction for the agency. The resignation is effective Monday.

"As I have expressed publicly, and to you directly, I regret comments I made several years ago that do not in any way reflect my work as regional administrator. As importantly, they do not represent the work you have overseen as EPA administrator," he wrote. "I take great pride in having built a career based on integrity and hard work. These are the principles that guide me personally as well. While I feel there is much work that remains to be done for the people of this country in the region that I serve, after a  great deal of thought and careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that my continued service will distract you and the agency from the 2012 political campaign its important work."

Here endeth the lesson.

The most important bit is in the first sentence--'I've already said I'm sorry, and I'm not really like that, and I guarantee you aren't really like that. Honest, I don't know how those words came to my lips--I must have been channeling Caligula or Hugo Chavez'. 

Of course, the question does linger in the air: How did TheMostTransparentAndIntellectuallyAstute administration in the history of the Republic hire this guy? To work at this level, the candidate has to be vetted and vetted again and background checked and interviewed several times, because he really will wield a lot of power as the energy caudillo of Region 6.  They'd need a guy with the sort of stones and lack of squeamishness needed to crush TheLittlePeople under the boot, someone who wouldn't surprise them with pangs of conscience, someone who could boast about the Romans crucifying villagers at random as a legitimate means of governance.

 

So, we are led to one of two conclusions: Obama and Lisa Jackson, if they were doing their jobs and are the astute people they insist they are, must have known with certainty what manner of man they were hiring. Or, alternatively, they were recklessly negligent to the point downright stupidity to have hired Dr. Armendariz. There really isn't much middle ground of possibility.

So, which is it? Are they venal, or are they stupid? 

Can we afford to have them in power, in any case?

Al Amendariz Issues An Apology Of A Sort--Where's The Line That Says 'I Resign'?

From CBS News

HOUSTON — A top administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has apologized for using the word "crucify" two years ago when describing the agency's enforcement policies, and for saying it makes examples of bad players in the oil and gas industry.

EPA Region 6 administrator Al Armendariz, who oversees Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico, issued a written apology Wednesday after video surfaced of him at a meeting in May 2010 in the tiny town of Dish.

The video shows Armendariz answering a question about the agency's enforcement policies. In the Middle Ages, he tells the crowd, the Romans would enter a troublesome village, "take the first five guys they saw and crucify them." Then the town would be "really easy to manage for the next few years," he said.

Armendariz's apology was issued Wednesday by the EPA's headquarters in Washington.

"I apologize to those I have offended and regret my poor choice of words. It was an offensive and inaccurate way to portray our efforts to address potential violations of our nation's environmental laws," he said. "I am always and have been committed to fair and vigorous enforcement of those laws."

Cynthia Giles, the assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance, also issued a statement.

"Strong, fair and effective enforcement of the environmental laws passed by Congress is critical to protecting public health and ensuring that all companies, regardless of industry, are playing by the same rules," she wrote.


A few points come to mind:

1. Al didn't write the apology, and he sure didn't have the stones to actually go on camera and read it. Both would require a bit of contrition and true integrity. Remember, after all, this is the Obama administration.

2. Notice what the apology conveys--just a poor choice of words. Actually no apology for the attitudes behind those words, from either him or Mzzzzz Giles. The apology is for the manner of stating the brutal attitude taken by the EPA toward the culture and economy of the United States. There is no repentance concerning the policy set in place and followed. They plan to continue screwing us all to the wall, and will take care to not be so candid about it. Sweeeeeet.

3.  Had this occurred in the Reagan or either Bush administrations, CBS and NBC would lead off every hour expressing their outrage at this outrageous pronouncement, and demanding resignations.
Not a peep except a quiet reporting of a non-apology.

This is a firing offense, and the Administration should have him cleaning out his office in the morning.  But they won't, and the mainstream press will never utter a discouraging word.

Al Amendariz, EPA's 'Enforcer' For The Oil Fields Of Oklahoma And Texas

The news spread pretty quickly about the video of the speech given by EPA Region 6 Administrator Al Armedariz. The YouTube video carrying the speech has been stuffed down the Memory Hole already, but not before being viewed many times, and its content noted in the Congressional Record by Senator Inhofe. Oops.


So, in fairness to Mr. Armendariz, OS looked him up on the EPA website. The first sentence is most informative. He is Obama's man.

Al Armendariz was appointed by President Obama on November 5, 2009, as the Regional Administrator for EPA’s Region 6 office in Dallas. He is responsible for managing Agency activities in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and 66 tribal nations, under the direction of EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

Dr. Armendariz has brought a deep commitment to environmental issues to his work at EPA. He has made working with communities a priority across the Region, frequently engaging directly with those most vulnerable to harm from polluters. This was especially evident during the Agency's response to 2010's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, during which he worked tirelessly with area residents, local governments, and community groups. As he continues his tenure, he brings the same passion to the Region's work on air quality, wetlands protection, climate change and other environmental goals.

Let's think back a bit to what the Obama Administration did in response to the BP oil spill. They proceeded to shut down the oil industry in toto, and impoverished large swaths of the US Gulf Coast. Guess what happens to states that don't vote for Obama...

That word 'passion' is descriptive, because on the now disappeared video, in his speech given before a friendly audience, he said:


EPA’s “philosophy of enforcement is kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean: they’d go into little Turkish towns somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they’d run into, and they’d crucify them.”

“That town was really easy to manage for the next few years,” Armendariz added.

Sweet--he's an historian, too!

Let's repeat that final phrase a few times...

“That town was really easy to manage for the next few years."

“That town was really easy to manage for the next few years."

“That town was really easy to manage for the next few years."

“That town was really easy to manage for the next few years."

Does it make you wonder if your town, your business, your school, your church, your family is next?

Happy Earth Day, everybody. This is our future under Barack Obama.