Report: Obama knew from the beginning that oil leak would likely last months
posted at 9:56 pm on June 4, 2010 by Allahpundit
This makes all those golf outings, sports-team photo ops, and celebrity jams with Paul McCartney over the past six weeks feel extra special, doesn’t it?
The White House appears resigned to living with the BP oil spill for some time to come. But that’s not surprising—since President Obama and his team were briefed from the outset that the blowout at the Deepwater Horizons rig was epic in scope—and would not be fixable for a long, long time.
Carol Browner, director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, told Obama in late April that the blowout would likely lead to an unprecedented environmental disaster, a senior White House aide told The Daily Beast. Browner warned that capping a well at such depths had never been done before, and that they ought to expect an oil spill that would continue until a relief well was drilled in August, the aide said. (Browner’s office did not immediately reply to a request for comment).
That bleak prognosis, delivered so early on, has infused Obama’s senior team with a sense of fatalism about the spill from the start. Little that has happened since has changed their mindset. Now six weeks later, the president’s top advisers expect the oil spill – and the negative stories – to continue through August.
That’s from frequent Olbermann guest Richard Wolffe. I’m not sure how to feel about this. On the one hand, no less than the New York Times op-ed page was ripping Obama for being slow off the mark in dealing with the spill as far back as April 30. On the other hand, if he really is powerless to do anything because the feds simply don’t have the expertise to cap a well the way BP does, what was he supposed to have done after Browner briefed him? He could have given a national address right away leveling with the public about the potential magnitude of the disaster — he was Captain Transparency during the campaign — but why risk that when there was still hope at the time that BP could get things under control relatively quickly? It would have been an invitation for greens to rip on him and other supporters of drilling before there was any confirmation yet that the disaster was unprecedented. He could have skipped all the happy happy joy joy photo ops at the White House Correspondents Dinner and beyond, but those are at least instances of him doing “stuff,” even if it’s really stupid stuff. Sitting around all day looking worried would only heighten the perception of how powerless he is. Weird as it may sound, rocking out to “Hey Jude” is probably better for his re-election chances than pics of him sitting at his desk with his hands folded, waiting for BP to call with an update.
The real disgrace here is why, if he really did know right away that this was the oil equivalent of an asteroid strike, he didn’t scramble some sort of all-hands-on-deck emergency operation to protect the coastline. Remember, Jindal reportedly requested five million feet of hard boom back on May 2, long after Obama (according to Wolffe) knew about the magnitude of the disaster. By May 24, not even 800,000 feet had arrived. What happened?
Blowback
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…I thought it was the federal governments job to have action/emergency plans to handle the areas they oversee????
If they can’t take over and handle a crisis…then why the he!! are we spending billions of dollars for them to regulate and oversee these businesses.
..that’s like paying me to oversee the space shuttle….I could walk around “acting outraged” and playing Golf for half the money we are paying Obama and his useless Federal agencies.
The fact that they could not handled an oil drilling accident probably would have been addressed if Obama had not given BP a pass on safety rules and regulations and a pat on the back:
U.S. exempted BP’s Gulf of Mexico drilling from environmental impact study
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 5, 2010; A04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/04/AR2010050404118_pf.html
…not only did Obama give BP a pass….his administration was warned ahead of time that this rig was having problems:
Documents Show Early Worries About Safety of Rig
By IAN URBINA
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/us/30rig.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print
…bottom line is the Obama administration failed the Gulf Coast and America.
Baxter Greene on June 4, 2010 at 10:43 PM
Allahpundit’s produced a great point. Why confess to the nation you’re helpless and sit around twiddling your thumbs? Instead Obama and the Whine House have spent every minute trying to find a way to make political hay out of the disaster. How Presidential is that?
Rovin on June 4, 2010 at 10:44 PM
Where were the Environmental Wackos Protests!!
===========================================================
BREAKING: 7 Activists Arrested in Anti-Drilling Protest, but BP Goes Free?!
————————
CNN) — Seven members of the environmental group Greenpeace were arrested Monday after protesting at a private ship that the group says is scheduled to depart for Alaska this summer as part of a drilling mission.
The group said it was sending a message to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to ban new drilling in the Arctic or any U.S. waters. The ship was docked at Port Fourchon, Louisiana, near the site of the massive BP oil spill that for more than a month has been gushing thousands of barrels of oil daily into the Gulf of Mexico.
Photos from the scene show two protesters repelling off the side of Harvey Explorer, a 240-foot supply vessel, with one holding a sign reading “Salazar: Ban Arctic drilling.” The activists also smeared messages — “Arctic next?” — on the boat in raw crude from the BP spill in the Gulf.
