Inside Politics

HUMPTY DUMPTY

“Another historic, monumental speech from the 44th President of the United States. He’s averaging about one of these every three weeks now, isn’t he?” Jay Cost writes in a blog at www.realclearpolitics.com.

“To say that this president is overexposed is an understatement. He was overexposed six months ago when he let his kids appear on the cover of Jann Wenner’s trashy supermarket celeb mag. I’m not sure what prefix to use, but ’over-’ does not sufficiently describe a president who is now doing 30-second spots for George Lopez’s new late-night show on TBS. Seriously,” Mr. Cost said.

“What exactly is this speech supposed to do? Let’s ditch the metaphors - ’game changer,’ ’ninth inning’ - and use words that point to actual things: Health care reform is in trouble because of differences among factions of the Democratic Party. The compromises that moderates like Ben Nelson require are apparently too much for liberals like Anthony Weiner to accept. How is a speech supposed to overcome this? It would either have to: (a) propose a third-way solution that both sides can agree to, or (b) convince one side or the other that it needs to adjust its stance.

“Should we really expect a speech to do that, considering all the other things the President intends to do in it?

“I’d say no. I think this will be little more than a change in tone - perhaps from cool/slightly mocking Obama to angry/forceful Obama. From the looks of it, the president is still planning to make all the same points he’s been hammering for months. …

“Why is the White House doing this? I think there are two answers that kind of relate to each other.

“First, it has begun to believe its own spin that the president is good at giving game-changing speeches. But he isn’t really. Nobody is. …

“Second, it does not know what else to do. … If Humpty Dumpty breaks and you don’t know how to put him back together - why not give a speech and boldly proclaim how important it is to put him back together?”

WINDY KILLERS

“On Aug. 13, Exxon Mobil pleaded guilty in federal court to killing 85 birds that had come into contact with crude oil or other pollutants in uncovered tanks or wastewater facilities on its properties. The birds were protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which dates back to 1918. The company agreed to pay $600,000 in fines and fees,” Robert Bryce writes in the Wall Street Journal.

“Exxon Mobil is hardly alone in running afoul of this law. Over the past two decades, federal officials have brought hundreds of similar cases against energy companies. In July, for example, the Oregon-based electric utility PacifiCorp paid $1.4 million in fines and restitution for killing 232 eagles in Wyoming over the past two years. The birds were electrocuted by poorly designed power lines,” Mr. Bryce said.

“Yet there is one group of energy producers that are not being prosecuted for killing birds: wind-power companies. And wind-powered turbines are killing a vast number of birds every year.

“A July 2008 study of the wind farm at Altamont Pass, Calif., estimated that its turbines kill an average of 80 golden eagles per year. The study, funded by the Alameda County Community Development Agency, also estimated that about 10,000 birds - nearly all protected by the migratory bird act - are being whacked every year at Altamont.

“Altamont’s turbines, located about 30 miles east of Oakland, Calif., kill more than 100 times as many birds as Exxon’s tanks, and they do so every year. But the Altamont Pass wind farm does not face the same threat of prosecution, even though the bird kills at Altamont have been repeatedly documented by biologists since the mid-1990s.

“The number of birds killed by wind turbines is highly variable. And biologists believe Altamont, which uses older turbine technology, may be the worst example. But that said, the carnage there likely represents only a fraction of the number of birds killed by windmills. Michael Fry of the American Bird Conservancy estimates that U.S. wind turbines kill between 75,000 and 275,000 birds per year. Yet the Justice Department is not bringing cases against wind companies.

” ’Somebody has given the wind industry a get-out-of-jail-free card,’ Mr. Fry told me. ’If there were even one prosecution,’ he added, the wind industry would be forced to take the issue seriously.”

NEWS BLACKOUT

“At the White House press briefing [Tuesday], Robert Gibbs didn’t field a single question about the avowed communist/black nationalist/cop-killer supporter/9-11 Truther Van Jones, who resigned from his White House post shortly after 12:00 a.m. Sunday. In fact, a search for the name ’Van Jones’ doesn’t turn up a single result in the White House press briefing transcripts,” John McCormack writes in a blog at www.weeklystandard.com.

“Anonymous White House officials say Jones wasn’t vetted as fully as more senior administration officials, but a Bush administration official told [Politico reporter] Ben Smith that someone like Jones ’would have undergone substantial vetting’ - and at the very least Jones surely would have been vetted by the FBI.

“So what did White House officials know about Jones’ checkered history before they cleared him to serve? Did he tell the truth to the FBI? Did he fill out any questionnaire at all?

“The White House threw one of its own under the bus in the middle of the night so it wouldn’t have to answer these questions in broad daylight. It seems that the media are more than happy to play along with the administration.”

CALL TO RESIGN

The speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives sent a letter Tuesday to Gov. Mark Sanford, asking his fellow Republican to resign from office.

Mr. Sanford has found himself in trouble all summer after admitting he spent five days visiting his mistress in Argentina rather than hiking on the Appalachian Trail, as his spokesman had said.

“It is with great thought and trepidation that I feel compelled to send you this letter requesting that you resign from the office of Governor of South Carolina,” Speaker Robert W. Harrell Jr. said in the letter.

Mr. Harrell said the revelation of the extramarital affair was “both shocking and disappointing,” but “more disturbing” was Mr. Sanford’s decision to leave the state with no means of contacting him. The speaker also cited an Ethics Commission investigation involving the governor’s travel expenses and other matters.

“I respectfully request that you resign as Governor and allow our state to close this chapter and begin anew,” Mr. Harrell said.

*Greg Pierce can be reached at 202/636-3285 or gpierce@washingtontimes.com.