Obama's culpability in oil spill?

[Zebo]

From the new boss is the same as the old boss section - it appears the Obama administration bears some responsibility for spill and is blocking access to media to mitigate PR damage.


Basically the interior department is totally staffed with oil revolving door hacks. And Obama continues to appoint them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/washington/11royalty.html?_r=1
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/us/politics/18salazarcnd.html?_r=1
http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/05/bp-mms-revolving-door


Furthermore as detailed below, BP won an exemption from the Obama administration from the requirement of preparing an environmental impact study for this very drilling operation!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/04/AR2010050404118.html


Now, the Obama Administration, using the Coast Guard is blocking air, sea and land shots of the oil spill's impact.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/26/the-missing-oil-spill-photos.html

 

[Patranus]

Nope. Its all BOOOOSHs fault.

I guess you didn't get CCed on the memo.

 

[dmcowen674]

it appears the Obama administration bears some responsibility for spillhttp://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/26/the-missing-oil-spill-photos.html

I'm sure the 1979 Ixtoc spill in the Gulf was Obama's fault too

 

[Patranus]

Now, the Obama Administration, using the Coast Guard is blocking air, sea and land shots of the oil spill's impact.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/26/the-missing-oil-spill-photos.html

Didn't the "progressives" get their panties in a bunch when the DoD did this but with the killed soldiers?

 

[Zebo]

Didn't the "progressives" get their panties in a bunch when the DoD did this but with the killed soldiers?

Yes but silent now. Just like they are silent on Obama's hit teams able to assassinate US citizens w/o due process. Silent on FISA endorsement. Silent on new secret prisons...and so on.

This detachment from reality is what happens when we put party before country and everyone needs to watch themselves.

 

[JSt0rm]

Someone is detached thats for sure.

 

[SAWYER]

Well according to Nancy Pelosi it's Bush's fault lol
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/o...administration-for-bp-oil-spill-95175304.html

 

[nageov3t]

"All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway."

 

[classy]

Its laughable. The sooner these folks understand he is going to re-elected, the sooner they will be able to move on with their lives. They swear that if they drum up enough "fake outrage" that some how they will be able to get rid of him in 2012. Its not gonna happen.

2012 Superman comes out of the phone booth to rule again

 

[JSt0rm]

Obama has been in office long enough to own this thing. Bushes lax regulation created the environment for such disasters but Obama has had enough time to slash burn all that retards choices.

 

[classy]

Obama has been in office long enough to own this thing. Bushes lax regulation created the environment for such disasters but Obama has had enough time to slash burn all that retards choices.

Ah...wrong. Republicans have used the scorched earth policy every time he has tried to intervene with the dealings of these "private" companies. They have used the Obama Hitler message to death, laced with government intervention and take over rhetoric. Well now those same bastards have gotten their wish. When this first started Obama wanted to move on legislation to make BP pay entirely.

And guess what, the same republican snakes lined up with their Obama Hitler nonsense so to sway the public so they can get some votes. So congratulations, now these fvcks have their wish. He hasn't forcefully stepped in and this company not only never followed regulations, but dragged their feet in response. So here is a perfect example where the "free market" needs to be regulated, because in the end one disaster like this shows nothing is free.

 

[Zebo]

I'm not a republican classy I agree with what Dr. Cornel West says about Obama. It aint good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVl8QFhnadY&feature=player_embedded
If you want to support cleptocracy, incompetence, brutality etc all for party or color of skin that makes you nothing but a hack IMO.

 

[JSt0rm]

Ah...wrong. Republicans have used the scorched earth policy every time he has tried to intervene with the dealings of these "private" companies. They have used the Obama Hitler message to death, laced with government intervention and take over rhetoric. Well now those same bastards have gotten their wish. When this first started Obama wanted to move on legislation to make BP pay entirely.

And guess what, the same republican snakes lined up with their Obama Hitler nonsense so to sway the public so they can get some votes. So congratulations, now these fvcks have their wish. He hasn't forcefully stepped in and this company not only never followed regulations, but dragged their feet in response. So here is a perfect example where the "free market" needs to be regulated, because in the end one disaster like this shows nothing is free.

i agree wth you and this will never get me to vote repug. I'm simply saying the buck stops with him. Had this happened 2 weeks after his presidency I would be singing a different tune.

 

[classy]

I'm not a republican classy I agree with what Dr. Colonel West says about Obama. It aint good.

If you want to support cleptocracy, incompetence, brutality etc all for party or color of skin that makes you nothing but a hack IMO.

Well let me make this clear. I supported Obama after my choice Hillary lost. So I don't call it one way or another because a guy is one skin color or one party. I criticized PA for not supporting Santorum, a republican and now Spector a former republican. While neither got every vote right as senators, those two worked their tails for that state and both were and are good people. So maybe you got some rose colored glasses on, I don't. I just don't try to spin bullshit like some of you. No matter how you spin it, if its starts as bs, it will stay bs. Obama can only do so much without the support of his congress. He has criticized BP from the beginning, but guess what, the right stood against his criticism.

Paul Rand Mr Teaparty had this to say about Obama's comments on BP

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/pol...p_tough_talk_calls_oil_spill_diss_unamer.html

The latest RandPaulism: Stop being mean to BP over the giant Gulf oil spill was a shocker, but it's only the latest in a string of controversial comments.

"What I don't like from the President's administration is this sort of, 'I'll put my boot heel on the throat of BP,'" Paul told ABC's "Good Morning America" Friday. "I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business."

