By Bruce Thompson

Now that U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier has approved the $20.8-billion settlement in the BP oil spill case, we can look at tying up the loose ends.  The biggest remaining injustice is that the man who was the project leader for the successful effort to stop the leak, Kurt Mix, has been dragged through the courts for years by malicious prosecutors from the Department of Justice, rather than being awarded the acclaim he deserves.  Given his natural reluctance to testify while under criminal prosecution, being granted the protection of Congress would allow him to provide a more accurate account of the whole well-control process to complete the public record.  Clearly, the government did not want him to testify while the case was still at trial.  Why were they so desperate to go to such extremes?  Whatever he has to add is worth hearing.

The DOJ has earned a reputation for being highly politicized.  We, the people need to fix that problem.

Politically, right now the biggest problem for the Republicans in Congress has been a well-deserved reputation for political impotence.  "We can pass the bills, but Obama will veto them, boo hoo!"  They need some treatment for their erectile dysfunction.  My proposal is simple.  Take the lesson of David and Goliath to heart.  Take down Obama’s reputation a few notches.  It sounds hard, but it is easy.  All they have to do is have Congress pass a bill awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Kurt Mix.  Then include a clause in the legislation directing that the president – that would be Obama – present the award personally on behalf of a grateful nation.

Kurt Mix did what Obama and the world wanted done: he "plugged the hole" during the BP oil spill. 

"July 15, 2010 Kurt helps successfully execute the "capping stack" procedure, which stops the flow of oil

September 16, 2010 The relief well casing program, well intercept, and hydraulic kill -- designed and executed by a team on which Kurt served as project lead -- successfully intercepts and seals the blown-out Macondo Well over 13,000 feet below the sea floor"

Didn't Obama ask for ideas?  Didn't Mix's ideas work?  Doesn't he deserve the Congressional Gold Medal?

"A Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress; the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom are the highest civilian awards in the United States. It is awarded to persons "who have performed an achievement that has an impact on American history and culture that is likely to be recognized as a major achievement in the recipient's field long after the achievement."[1] However, " There are no permanent statutory provisions specifically relating to the creation of Congressional Gold Medals. When a Congressional Gold Medal has been deemed appropriate, Congress has, by legislative action, provided for the creation of a medal on an ad hoc basis ." (emphasis added)

Obama does not have any say in what Congress does – only members of Congress do.  Stick it to him.  Prove to the whole world that Obama is impotent.

"Have you plugged the hole yet, Daddy?"

 

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