The seven arrested, between ages 24 and 32, face unauthorized entry charges of a critical infrastructure and an inhabited dwelling, according to the Lafourche Parish County Sheriff’s Department. They could face additional charges pending an investigation into the incident, authorities said.
http://current.com/news/92453056_breaking-7-activists-arrested-in-anti-drilling-protest-but-bp-goes-free.htm
=====================================================
Notice how quiet it is on the Liberal Protest Front!!
canopfor on June 4, 2010 at 10:46 PM
You posts are very well structured.
Electrongod on June 4, 2010 at 10:47 PM
w
I heard 17 countries offered assistance and he turned them down. How many of those states did McCain carry?
tessa on June 4, 2010 at 10:49 PM
…bottom line is the Obama administration failed the Gulf Coast and America.
Baxter Greene on June 4, 2010 at 10:43 PM
========================================
You posts are very well structured.
Electrongod on June 4, 2010 at 10:47 PM
Electrongod: I second that,I’ll add informative,as well!:)
canopfor on June 4, 2010 at 10:50 PM
They are partying like it’s 1788.
Tav on June 4, 2010 at 10:51 PM
Maybe he was slow off the mark as only Florida voted for him out of the Gulf Coast states. He does not visit or really care about red states, he delivers money and help to blue states though. Since BP put up some big money to Florida early,for tourism purposes, maybe he just did not care anymore.
bluemarlin on June 4, 2010 at 10:53 PM
“what was he supposed to do after browner briefed him?”
allapundant, your such a joke. attempting to provide cover for this dooshbag just prooves what everyone knows – your a closet flaming lib
sidewinder22 on June 4, 2010 at 10:53 PM
Can’t get to 51% oppose new drilling unless you lose jobs connected to clean water and some wildlife.
O needed something to jumpstart Crap and Tax and “green” energy and this was the perfect crisis if he just sat back and let it happen.
journeyintothewhirlwind on June 4, 2010 at 10:54 PM
You guys do you research, no doubt, and inform the rest of us. A talent that is lacking in the MSM.
Electrongod on June 4, 2010 at 10:57 PM
Just another crisis to help overwhelm the system a la the Cloward-Piven strategy.
Except I think this time they bit off more than they could chew. This WILL BE his Waterloo.
IrishEi on June 4, 2010 at 10:58 PM
According to this article….by the second day,the people on the scene had not even started any containment plans and made it clear containment was not the top priority:
Workers missing after blast, fire hit oil rig
Anna Driver and Bruce Nichols
HOUSTON
Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:32pm EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63K4I920100421
…with all the “massive resources” that the Obama administration bragged about having there since “day one”…it seems that they could have been doing search and rescue right along with containment.
Apparently liberals are unable to “multi-task”.
The 1994 plan of containment and burn off was supposed to be implemented immediately.
The Federal government and BP did not have the resources,equipment,or leadership to address this disaster that they are responsible for overseeing….they failed.
Baxter Greene on June 4, 2010 at 10:59 PM
what is Bambi doing this weekend? another party, another golf round? really, I cannot abide this president
Willie on June 4, 2010 at 11:01 PM
I can almost hear Obama as Barney Fife saying, “Yah, Andy, I knew this spill would last for months. Yep, I knew it, heh.” We so need a photoshop artist to depict Obama as Deputy Barney Fife. That would be snort worthy and oh so appropriate.
Mojave Mark on June 4, 2010 at 11:02 PM
Obama & Rahmbo always thought they could blame it on BP & come out of this whole mess unscathed. They never expected this to backfire.
redridinghood on June 4, 2010 at 11:06 PM
Thanks…get a lot out of your posts also.
Hey Canpfor…sorry about Canada not having a chance for the Stanley Cup again….and again….and again….and again…
and again……
….alright,sorry,..that was OT: and not necessary,but it’s all I have since you have the Gold Medal…
Baxter Greene on June 4, 2010 at 11:06 PM
Tell me again why Obama got the Nobel Peace prize? Was it for inventing Teflon? Nothing seems to stick to him. President NoStik.
Electrongod on June 4, 2010 at 11:12 PM
Let me preface this by saying how terrible this is for the Gulf Coast people having their livelihoods wiped out, and how saddened I am for them; Obama can kiss Florida’s electoral votes goodbye in 2012, if he even has any chance at re-election in any event (God forbid).
churchill995 on June 4, 2010 at 11:16 PM
Obama who? (I have forgotten him already).
