Obama: On second thought, maybe I should meet with BP executives

Looks like someone reminded him that he has, in fact, been known to meet with CEOs from time to time.

And yes, although it doesn’t say so in the blockquote, BP’s CEO will almost certainly be at the meeting.

President Obama has formally requested a meeting with Carl-Henric Svanberg, Chairman of the Board of BP, and any other “appropriate officials” from BP next Wednesday, June 16th at the White House.

The request was made by Admiral Thad Allen, National Incident Commander, in a letter sent directly to Carl-Henric Svanberg today.

Allen says that “time is of the essence” in resolving the issues in the Gulf, as they ensure that all individuals and communities impacted by the spill are made whole…

The meeting, if accepted by BP, would be the first time that President Obama has met, or talked directly, with BP executives since the April 20th oil rig explosion in the Gulf.

“Time is of the essence” in solving this crisis, which is why … we haven’t asked to meet you since it started six weeks ago. Perfect.

That said, I’m mystified by British politicians whining today at The One for being mean to poor ol’ BP. Granted, Anthony Weiner’s comment about not trusting any BP official with a British accent was pure jackassery and the White House’s rhetoric about keeping its boot on BP’s throat was thuggishly creepy, but neither of those should be taken personally. Weiner’s a loudmouthed jackass and the administration, which has been known to threaten bankers with populist pitchforks, loves its tough-guy-bravado soundbites. (Frankly, I’d be surprised if even 10 percent of the public knew that BP is a British company.) Besides, BP has committed an amazing amount of malfeasance here, from ignoring reports that the rig was in trouble before it exploded to its CEO selfishly remarking that he’d like his life back after ruining so many others’. If you want to complain about Obama’s demagoguery, how ’bout waiting until the damn hole is plugged first?

David Cameron’s planning to call Obama this weekend to try to smooth things over and the BBC at least is trying to let its readers know that rumors of an anti-British tide sweeping America are pure nonsense. Exit question: What if we beat them on Sunday in the World Cup? War?

Update: To put the Brits’ whinging in context for you, their griping about Obama comes on a day when scientists say somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000 barrels of oil a day — more than a million gallons every 24 hours — are leaking into the gulf. The original estimate was … 5,000 barrels.

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