"I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it is a tragedy in the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown -- in this case a $20 billion shakedown -- with the attorney general of the United States, who is legitimately conducting a criminal investigation . . . participating in what amounts to a $20 billion slush fund that's unprecedented in our nation's history . . . "I'm only speaking for myself. I'm not speaking for anyone else, but I apologize."
Other House Republicans, including Georgia's Tom Price and Michele Bachmann, have also been grumbling about it. But the House Republican leadership saw the political damage and went into swift action. By mid-afternoon, Barton himself had been taken to the woodshed by John Boehner and Eric Cantor, who threatened to strip Barton of his ranking membership on the committee if he did not immediately apologize for his apology.
Which he promptly did -- saying he should not have used the word "shakedown," and he regretted the implication that BP should not have to pay for the damages and compensation.
Boehner and Cantor at least must have realized that defending BP is not a political winner right now. You have to admire the swiftness and effectiveness of their discipline. But there's absolutely nothing else to admire in them.
Ralph
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