Electrongod on June 4, 2010 at 11:21 PM
Maybe he can’t cap a well 5000 feet under water, but he could have done a lot more to protect the coastline. Booms, expedited permits to allow sand berms to be built, supertankers to vacuum oil out of the water, etc. But golf and concerts are more important. It’s almost as if he wants the coastline to be covered with oil. Like he wants an excuse to demonize the oil industry or something.
mbs on June 4, 2010 at 11:27 PM
If he knew from the beginning, wouldn’t the use of tankers to suck up & separate the oil have been a better solution instead of letting it get so dispersed that now they say it isn’t an option? I don’t expect him to know how to cap a well but I expect him to do everything he can to contain the damage and he’s done jack.
Cindy Munford on June 4, 2010 at 11:28 PM
It’s sticking.
ddrintn on June 4, 2010 at 11:30 PM
Nothing. That’s the point.
The “all hands on deck” strategy would have been a good one. Bambi should have stood on the beach, ala GWB at the WTC, and told the ugly truth. He also should have instructed the freakin’ EPA to do anything necessary, including granting Jindal’s sand berm request, to negate the damage.
Instead, we got nothing from Gibbs or Bambi, nothing from the EPA or the MMS, and nobody took charge and kept the public informed.
Transparency indeed.
Leadership has risk. Bambi is adverse to it.
BacaDog on June 4, 2010 at 11:34 PM
Not really. It’s incompetence and fecklessness either way. He could have just told the truth. What a novel idea.
ddrintn on June 4, 2010 at 11:34 PM
So he isn’t dishwasher safe. 52% of this country must read the fine print ;)
Electrongod on June 4, 2010 at 11:34 PM
FIFY
BacaDog on June 4, 2010 at 11:35 PM
Yeah, I don’t think preventing damage to the coastline was ever the objective.
mbs on June 4, 2010 at 11:38 PM
Isn’t this a “Man-Caused Disaster”?
CTSherman on June 4, 2010 at 11:43 PM
Obama cares not one wit about the environment.
The only thing that raises his ire is that it makes him look bad… that explains the idiotic fake response he has given.
Fake anger for a fake man. Fake fake fake fake.
petunia on June 4, 2010 at 11:46 PM
Fore!!!
d1carter on June 4, 2010 at 11:51 PM
“Never let a crisis go to waste”
That is Bambi’s mantra and his handling of the crisis has always been from the perspective of “what can I make of this politically?”.
PackerBronco on June 4, 2010 at 11:51 PM
Right. If he knew that it was unstoppable, why didn’t he bend all of his efforts to mitigating the effects instead of pretending that he was attempting to stop the leak?
29Victor on June 4, 2010 at 11:55 PM
No. It’s Obama’s Bay of Rigs.
Dr. Charles G. Waugh on June 4, 2010 at 11:55 PM
We have 2 problems in this disaster.. #1 Leaking oil well. #2 Protecting the shores and prevent oil from reaching them.
Obama is right on #1-Gov’t has no expertise on capping and BP must do it.
But he has done absolutely nothing about # 2 in fact he has prevented any one else from doing anything about it
Herb on June 4, 2010 at 11:59 PM
Rocking out to “Hey Jude” reinforces that…
1. He fits exactly into the “celebrity” narrative that was pushed during the campaign.
2. Bush bashing is lame and looks like a guy that doesn’t want to lead, and would rather make excuses.
3. He is completely disengaged with the disaster
4. He’s completely out of touch with the voters
stldave on June 5, 2010 at 12:01 AM
It is supposed to leak…it is supposed to ruin the wetlands, destroy the fisheries and overwhelm our emergency response.
Brilliant schmuck did it all! And we are all left wondering if he means it or not. Sort of like being kicked in the balls and asking the kickee if he meant it.
PierreLegrand on June 5, 2010 at 12:09 AM
Silly boy you actually think he cares that you don’t like him relaxing while the Gulf Coast goes under??? And why do you think he gives a darn about the voters? Why should he?
PierreLegrand on June 5, 2010 at 12:11 AM
5 million feet of hard boom went to the AZ border and 1200 National Guard troops went to Louisiana…
repvoter on June 5, 2010 at 12:12 AM
Herb at 11:59
++
Obama should be run out of Washington on a rail because of his failure to bring the resources of the government to protect the shores. However, those shores are part of our country’s border, so they do not deserve any respect.
GaltBlvnAtty on June 5, 2010 at 12:14 AM
Captain Leadership gamed this situation out the moment Browner alerted him to the scope of it and decided that the disaster’s benefits to him politically (regarding significantly curtailing domestic energy production and pushing a carbon tax) meant more to him than the people of the Gulf Coast.
QED.
/bastard
Wanderlust on June 5, 2010 at 12:16 AM
Yeah, I don’t really think he cares but I also think he overestimates himself and his power. He can still do a lot of damage, mind you, but not as much as he and his puppet masters believe. Maybe I’m naive though. We’ll find out in the next 6-12 months.
stldave on June 5, 2010 at 12:21 AM
I’m with Ace on this one. It’s not that there was anything he could do, though the sand berms and boom would have helped. The thing is, there was nothing George Bush could do about a Cat 5 hurricane either. And we all know how the press and the Democrats demagogued that issue right through the 2006 election and continued to do so right up to about 5 weeks ago.
Sauce for the goose is good for the gander, as they say.
John on June 5, 2010 at 12:26 AM
The implicit lure of Obama, and his socialist drivel, is that whenever capitalists (though BP is a crony capitalist) mess up then good ole’ uncle sugar will be there to clean it up. When uncle promises he will be there, and he isn’t, then he’s going to pay a price too. I’m not convinced anyone comes out of this looking real good, but I think a case could easily be made that a leaner meaner government that doesn’t try to be all thing to everyone would be in a better place to react to this….if anyone had the stones to make the argument.
stldave on June 5, 2010 at 12:30 AM
.
Actually the more immediate area someone with stones could assault would be Obama’s strategy of creating chaos wherever he goes…and whatever he touches. This man hates the United States with a passion that not even the Mullahs can approach. Bambi is doing everything he can to destroy us and apparently is getting away with it because no one seems to understand that he INTENDS on failing…or succeeding depending on your point of view.
In regards to his overestimating his power, Bambi is doing what EVERY single socialist has ever done to gain power…create emergency situations and wait for someone to get rash to give him the excuse for Martial Law.
He will declare it before he leaves office and then leaving office will be postponed until he: nationalizes Oil Companies, nationalizes medicine oh wait, ignores Posse Comitatus Act, reacts to evil Israels attempts to thwart a nuclear attack, and whatever else this clown bastard can dream up.
PierreLegrand on June 5, 2010 at 12:51 AM
The Navy has a submersible that is designed to salvage reactor cores and warheads from sunken submarines.
That sub sits in a hanger.
NOAA has Alvin, which could put engineers on-site to direct submersible work.
Alvin is parked.
The Navy has LCAC craft which would be ideal for deploying booms rapidly without destroying marshlands. Instead we’re drafting the slowest boats we can find (shrimpers).
The Navy has tens of thousands of personnel trained to control and clean-up oil and fuel spills. Many of these personnel has real-world experience doing just that. Instead of using them, we’re training “paid volunteers” being bussed in from urban areas?????
We’re renting submersibles from Sweden?
We’re borrowing air reconnaissance assets from Canada?
Jason Coleman on June 5, 2010 at 12:58 AM
Hey, I walk around truly outraged, without any compensation whatsoever.
Obama has been hell on my blood pressure.
disa on June 5, 2010 at 1:02 AM
To add insult to injury, the LCAC’s that could greatly help move assets around the coast without damaging the marshes are made in New Orleans. There are some sitting around Avondale right now.
Jason Coleman on June 5, 2010 at 1:03 AM
Bulls-eye.
Mallard T. Drake on June 5, 2010 at 1:09 AM
Clearly that oil deposit is racist. This whole spill is reminiscent of a minstrel show; it’s like those pelicans are wearing blackface. “Oil Spill” and “crude oil” are racially charged code words.
/They haven’t deployed the race card yet.
bitsy on June 5, 2010 at 1:13 AM
Heckuva job, Browner! Barry was more interested in controlling damage to his administration than in protecting the Gulf Coast.
He will never live this down.
Christien on June 5, 2010 at 1:20 AM
I just clicked on the link to your screenname, and read your post. I don’t really disagree with your point of view in some respects. The democrats are taking the long view. It is evidenced by the health care vote. It is evidenced by their stance on immigration, which is clearly undercutting the unions that blindly support them. Maybe this oil spill is an another example. If this is the game, they are counting on 2 things. Both of which may be right.
First, that voters are stupid. Well, I don’t know that voters are so much stupid as they suffer from ADD. Incredibly short sighted. Democrats will pay a price in November, but I am sure the Dem’s are trusting they can load up for another assault in another 2-6 years. They might be right.
They’re also counting that someone won’t have the capacity and will to call the game for what it is. Now given the pool of candidates we produced last time, I can see where they arrive at this conclusion. I’m still hopeful that the urgency of the moment is producing, and will continue to produce, candidates that can call a spade a spade.
stldave on June 5, 2010 at 1:25 AM
I’m convinced that Wolffe is the son of the Great Gazoo from The Flintstones. The resemblance is definitely there.
BuckeyeSam on June 5, 2010 at 1:29 AM
Allah is dead wrong. This news–on the heels of the picture of the unidentified fowl drenched in oil that ran across the country–will bury Obama with independents and maybe even some wary, Blanch-Lincoln, Evan Bayh Democrats.
That said, Allah surprisingly recovers with the following:
And that’s just it, folks. This is the fracking United States of America. We solve big problems, and we get sh*t done. Obama should have made a cattle call to the country for the assistance of anyone with relevant experience. This is exactly what we get for electing an a**hole who’s only experience is firing up minority groups to complain about getting things they haven’t earned but think they are entitled to.
Pat Caddell was on Hannity tonight (thankfully hosted by Tucker Carlson), and Caddell was livid about Obama’s response. At one point, he called the Obama administration “a Potemkin Village presidency.” He said that even Carter got hold of Three Mile Island immediately.
Has anyone noticed that FNC is starting to mark the days of the spill in the lower right corner of the screen. Awesome.
BuckeyeSam on June 5, 2010 at 1:44 AM
Well, this makes sense to me.
It goes along with the beach clean -up workers who are making $12/hr but nobody ever sees them doing anything. They wear mathching “uniforms” of red polo type shirts and white pants. White pants to clean up a tar and oil soaked beach? Not bloody likely.
These “cleanup workers” are either SEIU goons, out of work ACORN folks, Americorps/SERVE troops, or a combo of all of the above. The “uniforms” are what give them away — only the Libtards care about “optics” on the soiled beach.
CNN reported the other day that they were not allowed inside of any shops on Grande Isle because they smeared human excrement on the walls of the bathroom in the local general store. Also reported that 30 were let go immediately due to refusing to be drug tested by BP. Don’t you figure these are workers forced on BP by O Admin and then O admin can blame BP for bad beach cleanup???
BTW, today O starts in on BP paying dividends to shareholders. Maybe most of you aren’t invested in stocks but there is a thing called a declaration date that comes well ahead of the payment. The Ex-Dividend date was May 5, very shortly after the spill started. BP declared they would pay the quarterly dividend of 84 cents per share. After that, they would be in violation of the law if they said — oops, sorry investors, you’re screwed too.
Obama has been denigrating investors since the beginning of his regime. It is the way he shows his complete contempt for the free market system. I guess he doesn’t really care if anyone buys stock — or maybe we should just invest without wanting any interest in return?
I’m sick of this and want him gone from the Presidency. He is not fit to be dogcatcher.
Greyledge Gal on June 5, 2010 at 1:47 AM
Ofail
Ugly on June 5, 2010 at 1:57 AM
So why didn’t he share it with the American people ?
He is fond of reading speeches at exotic locations, couldn’t someone in WH / kneepads media write the facts about this situation, load them on a teleprompter, put Hussain in front of a green-screen and have him read it @ primetime ?
Couldn’t he just tell the truth, the moment he knew it instead of demonizing BP and Jindal and Bush and Cheney all the while arm-twisting BP for even more money? Couldn’t he just tell the truth ? For once ?
macncheez on June 5, 2010 at 2:01 AM
Oww! That’s gunna leave a mark.
leftnomore on June 5, 2010 at 2:11 AM
This is so wrong in so many ways.
Who told Bambi it would be so bad at the outset,and how did they know?Since it is an unprecedented occurence,who could say how long it would take to stop the leak?
If Bambi was briefed,why didn’t he pull all the stops and look for whatever help might be available?Don’t the other oil companies have engineers who would love to take a stab at plugging the hole?Couldn’t he request help from some of the brilliant people at Stanford or MIT?
Since when does a leader accept what someone says is inevitable instead of doing everything possible to avert it?
Sorry, just another attempt to cover Bambi’s a$$,when in fact he deliberately let this travesty occur to try to sell the anti-oil programs of the far left.
DDT on June 5, 2010 at 2:17 AM
“Never let a good
crisisoil spill go to waste.”- Rahm Emmanuel
infidel4life on June 5, 2010 at 2:46 AM
Barry is far more interested in golfing and his Wednesday night parties to be bothered with these things. He believes he is the delegator and really shouldn’t be bothered. He has staff for these things. He had no idea people would actually expect him to work for the money we are paying him.
bopbottle on June 5, 2010 at 3:41 AM
Cap and trade … the ultimate goal, tax America into submission — never let a disaster go to waste. By and means necessary, even destroy the Gulf of Mexico.