"Stuff happens, and sometimes it happens to oil companies," said Paul. "I think it's part of this sort of blame-game society in the sense that it's always got to be somebody's fault," he said. "Sometimes accidents happen."

This is the same nonsense folks have been saying to criticize the guy, paint him in a bad light so they can get some votes. So who is at fault here? So how much bullshit you want to shovel or eat today? So he is un-american because he wants these clowns at BP held responsible. When you wipe that poop off your lips let me know?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Bush was blamed for Katrina because it was on his watch, and now it's Obama's turn.

Considering that these events are catastrophic sans hyperbole, I'm not really sure either should have gotten/get the level of abuse dished out by many.

The magic wand does not exist.

 

[JSt0rm]

Bush was blamed for Katrina because it was on his watch, and now it's Obama's turn.

Considering that these events are catastrophic sans hyperbole, I'm not really sure either should have gotten/get the level of abuse dished out by many.

The magic wand does not exist.

exactly but the government is equipped to mobilize and rescue people after a natural disaster. Bush just failed to have the proper people in place to make that happen.

This is a man made disaster more then a mile underwater. The government could get there in nuclear subs but what good will that do? Private industry has the solutions, feeble as they are. Private industry hasn't figured out a way to fix this problem in 30 years since it happened last in shallower water. That is epic fail on the part of government AND private industry for the last 30 years. Not surprising I guess.

 

[Rainsford]

Bush was blamed for Katrina because it was on his watch, and now it's Obama's turn.

Considering that these events are catastrophic sans hyperbole, I'm not really sure either should have gotten/get the level of abuse dished out by many.

The magic wand does not exist.

I agree with your general point, that people blame Presidents for everything because they either think they are omnipotent or, more likely, because it's good politics.

But here's the thing, whether they could actually control it or not, Presidents bear at least SOME responsibility for the things that happen on their watch. There are always things they could do better or do differently, especially when viewed from hindsight. And ultimately I think the President has to be responsible, if only because if he or she can't apply the lessons of past blunders to the future, then certainly no one else is in a position to do so.

However, that is not the same as agreeing with "hatchet-job" Zebo or people like him. The President bearing ultimately responsibility for what happens in this country is not a license to blast him every chance we get for political reasons. And it's DEFINITELY not justification for laying the entire blame for disasters at his feet...and implicitly letting the people who actually made the bad choices off the hook by not giving them their fair share of the blame.

It really comes down to this...Obama IS like Bush in that he's human and can't do everything perfectly. But if that's our standard for a President, then not a single one of them has been qualified for the job. And while we're judging them, it might be worth saving some faux outrage for everyone else who is involved in screw-ups we're trying to lay at their feet. It's really a team effort.

 

[Rainsford]

exactly but the government is equipped to mobilize and rescue people after a natural disaster. Bush just failed to have the proper people in place to make that happen.

This is a man made disaster more then a mile underwater. The government could get there in nuclear subs but what good will that do? Private industry has the solutions, feeble as they are. Private industry hasn't figured out a way to fix this problem in 30 years since it happened last in shallower water. That is epic fail on the part of government AND private industry for the last 30 years. Not surprising I guess.

It's a societal problem, nobody gives a shit about prevention. Yet we all bitch and moan when it becomes obvious in retrospect that someone should have planned things out BEFORE we needed those plans.

In this particular case, I'd be very interested to see anything that indicated people like Zebo saw this coming and complained about a lack of prevention BEFORE it happened. It's incredibly easy to whine once you know there was an issue. But I'd bet dollars to donuts that nobody would have lauded Obama if he'd tried to increase drilling regulation before this spill. In fact, I'd wager most people bitching him out now would have complained he was interfering with private industry and/or pushing some eco-wacko agenda against the oil companies, SUVs, and the American way. Tell me I'm wrong...

 

[JSt0rm]

Tell me I'm wrong...

You're right...

 

[MovingTarget]

I don't think that a direct comparison to Bush/Katrina is warranted here. What more could Obama be doing right now? With Bush/Katrina, what could/should have been done was obvious - as hurricanes are a regular occurrance that are predictable to a degree. It was an exercise in federal incompetence. This time, I'm not so sure considering the technical limitations, lack of available resources, and inaccessability of the site. Time will tell though. It just seems that the "Its Obama's Katrina" sentiment is a bit of wishful thinking on the part of those who wish to see him fail.

To sum up the situation, http://blog.al.com/jdcrowe/2010/05/top_kill.html

 

[2Xtreme21]

So, what could Obama have done RIGHT in this situation? Government ain't the answer, right?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

So, what could Obama have done RIGHT in this situation? Government ain't the answer, right?

Well you could watch Carvell's video. Obama can't fix the spill, but there has been little leadership in all this.

 

[Patranus]

With Bush/Katrina, what could/should have been done was obvious - as hurricanes are a regular occurrance that are predictable to a degree.

What more could have been done?
THE FUCING PEOPLE WERE TOLD TO EVACUATE BUT CHOOSE TO STAY.

 

[JSt0rm]

What more could have been done?
THE FUCING PEOPLE WERE TOLD TO EVACUATE BUT CHOOSE TO STAY.

You know that there were people in hospitals and sick and poor that dont have the means to leave. You know they were told to go to the dome and wait it out.

 

[2Xtreme21]

What more could have been done?
THE FUCING PEOPLE WERE TOLD TO EVACUATE BUT CHOOSE TO STAY.

Ok so you agree that neither Bush nor Obama should be held responsible for these two disasters? Or shall I still expect to see your trolling ass in every BP oil spill thread calling for Obama's resignation over it?