An obviously angry President Barack Obama, meeting with senior government officials, had one view on the 36-day old oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that is becoming a monumental disaster not only for the environment and his administration.
“Plug the damn hole,” he told the meeting. “Just get it done.”
The spill from a massive accident at a British Petroleum offshore oil platform, is becoming the Obama administration Katrina, a symbol of government inability to respond to a crisis.
While Obama’s frustration is understandable, his critics say the slow response to the oil spill showcases his lack of leadership and experience. Instead of stepping in to take control of efforts to cap the spill at the bottom of the Gulf, Obama has chosen to say “let BP handle it” when BP’s failures helped create the situation.
Meanwhile, officials from states along the Gulf Coast and Republicans in Congress demand more action and response from Obama.
“The American people expect better from the federal government, Missouri Republican Roy Blunt says in a statement released by his office. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says Obama is “dragging his feet” on the issue.
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17 thoughts on “Angry Obama on oil spill: ‘Plug the damn hole’”
Amazing that a comparison with a previous failed administration is used to justify the current actions of the latest failed administration. This is a stand alone issue.
President WOW (Walk On Water) distanced himself from the issue since it was a BP problem until the PR crap hit the fan along with oil seeping into wetlands and wildlife being inundated with oil. What could the government do about the first problem – the well. Nothing. What could they do about the second problem? Plenty. Are they starting to react? IMHO they are but it was quite slow on the switch. Should have been far more pro active. Should have had the same response regarding resources and response that they had towards Haiti.
I just loved the latest photo op of WOW on The Gulf with no tie, shirt sleeves rolled up and sifting through sand with a pensive look on his face. Certainly restores all my confidence.
Dragging his feet? Seriously? I can’t believe the conservatives are saying that after the Katrina/GW disaster. Bobby Jindal should be out there in his overalls cleaning this damn mess… he has always supported the drilling, just like is other Republican cronies.
President Obama is doing what he can do… albeit a little late. Imagine what W would do in this situation… he’s put his boots on the table, sip his drink and think, “the American people will forget about this just like they did with these unjust wars.”
How many teleprompters would it take to fill the hole?
Obama had never actually been in charge of any organization of any significance, or for that matter of any activity requiring discipline and focus other than his own activity and perhaps a handful of willing volunteers. That why I could not bring myself to support him for POTUS. One never knows what situations will arise that will require organizational leadership, the kind a real world executive must demonstrate when the doo-doo hits a fan, but one knows that those situations WILL occur, and with regularity.
People get enamored of words and style as a result of campaigns, and forget that an entirely new and different scenario virtually leaps up on the day after a candidate becomes a CEO of the largest and most complex organization ever.
I’m all for learning on the job, but the learning has to be absorbed on top of the skills acquired earlier in life, The man is not ready for prime time. How could he have been?
He’s so mad he almost actually did something .
>>…Republicans in Congress demand more action and response from Obama.<<
Maybe Obama was under the assumption that Republicans were in favor of as little government intervention as possible, especially when it comes to the government leaving businesses alone to do their work unhindered.
snark, snark, yuk, yuk…
Let’s see while BP has consistently lied its ass off for weeks about the nature and size of the spill finally showing feeds of ONE leak, the government:
immediately convened a cabinet level meeting within hours of the blowup
immediately sent the Coast Guard onsite to try to rescue any survivors
has deployed over 20,000 people to the Gulf
put more than 1,200 vessels onsite
laid almost 2 million feet of containment boom
created and coordinated almost 20 separate staging areas
17,500 National Guard troops activated
so yeah they haven’t done a thing.
Except for the rescue effort and boom deployment, for which I’d like to see documentation, the activities you list may actually have nothing to do with staunching the disaster. And the govt has, in fact, relied on BP for doing everything to stop the oil flow. Sending ships and people is only meaningful oif they’re actively involved. Cabinet meetings, ships cruising around, staging areas, and activation of troops sound good…
The question remains as to the scope of damages that can/will accrue to this situation. Is it just a relatively circumscribed inconvenience? Is it a short-term economic disaster? Or is it a truly ecological nightmare, the myriad effects of which will last decades?
Each portends a potential amount of effort and resources that should be applied to the ultimate solution; however, any margin for error ought to be skewed toward greater expenditure of whatever it takes to get the job done.
Agreed, our govt is hamstrung by a lack of proven knowledge in environmental disaster relief, but among our military and civilian assets there exists a wealth of general information that could prove fruitful toward finding a solution(s), the extent of which will probably involve multiple fronts in an assault against the burgeoning effects of the oil. Manpower requirements alone far exceed anything that BP can do singularly, especially if cleanup, etc., is to get done in the next few months, assuming the oil flow is staunched.
Merely demanding of whomever that the hole be “plugged” shows the inexperience and serious limits of our community-organizer-in-chief, who clearly hasn’t got a clue, himself.
We deserve better.
Oh… but I did hear that the big O is stopping by Louisiana on the way to his latest vacation today or tomorrow.
Give me a break! Plugging the damn hole is absolutely the first step to even beginning to assess the damage. It should be a no-brainer that he’s not suggesting that’s the whole solution but a start. Still peddling the community organizer bs?? You’d think you and your equally uninspired compatriots would be able to come up with something a little more original since that pap didn’t exactly work for the election did it? “Plug the dam hole” beats “drill baby drill” or “heckuva job Brownie”. Obama is exactly right. That needs to happen asap so that the feds can move onto the next stage.
Yeah ‘plug that hole’ maybe he needs to stay in D.C. and plug his jive turkey pie hole, letting the professionals handle the job regardless of the fact they are currently maligned.
As I’ve said many times before; all the big “O” is good for is campaigning ad nauseam ad infinitum while spinning yarns and lies to keep the peanut gallery stoked on his behalf and hopeful reelection…NOT! It’s all about his image and the welfare of his corporate cronies with no proven substance relative to “We the people”…!
It seems too, he’s forgotten the leak is under 4200 ft of water.
Carl Nemo **==
To those who think the US Government should have stepped in:
What the hell would you have them do? What expertise does the Government have in plugging leaks? Of any kind?
Exactly, although I wonder how many politicians it would take to “plug the damn hole?”
Clean the damn mess!!!
He’s so funny. Acting like a big boy and yelling at a company like BP.
Yeah, that will show ’em!
What next, helping homeowners keep their homes by passing real banking reform/foreclosure/bankruptcy reform???
Funny stuff. The chosen one sure does know how to entertain!
Keep up that HOPE and CHANGE act.
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