The ICC has the power to ban captains for slow over rates and Ponting ran the risk of receiving a one-Test suspension had he stuck with his pace bowlers, given the slow rate they were managing.
But they would vote for Mr Obama if he ran with another plain-spoken warrior, especially if that warrior questions the ban on school prayer and has a union card, two Purple Hearts and three tattoos.
By issuing shallow water drilling permits at a rate 10 percent that of the same time last year, BOEM has imposed a de facto ban on offshore energy exploration on top of the official deepwater stay that ran from May to November.