Pirate's Cove

As usual, Democrats and their media peeps focus on the personal, rather than the facts

The Louisiana judge who struck down the Obama administration’s six-month ban on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has reported extensive investments in the oil and gas industry, according to financial disclosure reports. He’s also a new member of a secret national security court.

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman, a 1983 appointee of President Ronald Reagan, reported owning less than $15,000 in stock in 2008 in Transocean Ltd., the company that owned the sunken Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

Feldman overturned the ban Tuesday, saying the government simply assumed that because one rig exploded, the others pose an imminent danger, too.

As one political wonk said, forget who, shutting down all drilling is like grounding all airplanes simply because one crashed. He also owns stock in other oil companies, including the Dreaded Halliburton. Quite frankly, a lot of people invest in oil companies, as do pension plans, and, hey, Democrats!!!!, because they are generally profitable. John Kerry does, as does Nancy Pelosi. So does Michael Moore. They also take oil company money, such as Obama being BP’s largest 2008 recipient. Anyhow

“There’s been some concern that he is biased toward the industry, but I don’t see it in this opinion,” said Tim Howard, a Northeastern University law professor who also represents businesses and people claiming economic losses in several spill-related lawsuits. “They overreacted and just shut an industry down, rather than focusing on where the problems are.”

That was what Feldman essentially said in his ruling, writing that the blanket moratorium “seems to assume that because one rig failed and although no one yet fully knows why, all companies and rigs drilling new wells over 500 feet also universally present an imminent danger.”

So, the ruling was wise and within the law? Who knew? Of course, the commenters at Think Progress, Crooks and Liars, Raw Story, Gawker, The Impolitic, Daily Kos, and Balloon Juice are going nuts with personal attacks, and here’s a cute bit of idiocy from John Cole at Balloon Juice

Because that is the real situation. I have no idea how it can be considered illegal for our regulatory regime to ban behavior that could lead to catastrophes until those being regulated can assure us the activity is safe. Stating the government must prove that each individual well is unsafe before banning it turns the whole concept of regulation on its head.

Sarcasm aside, there is this thing called the 4th Amendment, not to mention the American notion that one is innocent till proven guilty. Entities are not punished for the behavior of others.

And at Think Progress

Last month, so many members of the right-wing Fifth Circuit were forced to recuse themselves from an appeal against various energy and chemical companies that there weren’t enough untainted judges left to allow the court to hear the case.”

That’s a cute talking point, TP, however, what you don’t mention is that this actually involved a lawsuit from unhinged climate alarmists claiming that Hurricane Katrina was caused by these energy companies who are worsening anthropogenic global warming, and the strategy of the plaintiffs backfired on them. And, guess what? Those companies are presumed innocent till proven guilty, too.