As you may have already learned, GOP representative Joe Barton from the 6th district in Texas apologized to BP CEO for what he called a shakedown by the White House.  He lamented the very idea that a private corporation could be strong armed by into, in this case, paying for the cleanup of the Gulf and compensating those affected by the spill.

Yesterday was supposed to be all about Tony Hayward avoiding answering any questions from an increasingly angry group of House Representatives, but Barton stole the show putting the GOP on the hot seat.  Shortly after his ridiculous comments GOP leadership reportedly went ballistic, demanding that Mr. Barton retract his apology as quickly as possible on video which led to him sheepishly apologizing for his comments being misconstrued.  Suffice it to say, it wasn't good enough for John Boehner and Eric Cantor who held a closed door meeting with Mr. Barton threatening him with taking away his powerful minority leadership position on the Energy and Commerce Committee if he didn't retract his statements further.  This led to him apologizing a second time for his first apology by saying that he shouldn't have used the term "shakedown".

What's important to note here is that if the Republicans retake the House in the November midterms, Joe Barton would be the majority leader of the Energy and Commerce Committee, meaning that he would be setting the agenda for all legislation dealing with the oil and gas industry.  Already there have been questions as to how much money Rep. Barton has received in campaign and PAC donations, and it turns out to be in the millions of dollars.

Examining the firestorm that was unleashed yesterday it seems clear that Mr. Barton thought that the anti-government movement all around the country would line up well with his conservative ideology.  High profile Tea Party figures like Rand Paul (GOP Nominee for Kentucky Senate race) who was recently in the news for saying that he would not have voted for the Civil Rights Act because it violates free speech.  It's the unholy marriage between corporatists and right wing ideologues, who for a brief time, believed that their construct of the world could be accepted by a wider audience.  The problem with ideologues is that their real message can't be translated for general consumption because they ignore the consequences of their positions.

It should come as no surprise that in the days leading up to yesterday's fateful lapse in judgment that the conservative talk radio troupe of actors were already testing the water with the "shakedown" message.  Representative Michele Bachmann, besides possibly being insane, was muttering something similar earlier this week as well, but I think that after yesterday we won't be hearing too much about the GOP's failed politicization of the $20 billion claims fund, except in the thousands of TV and web ads we'll be inundated with showing Barton being the dumbest politician on earth. 

The last two months have been pretty rough on the President, but after convincing BP to go above and beyond what they were legally obliged to do with the claims fund Democrats are feeling like he has turned a corner.  And after the GOP shot themselves in the foot with Rep. Barton's comments yesterday, they single handedly made the President the man of the people and made themselves look like they carry water for big oil.  Simply stunning.