The oil spill in the Gulf demonstrates many things. However. contrary to the President's agenda and wishfu,l but erroneous, conclusion, it does not mean that drilling in the Gulf or any other waters is bad - or that it has to be suspended or stopped. It just means that it comes with a risk. So do most things in life.
After 6 weeks of floundering and not giving the American public any confidence that this spill is being managed correctly - or that there is a foreseeable end to the leak, we can draw two obvious conclusions:
(1) The President was ill-equipped to manage a natural disaster - one that he should have known would come at some time (or even more than once) during his 4-year term). Wishing him to be a better leader won't make him one. He is what he is - and so is his team.
(2) BP had no scenario in place for such an occurrence. Leaks, spills, and explosions happen in the mining business. The best they can come up with is a series of more and more risky, unproven techniques? They should have been able to open the manual that contained this particular scenario and run the procedure.
Speaking of natural disasters, the President totally blew the Nahville and western Tennessee flood. No leadership or management here. Not even a visit. And to make matters worse, the EPA is sticking to their new Lead Paint rules - further exacerbating a bad situation.
We see no leadership from the President and no leadership from BP. We see no advance preparation. We see a sluggish response. We see no clear cut solution.
To be fair to the President though, he does have a lot on his plate. Besides the flood and the spill, he's got Sestak, the "Peace" flotilla, the Greek financial collapse and riots, lashing out at Arizona for doing his work, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Israel, and North Korea - just for starters.
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The length of time on the oil spill is inexcusable. I think we are all just watching in wonderment of how this could still be happening.
The lack of response is truly the most ridiculous demonstration of leadership I have ever witnessed.
Randy,
It looks like this is just big laboratory experiment - that yhet'll just keep trying various solutions until they get one to work. They are ignoring the impact. :)
Steve
Elite,
There is no leadership from either side. This is unacceptable, but it's what we get. :)
Steve
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Sunoj,
Thank you. Please avail yourself of my other blogs, podcasts, videos - all accessible through my website stevehoffacker.com. :)
Steve
Steve, you forgot to give him credit for a couple of things he actually spent his energy pursuing. 1.Socializing our healthcare (destroying the private system) and 2. taking over control of two car makers (who continue to lose money). In additon, if he keeps telling us about his success with our economy (9.7% unemployment), some people might actually believe him. He has also given us unsustainable debt. All this in only 1-1/2 years. I think he has accomplished the things that really matter to him!
Jon,
I could I have missed those major accomplishments? You're so right. While we're at it, lets not forget appointing a Supreme Court judge before there is a vacancy, pitching Chicago to the IOC, his global warming junket to Denmark, his quick decision on the troop surge, dissing of Netanyahu, letting Calderon scold Jan Brewer and Arizona in a joint session of Congress. bowing to the Saudis, and I'm sure there are more. :)
Steve
They WANTED a disaster and have had several and still don't get it RIGHT. This is even MORE horrible because they could have learned from Bush's Administration's failings on Katrina * they have the BLUEPRINT of what NOT to do and they don't use it!
Wallace,
They had to know this would happen. How could they not be prepared? :)
Steve
Steve,
I am hoping that the good leaders are somewhere because it seems they are on vacation in DC
Steve,
There are a few, but only a few - and no in a position of control. :)
Steve
Wallace -
While matters concerning Hurricane Katrina could have been handled better, I just wanted to point out a crucial distinction between Katrina and this oil spill, and it is this:
When natural disasters (like Katrina) occur in a State, that State's Governor is the one in charge of the relief and cleanup efforts, unless and until the Governor goes through the proper protocol and formalities of requesting Federal help - and that didn't happen right away with Katrina, as it should have - which was the Governor's fault.
However, the Deepwater Horizon rig is located well beyond the boundaries of Louisiana's territorial waters - it's in the United States' "Exclusive Economic Zone", which extends 200 nautical miles from shore. And... who do you suppose it is, who's in charge - from minute one - should any kind of "disaster" occur in our Exclusive Economic Zone? Yep... Boy Blunder.
So on the one hand, Bush couldn't move in until formally asked to do so, following the proper protocol - and then lots of help began moving in pretty quickly. While on the other hand, Obama was in charge from minute one - and did little more than dither, for wayyy too long.
Jeff,
I agree, but what Wallace is talking about is the PR mess Bush dug himself into. While what you say is true, Bush never was able to get ahead of the backlash from the perceived federal inaction. The same thing happened in '92 with his father and Andrew - FEMA's first adventure. Obama should have been more than ready for this and was not. :)
Steve
Steve - that this oil is still leaking is inexcusable when we heard on the news that they could implode the well and the oil would stop leaking BUT BP would loose their rights to drill there again and they want to be able to get that oil out - there should be NO CHOICE, they should be made to implode the damn well and seal it up!
A very inconsistent government isn't it?
Barbara-Jo,
The President said that BP can't do anything unless he approves it, and he also said that BP is doing everything they can. Comes back to leadership. The likelihood of this ever being a producing well again seems remote. :)
Steve
Michael,
That comes from inexperience. :)
Steve