Grasping at straws is a delicate art form.

Salazar before a full committee oversight hearing on the "Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Strategy and Implications of the Deepwater Horizon Rig Explosion."

Salazar -

“Problems in the MMS predated this administration. We have turned the corner in reforming the MMS.”

"A lesson for all of us to recognize; we need to move to a new energy frontier."

"Confident and resolute that the federal government is doing everything we can."

Q: How culpable is the MMS.
Salazar: “My belief is that most of the MMS employees are good servants” "There are bad apples in the organization." (Did he mean were?)

Q: If there are people doing wrong things, why are they on the government payroll.
Salazar: “If we know they have done wrong things, they have been fired.”



My question is, Does MMS have blame due to bad apples that were in place when Salazar took control or is MMS at fault because of a faulty regulatory structure? These are 2 different things. For the latter, this administration is duly responsible. For the former, bad apples aren't exclusion to either party.

How about we just clean the gulf up?

Salazar: