Inside the Beltway

NEWS AND OPINION:

BARRELING FORWARD

Uh-oh. The BP oil spill could bring out the naked truth. Lush Cosmetics, which operates 103 shops nationwide, is calling upon its sales staffs of mostly young women to parade down the sidewalks on Wednesday clothed in nothing more than faux oil-barrel costumes — to protest energy policy and pollution, naturally.

“The staff members are stripping down to nothing but a barrel. The oil barrels are mock-ups made from recycled paper, of course,” spokeswoman Brandi Halls tells Inside the Beltway. “We are asking the public to sign a postcard to President Obama. We want the government to stop new Canadian tar sand pipelines being built through America, stop new tar sands refineries from being built in our communities, stop giving tax breaks to the oil industry, and instead start funding a clean energy future.”

The curious can witness the local version at the Lush cosmetics store in Georgetown. Look for girls in barrels emblazoned with the motto, “Time for an oil change or we’ll lose it all,” Miss Halls advises.

AIMING BOTH BARRELS

The Senate Judiciary Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are busy this week addressing liability issues surrounding the BP oil spill. It is a visceral situation.

“Congress must amend the Death on the High Seas Act so families of the 11 workers who died aboard the BP rig can seek full recourse. This outdated law lets corporations like BP off the hook, at the expense of families who have lost a loved one,” says Anthony Tarricone, president of the American Association for Justice.

The 80-year old law limits what families can recover; BP’s liability is to economic damages only, which in most cases means burial costs and the loss of financial support, he says, noting that an exception to this immunity was made a decade ago to fully compensate families of victims who die in the sea as a result of a plane crash — prompted by TWA Flight 800, which exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 1996.

FAT CHANCE

When politicians become weary of the proverbial pork barrel, they should try some chocolate-covered bacon, counsels Linda Zweig, spokeswoman for the San Diego County Fair, which opens this week boasting the deep fried fare that is a staple at fairs and carnivals around the country.

“Absolutely. All those political types in Congress and at the White House would benefit from some nice chocolate bacon. It’s pure comfort food. And maybe deep fried butter would help, or a deep fried Klondike bar or a deep fried Pop Tart or deep fried frog legs,” Ms. Zweig tells Inside the Beltway, explaining that the aforementioned, impossible sounding butter dish involves dipping a frozen brick of butter in heavy funnel cake batter and then plunging it into hot oil.

Well, OK. The mind reels.

“The batter overcomes the butter. It’s very melted and delicious. And very comforting. Washington could use a ton of it at this point,” she adds.

THE A-TEAM

Was President Obama being tacky, tough or cunning when he used the, uh, A-word, during an NBC interview on Monday, when he was queried about his response to the BP oil spill? That is open to spin and interpretation. And the moment certainly gave the press license to bandy the A-word about with gusto; it launched some 25,000 press accounts and assorted commentary, according to Google News.

Here’s what the fuss is about:

“I’m going to push back hard on this. Because I think that this is just an idea that got in folks’ heads and the media’s run with it. I was down there a month ago, before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf,” Mr. Obama said.

“A month ago, I was meeting with fishermen down there, standing in the rain talking about what a potential crisis this could be. And I don’t sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially had the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick. Right? So, you know, this is not theater,” Mr. Obama said.

“Tough talking Obama is a change of pace,” says Washington Post reporter Anne Kornblut.

“If you’re the president of the United States and you go on the ’Today Show’ which is a morning show, where you’re going to have a lot of kids sitting around watching this, I think you choose your words more carefully,” counters CNBC news host Becky Quick. “Using the A-word when you are on the ’Today Show’ talking with Matt Lauer, yeah, that disturbs me.”

Then there’s the old everybody’s-doing-it excuse.

“Obama’s expression was fairly mild by contemporary political standards, when vice presidents go around dropping F-bombs,” says Ron Dzwonkowski, associate editor of the Detroit Free Press.

FOR THE LEXICON

“Islamic supremist mega-mosque.”

(New phrase from Pamela Geller, who organized the Stop Islamization of America protest on Sunday to protest the planned construction of a mosque overlooking ground zero in New York City.)

“Crowd size estimates ranged from 5,000 to 10,000. Rally participants came from as far away as Washington state, California, Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, South Carolina and Florida. They included Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, atheists and Muslims of conscience,” Ms. Geller says.

“We will be filing suit against the federal government, asking that the Burlington Coat Factory site where the mega-mosque is going to be built be designated a war memorial, a la Pearl Harbor and Gettysburg — because part of one of the 9/11 aircraft crashed into the roof there,” she adds.

NUPTIAL OPTIONS

“Rush Limbaugh hiring Elton John to sing at his wedding is like Rachel Maddow marrying her girlfriend and hiring George W. Bush to conduct the ceremony,” observes talk radio host Michael Savage.

JUST SO YOU KNOW

For the stirred-not-shaken crowd, the Pittsburgh Glass Center, Boyd & Blair Potato Vodka and Pittsburgh Magazine are asking artists, industrial designers, thermal dynamic engineers and adult martini lovers to submit ideas for a new martini glass design that will be “cold to the last sip.” The deadline is July 31. Teams and individuals are both welcome.

Prize money, complimentary spa stays, free vodka and fancy dinners are at stake, along with a chance for nationwide marketing of the winning design. Details, application forms and all that stuff here: www.pittsburghglasscenter.org.

POLL DU JOUR

23 percent of Americans say President Obama’s economic policies have made economic conditions better.

6 percent of Republicans and 47 percent of Democrats agree.

29 percent overall say the policies have made things worse.

58 percent of Republicans and 11 percent of Democrats agree.

38 percent overall say the policies “have had no effect”, or “it’s too early to tell.”

31 percent of Republicans and 34 percent of Democrats agree.

Source: A Pew Research Center survey of 1,002 adults conducted June 3 to 6.

• Hems, haws, hue and cry to jharper@washingtontimes.com.