The rolled up sleeves are a nice touch, shows he has real concern for the world communists.
tarpon on June 5, 2010 at 4:31 AM
Nice touch indeed
If the real photo goes viral
macncheez on June 5, 2010 at 5:20 AM
He’s purely a ceremonial president. When he does try to take action on something, he generally makes things worse. So let’s leave him to his media events and let others handle the hard stuff.
Dee2008 on June 5, 2010 at 6:34 AM
Did anyone really expect the federal government to fix the leak? Their role in those distant and deeper waters is to mitigate the ecological disaster with assistance to the states that request help. Isn’t that why we have Browner’s agency? The federal government has the wherewithal to coordinate and use many sources of help. This truly smacks of administrative negligence at a criminal level.
onlineanalyst on June 5, 2010 at 6:34 AM
Reminds me of this…
Makes you want to puke…
Seven Percent Solution on June 5, 2010 at 6:36 AM
This fool of a president does not grasp the proper role of the federal government. He has the executive power to cut the red tape and to mobilize emergency means to mitigate the disaster’s impact.
Is this an object-lesson in his lack of effectiveness re an enemy attack? a pandemic?
We have an unwieldly bureaucracy that hampers ready response. ObaMao encourages this kind of non-responsible sluggishness.
Impeach this passive-aggressive placeholder. He is a threat to our national security.
onlineanalyst on June 5, 2010 at 7:07 AM
Can’t get more regs without a disaster.
Can’t get more control and tax money without regs.
Can’t get more pet causes financed without more stimulus.
Can’t get more stimulus without economic downturn.
Can’t get more economic downturn without a disaster.
TinMan13 on June 5, 2010 at 7:16 AM
stldave: Unfortunately, too many voters get their information from the media, which is the handmaiden in controlling the WH message. Unless the voters have access to facts, not propaganda, they are pawns to an unscrupulous, power-hungry political agenda.
onlineanalyst on June 5, 2010 at 7:29 AM
The first black-oil leak president?
Don L on June 5, 2010 at 7:46 AM
When is Obama expressly going to tie his “Texas Tea” problem to the Tea Partiers?
BuckeyeSam on June 5, 2010 at 7:50 AM
He could pretend to care about the American people more than he cares about his image. Gibbsy said that Obummer’s not a method actor, so I don’t hold out much hope.
But it would be a start.
Grace_is_sufficient on June 5, 2010 at 7:55 AM
Not only is Obama’s lack of ability to make strategic decisions in time of crises apparent, but all the stuff coming out with the internal documents on lack of oversight on BP shows how the Obama is waist deep in this disaster.
He is now simply trying to take advantage with the implementation of Cap and Trade. He will throw anyone under the bus including large donors to his party and campaigns.
gatorfanatic on June 5, 2010 at 8:10 AM
Spot on… and this is why “it’s his crisis” and not anybody else’s…
Khun Joe on June 5, 2010 at 8:15 AM
this is barry’s idea of leadership: “an unprecedented environmental disaser”? might as well go golfing
this report is even more damning of barry’s qualifications as c-in-c and perhaps explains his now seemingly defeatist approach to every major issue (with the possible exception of afghanistan): oh the palestinians will never stop hating the jews, so might as well join them; that pesky iran will never stop trying to build a bomb, so why try to stop them; those damn nokos are determined to start a war, so let’s get it over with
the report also makes his continued attacks on bp even more infuriating…if he knew the extent of the disaster from the start and bp’s’ limited options, why didn’t he step in right away and do something or, at least, tell the folks in louisiana the truth about what they were facing
finally, this report hopefully smashes any last claims that barry is some kind of political genius or magical leader (the waters will recede); the government’s stalling on jindal’s requests for assistance looks even worse now…was barry simply refusing to waste money on a futile effort? if so, he should have said so and, at least, look like he has some fiscal responsibility…or was barry simply afraid that jindal’s plan might work, robbing him of another “crisis” to be used for political gain?
this goes way beyond katrina in terms of incompetence and smacks of arrogance, apathy, and cowardice
erclimb on June 5, 2010 at 8:27 AM
Yes they knew the leak was hopeless, NOAA figured that out on day 2, when they ordered up the federal oil boom stock be deployed immediately, and then found there was no federal oil boom stock. From there it went downhill.
