The Patriot's Flag

Today I am flying the Title of Liberty Flag … a (new) Patriot Flag I fly when “Liberty and Freedom Wins one!” The “verbal” moratorium declared by Obama was struck down by a Federal Judge, declaring the moratorium “irrational” … so the impending moratorium is, at the moment, lifted saving 120,000 jobs on the Gulf Coast.  What is amazing is that there was no “written document” for the Moratorium … now “verbal” orders from Obama carry the authority of law, an escalation in his stealth Presidency. Well … not quite yet anyway … thank you Judge Feldman.

The “Moratorium” can’t be found … it was “verbal!”

NPR News: A lengthy search through Executive Orders and all other areas of potential documentation will give you “no returned data” for all your efforts.  That is because this “moratorium” declared by the President was VERBAL, not written. One source of confusion is the apparent lack of an original document laying out all the details of the moratorium. Mike Senatore is with Defenders of Wildlife, another environmental group that is suing the administration.

“We have, in fact, been trying to locate and to actually get from the Interior Department something that actually documents that there is in fact a suspension,” says Senatore.  In fact, two Interior officials tell NPR the drilling suspension was not put into writing.  “It was a straightforward verbal order to the director of MMS, which was then transmitted within MMS,” said one official in an email.

Government expert Paul Light of New York University calls the decision not to put this order into writing “so ridiculous that it defies understanding.” It could not be more important to enforce this moratorium and make absolutely clear to the oil industry what is and is not permissible,” says Light. “And yet you have the execution of a critical order that appears to have been basically done through the most casual way possible under federal law.”

Moratorium declared IRRATIONAL

From the Washington Examiner: Judge Martin L. C. Feldman, the U.S. District Judge in New Orleans, has granted a preliminary injunction against the six month moratorium on Gulf drilling imposed by President Obama and MMS Director Ken Salazar.

The Washington Examiner obtained a copy of the 22 page memorandum from the Judge’s desk explaining the decision. Full Text HERE

“After reviewing the Secretary’s Report, the Moratorium Memorandum, and the Notice to Lessees, the Court is unable to divine or fathom a relationship between the findings and the immense scope of the moratorium,” Judge Feldman wrote. “There is no evidence presented indicating that the Secretary [of the Interior, Ken Salazar]  balanced the concern for environmental safety with the policy of making leases available for development,” he said. He also asked, “If some drilling equipment parts are flawed, is it rational to say all are?”

Reaction:

• Jindal: Moratorium is [now was] a man-made disaster (Economic Times)
• Big Oil plays “Jobs” Card to fight drilling moratorium (Grist)
• Barbour: Judge did right thing to block drilling moratorium (Miami Herald)
• Obama will appeal judge’s order lifting moratorium (The Oval)
• Lawmakers (mostly) criticize judge’s decision (OnPolitics)
• Moratorium [would have] hurt oil demand (EconomicTimes)
• NOIA Encouraged by Fed Court Decision on Moratorium (Benzinga)
• Judge halts oil-drilling ban … says Obama misled public (Washington Times)
• Judge drills holes in deepwater ban, Obama will appeal (ABC)
• 8 out of 15 Obama experts not consulted, disagreed with Moratorium (CNS News)
• Salazar seeks to reimpose drilling moratorium (AP)
• Ruling mocks offshore ban (Politico)
• After apology to experts, Salizar lies in court again (WashExaminer)
• Obama accused of defying court (what’s new?)(Politico)

It is amazing that a “verbal” order from Obama caused this potential loss of 120,000 jobs and a total disruption in on-going oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.  More predictable was that Obama would use any excuse necessary, especially the spill “crisis” to shut down Big Oil and further do anything he can do destroy the economy of the USA and further the intentions of the Left Wing Wackos.  Once again demonstrating he never lets a crisis go to waste when it can advance his left-wing agenda.

There always seems to be some underlying, not-quite-visible innuendo or nuance in everything Obama does. And so it is with this drilling moratorium. It was bad-enough on its own merit. We all “heard about it” because the “state-run media” reported on it and each of us reacted to it accordingly. But when you search for the “document” that verifies the moratorium, you discover it does not exist.  Wouldn’t this be a REAL JOURNALIST’S starting point?  Obama usually skirts the law and the Constitution with an executive order, this time he did it with a verbal order, faithfully reported to us by the Main Stream Media as “law.”  This is an escalation in the “stealth” we keep encountering (after the fact) with this administration, and it also demonstrates the continuing complacence of the “watch dog press” ever-faithfully supporting his agenda. “Watch dogs” that allow the burglar a pass all too often. We saw the stealth and back-room dealing it in the “made up” figures and lies of the health care bill, we saw the “transparency” of closed-door meetings, reported as “bi-partisan.”   Facts don’t matter to this President unless they fit his agenda. This is getting more frightening every day.

But something to consider, since this order was given verbally, and now has been declared “not rational” … one could begin to draw conclusions about many things Obama says.

Doug Title of Liberty Flag - Liberty Wins one!