Obama’s Oil Spill Explanation
Today was the first Obama Press conference in 300 days. We have been subjected to his TV appearances so frequently that I was amazed that he actually hadn’t had a press conference for such a long time.
His conference started with a statement designed by Rahm Emanuel which is to “:never let a serious crises go to waste”. Obama opened with the announcement that he was shutting down all applications for offshore drilling everywhere until his experts reviewed the safety issues thoroughly. He then went into a hard pitch for legislation supporting his agenda that would foster the creation of clean alternative energy sources.
The first question was invited by Obama to a female reporter sitting in the first row.
The obvious soft ball question allowed Obama to defend his personal response to the Gulf Oil Crises.
The President described his early and continued deep involvement in the attempts to mitigate the problem and it’s effects on the lives and economy of those living on the Gulf Coast in Louisiana and adjacent states
It was mostly politically designed blather. The Obama response has been without serious direction.. The Administration is still moving more equipment into the area designed to protect the coast from oil. This response is about six weeks later than when it should have happened.
Obama is taking a trip to the Gulf Coast area tomorrow designed to show his concern. There is little doubt that his primary concern is his growing performance disapproval rate in the polls. His administration skills are revealed to be not sufficient to meet major challenges such as the oil spill.
He really doesn’t have an idea or concern about the dimension of the tragedy taking place in the lives of so many ordinary people because of this oil spill. The focus of his actions are clearly designed to deflect blame rather than concentrating on solving the problems created by the spill.
Those coastal folks are livid concerning the dithering done by Obama and his administration over providing the oil booms and other equipment needed to protect the coast. Why hasn’t the government recruited every available oil tanker to move into the area and pump the oil into their hold and then separated from sea water as has been done in many other oil spills? Not a permanent
solution, but a possible help to the beaches and Louisiana wetlands.
Obama placed large blame on the Mineral Management Service which has been under his control for 16 months. Their deficiencies were blamed on Bush and his administration and he said that Salazar was working to correct the problems. As a demonstration of the Obama firm grasp on the situation he was asked about the removal of Elizabeth Birnbaum as head of the Minerals Management Service. Obama was not aware of her removal and said he didn’t know whether she was fired or resigned but would check on that after to press conference. This seems to be less than serious engagement by our President in the oil spill issue and its cause and consequences.
He has no clue as to the real dimensions of this crisis. The problem extends far beyond the Gulf Coast. While he is beating on BP as the main villain in the event, the fisherman and those they supply are left in a never-never land of an unsure economic future.
When I am going to DC I fly into BWI for one main reason. It is close to The G&M Restaurant which has some of the best crab cakes in Maryland. When heading back to Colorado a big take out order is my carry on luggage. When I am in Philadelphia I try to schedule a visit to Dinardos restaurant in Philly or the one in Wilmington because of their great crabs.
Everyone thinks that the crabs come from the Chesapeake. Not any more. The primary source of crabs for these and other great seafood restaurants is Louisiana. What will happen to these businesses is a real worry for the owners and employees that are a thousand miles from that oil flowing into the Gulf.
The disastrous effect will string across the country even to my mountain home in Colorado. The Obama mismanagement of the situation will cause various levels of economic and personal distress in a wide range across our nation. BP is at the core of the problem but the government in full action has been missing. Obama cannot ride a PR campaign out of his responsibility and the lack of timely and meaningful effort by his administration.