Don’t forget the coal mine explosion, and the current Bilderburg take over the world meeting.
Has anybody figured out why MMS gave waivers for inspections and test of the rig that blew up, 10 days before she blew? And isn’t it weird the media has chose not to report on the MMS waivers? Was it all part of the oil company’s campaign cash for MMS waivers scheme.
tarpon on June 5, 2010 at 8:31 AM
I’m wondering where is the truther crowd that blames the explosion on a government conspiracy to push cap and trade and nationalize oil companies? They seemed to have popped up rather quickly after 9/11.
Oh right that was during the Bush administration…duh!
iceman1960 on June 5, 2010 at 8:38 AM
Why should Bambi care what the voters think? He has always got the race card and class jealousy angles to play and they worked pretty well the first time. I’m betting he will start ratcheting up the hate in August or sooner. This country will be at each others throats and the country so divided that the few million votes he can steal will make the difference.
volsense on June 5, 2010 at 8:38 AM
I don’t know why you peons are getting so upset. Don’t you remember that a few weeks before the oil disaster that he said not to expect any federal help for 72 hours after a nuclear attack? Now we now we see how “quick” action works from the administration on the oil spill. “Day 1″ is just another platitude. Biden may not be the sharpest crayon in the box, but he doesn’t hate America or Americans. At least he does have some sense of how the job of President is supposed to go. I’ll take stupid over evil any day.
BetseyRoss on June 5, 2010 at 8:58 AM
Remember, dear leader and his cronies are all from Chicago or academia, they know little of the real world and how things actually work. We have a group in a political cocoon trying to manage a crisis to their advantage. It seems to be working well for them.
Kissmygrits on June 5, 2010 at 8:59 AM
If Obama wanted to minimize the damage inflicted upon the Gulf coast, he’d have ordered up supertankers with filters to suck up the slurry and keep the beach damage to a minimum. In fact, he could do that now.
He must be planning to include the hourly beach clean-up workers as proof the economy is getting better, and push now for Cap and Trade.
ROCnPhilly on June 5, 2010 at 9:04 AM
he KNEW?!?!
why I am so totally shocked………
/off
RealMc on June 5, 2010 at 9:09 AM
Boot on throat? Anger?
Send to Dear Leader: “Avoid palpitations and recriminations in times of tribulations.”
And why wasn’t every option from fire and brimstone to kitty litter used TO KEEP THE OIL OFF TERRA FIRMA? I had (my lower quality) expert tell me there were options like more dispersant which hurts the water but the wetland and other damage is a lot more serious. They couldn’t imagine what is wrong with Him. Some think that Barry WANTED A MESS on the coast!
He couldn’t have been surewhich alternative to “plug the hole” would work. I was thrilled when the prediction I had called for me came to pass.
As the posts above say, this is the end of the magic man act. I think that citizens would have liked a real damage estimate and prognosis but the political experts must know that bad news costs votes. A shame.
IlikedAUH2O on June 5, 2010 at 9:11 AM
Koreans wrecked passenger jets because of being polite! — Check the text mentioned later!
BTW, I called for burning the oil with napalm. Never found out why this was a bad idea. At least I didn’t call for nukes.
Why doesn’t somebody apply the Hawaiian/Indonesian cultural influences a la the text The Outliers to explain The One’s screw ups? Oh yea, the same reason we had no op eds on his messed up childhood.
IlikedAUH2O on June 5, 2010 at 9:18 AM
If this has been brought up in previous comments, sorry. But AP, I’m not sure why this report is news.
Didn’t everyone know this right from the beginning – that the relief well was the only sure solution but would take months, and in the meantime they were going to take the shotgun approach and attack the problem with everything else they had? The Times-Pic has been saying that since the beginning… it’s common knowledge. If Obama hadn’t been aware of it, that would be shocking.
As you say, the fact that he’s known all this and still let the Corps of Engineers yank Jindal’s chain as much as they do, and spent so much time engaged in blameshifting instead of facilitating boom deployment, bringing in supertankers to collect surface oil, etc. is what’s disgraceful.
Laura Curtis on June 5, 2010 at 9:21 AM
No offense to you, Allahpundit, but it’s precisely these never-ending political calculations (“if I wear this necktie, my share of this voter group will go up by .0.07%; on the other hand, if I wear this shirt my share with that other group goes up by .13%…”) that have most of the electorate completely disgusted with politics and politicians.
ddrintn on June 5, 2010 at 9:26 AM
AP has officially lost it.
