Here Is Something That Is Beginning To Bother Me!

I am sure you have heard about the dust up between Barack Obama and Jan Brewer, the Governor of Arizona.  As I under stand it, she wrote a book and in it she described a meeting in the White House where Obama blew her off and treated her like a not too bright student  (Confession Here: I have not read her book and am relying on media reports.  However, they are all so similar this is probably close to right.)

So when Obama gets off Air Force One in Arizona he lectures her on her description.  They appear to get into an argument and he walks off.

Now there is enough politics between Arizona and the White House to just blow this all off to politics.

But now comes the January 23, 2012 issue of Business Week.  It has a major article on Harold Hamm who is a hugely successful wild cat oil drilling expert in North Dakota.  Harold is a high school drop out who took enough college courses to become an expert in geology.  He has been good enough at geology and taking risks to become one of the richest men in America, a multi-billionaire.  All of the evidence is that this is guy who really knows what he is talking about.  That is why his recounting of his meeting in the White House is troubling.

"Hamm is convinced that the Bakken—and another formation right under it called Three Forks—can help North America take a big step toward energy independence. He gets downright angry talking about federal legislation that he says threatens tax benefits for oil exploration. Over a plate of chicken-fried steak at the Buckskin Bar & Grill in Killdeer, he sets his fork down and scowls, recalling a chat he had with President Barack Obama in July at a White House event for Hamm and others who’ve pledged most of their wealth to charity. Hamm says he told Obama there’s plenty of oil to be found in the U.S. He felt the President blew him off. “It was like, if you’re in the oil-and-gas industry, you don’t matter,” he says."

Put the two wildly different situations together and you get a troubling picture of a President who does not tolerate divergent opinions.  And that is a really bad thing considering all of the truly terrible advice he does seem to be getting.