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Very well said and very well NEEDED to be said. Any functional human being should know that he himself can't do anything about the actual leak, but he damn well can do something about protecting our shorelines. This entire thing enrages and depresses me at the same time. I can't even look at ANY pictures of oil covered animals without feeling like shedding a few tears for them. At the same time it enrages me to see the slick encroaching on the shores and wiping out livlihoods of people dependent on the Gulf waters for survival. More and more people will be effected by this and that scares the hell out of me. Thanks for the good post!
Yes, the sight of oil on the animals bothers me greatly. And of course I feel for the Gulf Coast families whose livelihood is in complete danger of collapse.
Personally, i'd be content if the President stopped everything he was doing and concentrate on a handful of issues: The Oil Spill, Afghanistan/Iraq, and Israel/Iran (peripherally). It would make me happy if there were no other legislative considerations taken up during this time of crisis. A paid vacation (out of DC) for legislators would be acceptable to me. No vacations for the President. No diversions. Complete and total attention until the spill has been stopped and mitigation well underway.
I do agree with this. On one hand, he has to be able to multitask. On the other hand, I'm sick of seeing him on ESPN talking about where LeBron will be playing next year while this oil spill is getting worse. Maybe he can do both things at once, but it looks bad IMO.
I'd like to see somebody, anybody, in the US government taking an interest in getting this oil leaking stopped. Even if its weeks too late something has to be done. Can't they drop a bomb( not a nuke) and just seal the leak by destroying the pipeline? Obama is talking about demanding something be done but is putting zero effort into ending it or forcing BP to pull out all the stops to end it. And why didn't he get on the ball when it first happened and realized just how serious it was? Obviously the environment is not big in his agenda unless its politically correct and somebody close to him can scam a buck out of it( global warming, cap and trade, health care).
Too many times on this forum it seems that there is confusion as to where the discontent over the oil spill comes from. Some poster's even feel that conservatives are bashing Obama just to simply bash him. This couldn't be further from the truth. The response to the oil spill should enrage us all.
So lets clear the air for those who continue to confuse the issue:
The issue is not Obama's failure to "plug the damn hole." The issue is Obama's failure to devote the full resources of the Federal Government, in a timely manner, to contain the oil before it reached the shores of our valuable coastline.
* Instead of crafting jokes at the White House Correspondent's Dinner;
* Instead of gabbing it up with Jay Leno;
* Instead of delaying a visit to the Gulf by 11 days;
* Instead of photo ops with sports teams;
* Instead of a couple of vacations and multiple rounds of golf;
* Instead of fundraisers and stumping for legislators
Instead of these things, NONE of which contributes to the immediate prosperity of the country, Barack Obama should have been protecting our coastlines.
THIS is the issue that American's have with Barack Obama and his leadership during this time of crisis. Not some partisan bickery construed to imply that he could actually plug the hole himself. Lets be clear about that.
This is exactly right.
I watch morning Joe a lot, because I like Scarborough. They have said many times, and I agree (my opinion was reached before theirs), that Obama has done all he could physically to stop the oil spill. He isn't superman, he isn't aquaman, and he can't go down and part the gulf to stop the spill. He is a man, we were grossly unprepared (a problem with all recent Presidents, IMO), and this is where we are at.
HOWEVER,
He lacks a people quality that other Presidents have had, and they make him seem distant from the problem. When in reality, he is doing all he can.
So its not a lack of leadership, its a lack of people skills. The man is great at speeches, but he is so calculating in his demeanor, and reactions, that it makes him come off "Vulcan" for lack of a better term.
All logic, and no personality.
I won't say anything about his lack of personal connection, thats obvious. However, I disagree greatly with those who say that he hasn't done all that is possible to stop the leak. There were administration officials on the ground the next day after the explosion on the rig, and they have remained down there.
What I don't get, is that people understand this is the 21st century right? We multi-task, thats what we do. Even in great crisis, we still have to focus on more than one goal at a time.
The issue is the administration has tried to distance themselves from the oil gush (not a spill per se), from day one, to avoid a connection. But, the opposite has happened, and they bear 50% of the blame for the problem continuing.
Contingency plans are in place for all federal agencies to address virtually all possible emergencies, including a broken oil pipe 1 mile under water. The problem with most all federal contingency plans is, no one has the equipment outlined to be used in the plan. The costs to keep such equipment sitting idle on "stand by" is astronomical.
Such was the case here, the government's plans instructed a boom be made available to burn off the excess oil on the water surface in such an emergency. Problem is, the feds did not have the equipment (the boom) their own contingency plans directed they would supply and use. Had the boom been used within a day or two of the leak, the majority of the oil wouldn't be affecting the coast right now.
The inaction of the federal government of NOT following their own written contingency plans is what people are pissed off about right now.
The current administration's ineffectiveness and inaction to DIRECT the responsible agencies to enact their contingency plans to aid in stopping the gushing oil shows the leader's poor judgement and lack of leadership skills.
But, those that voted for him have no right to complain now, they knew he lacked any leadership qualifications and has no managerial experience at all.
Obama's getting really, really mad — or is he? - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100608/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_getting_tough - broken link)
"First he was going to make BP pay for the Gulf oil mess. Then he declared himself in charge. Now he's trying to find out "whose ass to kick" and making clear he'd fire BP's chief if only he could.
..
Despite his claims of being on top of things from Day One, Obama has come under fire even within his own party, accused of being slow to recognize the political danger of the spill and for appearing somewhat detached."
The issue is the administration has tried to distance themselves from the oil gush (not a spill per se), from day one, to avoid a connection. But, the opposite has happened, and they bear 50% of the blame for the problem continuing.
Contingency plans are in place for all federal agencies to address virtually all possible emergencies, including a broken oil pipe 1 mile under water. The problem with most all federal contingency plans is, no one has the equipment outlined to be used in the plan. The costs to keep such equipment sitting idle on "stand by" is astronomical.
Such was the case here, the government's plans instructed a boom be made available to burn off the excess oil on the water surface in such an emergency. Problem is, the feds did not have the equipment (the boom) their own contingency plans directed they would supply and use. Had the boom been used within a day or two of the leak, the majority of the oil wouldn't be affecting the coast right now.
The inaction of the federal government of NOT following their own written contingency plans is what people are pissed off about right now.
The current administration's ineffectiveness and inaction to DIRECT the responsible agencies to enact their contingency plans to aid in stopping the gushing oil shows the leader's poor judgement and lack of leadership skills.
But, those that voted for him have no right to complain now, they knew he lacked any leadership qualifications and has no managerial experience at all.
What plans?
There are no plans for this kind of spill, they've all been tried. They didn't work.
BP was the best hope to stop the spill, and still are. The President has done all he humanly could to help contain the spill.
I am quite sure Obama feels his responsibility is in both areas. It is now being found that the amount of oil gushing, may be more than 100,000 brls/day, not 19,000. If this is true or close to true, the impact will be much greater on shore and plugging the hole, even more urgent. The problem is huge, to all of us. If certain groups of people feel they need to criticize, go for it if it makes you feel better, most people want to help, even if it is only supporting the efforts.
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