I come to HA less & less frequently these days – and lately it’s only to witness the truly bizarre & inane opinions of the posters here.
Do you guys remember when HA was not only a source of good commentary but also Hilarious? Remember Brian?
We’ve entered Little Green Football territory here with AP’s new found insanity.
Feel free to ban me. I won’t be coming back anyway.
Dorvillian on June 5, 2010 at 9:31 AM
Jobs saved or created, baby! Besides, the SEIU has to have something to do with their buses.
BacaDog on June 5, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Exactly. And let’s not forget the requests to build sand berms. The idea that using dredged sand on a beach to provide a barrier is an environmental hazard is preposterous. What’s next? Telling kids they can’t build sand castles?
And it’s ironic that the Community Organizer-in-chief is doing such a piss-poor job of organizing the communities. Where is AmeriCorps and the EnergyCorps on this? There should be thousands of “volunteers” at the beaches, working to clean up the mess. I suspect that would annoy the unions, who want to be paid exorbitant rates to do a job taxpayers have already paid for, to the tune of $6 billion as part of the Give/Serve acts.
Buy Danish on June 5, 2010 at 10:20 AM
Actually, there ARE thousands of volunteers ready to go. I’m one of them; I’ve signed up with all of the organizations. So far we’ve had a couple of beach cleanups in preparation for when the oil finally lands, and a few tedius, but useful, stints at sitting around docks in Hopedale and Venice waiting for boats with oiled birds to arrive, then helping transport the birds to trained wildlife volunteers to wash off the oil.
I think they should have gotten started with grouping people, forming teams, and providing hazmat training but what do I know? :-/
Laura Curtis on June 5, 2010 at 10:31 AM
He’s doing a fine job.
/Grow Fins
Del Dolemonte on June 5, 2010 at 10:35 AM
He’ll take any distraction he can get. I for one think the incompetence thats going on trying to cap it off is also what caused the oil accident in the first place. If it can hurt the U.S. as she was, he’s all for it.
johnnyU on June 5, 2010 at 10:44 AM
Thanks to president Obummers leadership he has been keeping his foot firmly on BP’s neck. Just think how bad it would have been, if he hadn’t done that!!! /s
Dasher on June 5, 2010 at 10:51 AM
When you say you signed up with “all the organizations” do you mean AmeriCorps and other natioaal service programs?
Buy Danish on June 5, 2010 at 10:55 AM
Moving on…I saw the Pat Caddell/Potemkin Village Presidency segment last night. Just Googled it to find a clip, and guess where I found it? Media Matters. I’m surprised – not sure of their take on this, but if the comments from their Useful Idiot comrades are a clue, they think they’re mocking Caddell by posting this.
Buy Danish on June 5, 2010 at 11:01 AM
That one kills me. An effective executive knows that there are rarely perfect choices and in crisis you are often forced to choose the least damaging option. Which is the worse environmental hazard– sand berms or oil-soaked wetlands?
Why did the EPA order BP to use a different dispersant, when there wasn’t an alternative dispersant? Apparently the preference was for oil-soaked beaches.
How many days have now elapsed since the explosion? There was time to burn, disperse and contain. But the knee jerk response of the WH/Dems was to propose new taxes and the passage of an environmental bill. Apparently liberals tax and legislate in lieu of containment and clean-up, while conservatives demand action (see Bobby Jindal.)
All of this dithering has brought us to our current state, in which the oil is now reaching the shores and headed into the Gulf Stream to effect the East Coast.
Why weren’t fire booms used– and when they weren’t immediately available, why was there no concerted effort to procure them promptly? Forgive my suspicion that following the federal plan to burn the oil provided optics that were considered to be two politically damaging for the Dems. Which is worse, photos of smoke in the Gulf or oil-soaked wetlands?
Does anyone believe that BP cancelled the orders for fire booms without orders from the EPA?
As to the question of what a leader does in this situation… start by forming federal remediation and capping teams, then order the EPA and other agencies to move quickly and effectively to remove regulatory barriers to accomplishing the goals. Give clear directives that make clean-up, amelioration and containment take precedence over purity of environmental ideology.
obladioblada on June 5, 2010 at 11:01 AM
So, did he order the EPA to not implement its spill procedures? The EPA should have started their process automatically.
HotWeaver on June 5, 2010 at 11:06 AM
Buy Danish on June 5, 2010 at 10:55 AM
No, I mean Audubon Society, LA Gulf Response, Louisiana Serve. Those were the ones the state and BP and the state originally promoted and the Times Pic had links for.
Laura Curtis on June 5, 2010 at 11:09 AM
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