What happened in the gulf is the responsibility of people who operated on exactly the same assumptions that Palin did. That is the mentality that caused us to be where we are now.

::::::::

Sarah Palin is weighing in on the BP oil spill, specifically, who is to blame for it and/or who is to blame for the spill taking so long to stop. I guess she can see the Deepwater Horizon site from her house. On Fox News, Palin had this to say:

"the oil companies who have so supported President Obama in his campaign and are supportive of him now ...[Palin mused whether]...there's any connection there to President Obama taking so doggone long to get in there, to dive in there, and grasp the complexity and the potential tragedy that we are seeing here in the Gulf of Mexico."

Palin is talking about the ability to grasp complexities? Sarah "in what respect Charlie" and "I know foreign policy because I can see Russia from my house when Putin rears his head over Alaska" Palin? "Death Panels" Sarah wants to talk complexities? Sarah, if you are so confident of your grasp of 'complexities' why don't you ask the producers of the shows you are on to put you head-to-head on various issues against some of the Democrats who appear on Fox? Even though I am not exactly your biggest fan, I'll volunteer, how about that? Any time on any issue. Yes Sarah, this is me, who has never held public office and should therefore be easy pickings for a former mayor and governor, calling you out.

The suggestion from Palin is that Obama took the most money from the oil and gas industry and she and her running mate, John McCain were innocent of this and thus would not have been influenced. The LA Times performed some research and found to whom the oil companies contributed the most money:

"The oil and gas industry donated $2.4 million to Palin's running mate, Republican John McCain, in the 2008 election cycle, and nearly $900,000 to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' opensecrets.org website."

It ought to be pointed out that President Obama received tens of millions of dollars in contributions of $100 or less from working Americans all over the country including places like Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. If we are talking about amounts of money influencing people, then one would have to conclude that Obama is working 24x7 on the needs and problems of average working Americans.

Sarah Palin typifies the 21^st century Republican politician and use of Republican strategy, throw a plethora of accusations at Democrats without any regard to whether they are true and if one sticks, keep using it. Each instance of this is more galling than the next. Its as if Republicans are emboldened by the fact that they keep getting away with it. These latest statements by Palin are perhaps the most egregious example. The fact that Palin who is Miss Big Oil champion herself is trying to assert that someone else is somehow more beholden to the oil companies is unmitigated gall.

Who can forget these excerpts that Palin uttered during her Vice Presidential debate with Joe Biden:

""The chant is "drill, baby, drill." And that's what we hear all across this country in our rallies because people are so hungry for those domestic sources of energy to be tapped into.

"Barack Obama and Sen. Biden, you've said no to everything in trying to find a domestic solution to the energy crisis that we're in. You even called drilling -- safe, environmentally-friendly drilling offshore as raping the outer continental shelf.

There -- with new technology, with tiny footprints even on land, it is safe to drill and we need to do more of that. "

What happened in the gulf is the responsibility of people who operated on exactly the same assumptions that Palin did. That is the mentality that caused us to be where we are now. This is the point at which Ms. Palin should be saying, "Ya know, doggone it, we were wrong when we said that drilling in the gulf was safe, you betcha." She has no right to be out there making accusations against other people. This is mea culpa time for Palin and the rest of pro-drilling America.

By the way, Sarah, your running mate, John McCain, was the only one of the four people on the 2008 national ticket who was against a windfall profit tax for the oil companies yet you go on national television and have the nerve to accuse others of being in bed with the oil companies. It's hard to believe that the first major Republican politician and first Republican President was Abraham Lincoln, a man noted for his honesty and his brilliance. Today's Republicans, like Sarah Palin, do not resemble him at all.

Authors Website: http://www.ibtimes.com/blog/steven-leser_103/bio/

Authors Bio:
A political blogger for the International Business Times, Steve Leser is a hot national political pundit. He has appeared on MSNBC's Coundown with Keith Olbermann, Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Russia Today's (RT) Crosstalk with Peter Lavelle. But, Leser is most known for his work as commentator and the progressive counterpoint on the very conservative FOX News cable network. Steve Leser has been frequently featured on Your World with Neil Cavuto, Bulls & Bears, and Cashing In against such FOX notables as Neil Cavuto and Stuart Varney. Leser gave the stirring live commentary on FOX as news broke of the resignation of Sarah Palin as Governor of Alaska.

Steve Leser is in demand in New York as keynote speaker for his authority on the power and machinations of Republican think tanks, the economy, health care reform and various other political topics.

Leser is also a political organizer and has held positions within the Democratic Party including District Chair and Public Relations Chair within county organizations.