Wingnut Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) earned the attention of the nation today for apologizing to BP, over what he called a "shakedown" by the government - because officials had the nerve ask the multinational oil giant to pay for the mess they caused.
Republican leaders weren't pleased with Barton for expressing the anti-environmental position of their party. These things are supposed to be wrapped in spin and sugarcoated rhetoric, after all.
It was only after House GOP leaders pressured Barton that he retracted his apology to BP executives.
Local readers may remember Barton, due to his friendship with his Republican colleague and rubber stamp for industry, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito.
In 2002, Barton appeared at Riverside High School in Belle for Capito's "West Virginia Energy and America's Future" panel. As a fellow climate change denier and drilling proponent, Barton was perfectly suited to help Capito at the promo event for Dick Cheney's energy plan.
As expected with all things Capito, no one from the environmental side of things was allowed to take part.
When coalfield activist Julian Martin took issue with the exclusion, Barton didn't like it.
Vivian Stockman's account:
Instead, activist Julian Martin, a man who has been getting real, getting involved and helping to lead the way for years, had to take exception to your comments. He stood up and asked, "Do we get to speak or do we just get to listen to these insults?"
Capito and Barton stood up from their seats right behind Martin. Barton began arguing with Martin, saying he would call the sheriff on Martin and "haul his butt out." Perhaps there are laws in Texas against speaking out in public.
Martin, the son and grandson of coal miners, wasn't too pleased that this Texan was trying to silence a West Virginian concerned about the future of the Mountain State. Martin insisted that the citizens be given the right to talk about their future. Capito, sensing a public relations nightmare, finally agreed to let Martin have a say at the end of the forum.
-- Just a reminder of the company our self-proclaimed "moderate" congresswoman keeps, and the advice she may be getting when coming up with her positions on environmental issues back home.
(Capito loved to issue pro-drilling press releases in the past, but has become strangely silent since the Deepwater Horizon explosion. So look for her to weigh in on Barton's behavior a week from never) |
