Monday, May 24, 2010

A political mess.


Above is White House Senior Strategist to the President, David Axelrod. When you listen to the whole exchange, he defends BP and what they are doing.

Below at the White House Press Conference with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the point man for this oil spill Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen was there to answer questions about what is being done to cap this oil spill. My question immediately was this, "Why is Allen at this presser and does the White House have poll numbers showing the public turning against them not doing enough?" I have to ask that because up until lately the White House has deferred everything about this oil spill to BP. So to see Allen, who has been in the Gulf, at this presser was unusual for me.



There is anger out here on how this whole oil spill has been managed and much of it is towards BP, as it should be, but as the days lingered on while we have watched BP executives along with Halliburton and Transocean perform the "Tony Montana" stint in "pointing the fucking finger" which made our president call them out, one comes away with the conclusion that these guys will get away with it, the government still don't get it and we will be stuck with a huge tax bill when this is all said and done.

Anger is now including the government and what they have and have not done. President Obama was CORRECT in stating from the jump that this is BP's mess and they are totally responsible. I am in total agreement with him on this, but when you continue to see live feed of millions of gallons of oil just being pumped away into the Gulf, when you witness livelihoods stopped in the Gulf Region because of this, when you start to feel the economic pressure and outlash of the perceived notion to just "trust BP", when you start to hear public backlash, and then to read this from the CEO of BP who is the most arrogant asshole around:

"The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume," he said.

Do you think that BP really gives a damn while they have pissed in our pool? Do you think they care? And the government? They are clueless too!! And this from Hardball and the dodge ball that was in play with David Axelrod. The anger in the Gulf is WHITE HOT and the reality is that BP nor the government do not know what to do. Finally, Mike Papantonio laid it on the line about what is going on in the Gulf. The people are angry and tired of just talk from BP and the government. They do not want anymore speeches but action. The anger at BP is real and the perceived slow response from the U.S. Government. The people in the Gulf Coast want Barack Obama to sound like Huey Long not Ghandi, no more Kumbaya speeches. (Papantonio words, not mine's) The video is here, I would post it but from MSNBC. To think that people are not getting angry, think again.

For many on this site or just Democrats to think that this is a minor blip is crazy. This is not a minor blip, this is impacting a large portion of the United States of America, which has possibly gone into the channel to the upward Eastern Seashores. It is also our fault. Yes, OUR FAULT for not standing and stepping up. From Reagan to Obama, this country has been all about drilling. Even while this catastrophe is going onto DAY 35, we are still seeing oil drilling leases given out.

For me, I don't live in the Gulf Coast but my father does. He loves to fish and go to the beautiful, pristine beaches in Pensacola. Soon, and we all know it, will be toxic with BP's oil. This is the time for this country to say enough, but will we? I don't think so, we are too selfish.

And President Obama? He is caught between a rock and a hard place. I would like to see him LEAD and do it, but I realize that you can not lead when you don't know how to get out of the situation you are in. President Obama is in a tight situation. He has that oil pumping toxins at an incredible speed, he does not know how to stop it, we are entering hurricane season, he has to go back and forth with BP, and he is realizing that just saying that it is "BP's FAULT" is not enough. The public needs to see President Obama GO THE FUCK OFF on these oil companies. But he won't. He is stuck. He is stuck by his words and the reality that he doesn't have the man power to fix the mess BP has created. At this point, everything on the table is a "maybe", not a "guarantee", while the public is getting more angry.

Every citizen has a right to be angry at a huge oil company that drills into the earth for the oil, but when a disaster happens they all of a sudden never really had a workable plan. And every citizen has a right to be angry at the Interior Department of this country that just signed off on a plan, that they probably never questioned, asked or reasoned about. They just signed off, because the company was "BP".

In the end, yes, this is a political mess. Oh, but in the mean time we still got to deal with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who was in Louisiana today with Homeland Secretary Napolitano and a Senate Delegation (full video here with confirmation of oil leases still being permitted but suddenly yanked due to public outrage), I PREDICT President Obama will be back on the Gulf Coast SOON:



Update [2010-5-24 20:9:46 by icebergslim]:
From Keith Olbermann, I mean this is unbelievable. BP was told to use less dangerous toxins in the water from the EPA and BP said, "NO". WHO IS RUNNING THIS? Then the EPA asks BP to consider using less toxins to disperse the oil. Again, this is the problem from the White House. This is a catastrophe and the White House is acting like this is no big deal. WHITE HOUSE this is a big deal and many have LOST ELECTED SEATS with actions like this. Ask George W. Bush and the Republicans. Will post video when it is up. Unbelievable.

Update [2010-5-24 22:13:19 by icebergslim]:
Here is the link to Keith Olbermann, again UNBELIEVABLE and Barack Obama better stop pickin' his nose and act like he is in CHARGE.



Cross-posted @ DailyKos

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