BP says it will know for sure tomorrow.
Oh and the spill is “several times worse” than originally thought.
I don’t care who you are,the magnitude of the spill is completely incomprehensible. And yes this is, and should be, Obama’s Katrina.
BP says it will know for sure tomorrow.
Oh and the spill is “several times worse” than originally thought.
I don’t care who you are,the magnitude of the spill is completely incomprehensible. And yes this is, and should be, Obama’s Katrina.
I don’t get how this is “Obama’s Katrina”. Why isn’t in BP’s Katrina?
False dilemma.
NVM that the point of calling it a “Katrina” isn’t to show that it is a major problem, it deals with the commander in chief failing to show any initiative whatsoever to take the lead on a major disaster. Buck stops somewhere and tough shit if it stops with the POTUS.
Let’s do a thought experiment.
It is 2007.
Bush hasn’t responded or shown any proactive leadership in what is probably the largest environmental catastrophe ever, that also happened to take place within U.S. territory.
What would be the Democrats’ response? Seriously, imagine if it took over a month for Bush to address the media about this. The left would be apoplectic. Please don’t try to deny that, you’ll make yourself dizzy with the spin.
ED, I’ll call BS on your BS. And MMFA has the tale of the tape:
http://mediamatters.org/research/201005240038
http://mediamatters.org/research/201004300053
Not difficult to find. And no more of this Repug thinking meme, ‘Oh the Dems would have done this or that given X, Y’. That’s Silly. Stupid in too many ways to count. I was around for the Exxon Valdez too. And Poppy Bush moved even slower. Demonstrable circumstances. Watch less Fox too.
And you might actually listen to the Prez’s response here too:
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/obama-defends-federal-response-to-oil-spill.php?ref=fpi
And yeah, I love it when all & sundry are caught up in a silly TV/Fox generated meme & then repeat it back endlessly to frame the debate. We’ve got plenty of Katrina refugees in Ga. Go ask them about the debacle of a Federal non response for a week while people lay trapped & dying all over the place in NOLA. Then ask about the yes, 2K dead from the most miserable Federal disaster response ever. We did better in the 1906 SF earthquake & fire & in the 1927 MS Floods. Read more & listen to the Fox whiners less.
JMP
Never let the facts get in the way of a ‘good media meme’… Ver. 12009.7:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/05/critical_perspective.php?ref=fpblg
JMP
Two things:
- We saw Katrina coming a few days in advance. Preparing was a possibility. Michael Brown had no business being in the job of First Responder.
- If, as it appears, there was a decision made on the very day of the explosion by a small group of executives to ignore warning signs, oversight becomes problematic. Elizabeth Birnbaum seems to have the right resume for the job, but she just got the job in July of last year. With no immediate crisis to respond to, it can take some time to change the culture of an organization. The new person will be able to do pretty much whatever s/he wants as far as reforming the MMS.
“Seriously, imagine if it took over a month for Bush to address the media about this. The left would be apoplectic.”
True.
It’s just a totally false comparison. There is no doubt about who is responsible for this and who SHOULD BE responsible for fixing it. There was no private corporation responsible for Katrina. The only possible responder was the government and they didn’t.
This oil thing is a somewhat technical problem that requires technical expertise to fix, not just massive manpower. Team Obama is- and has been- consulting with experts since day one, and the path we are on is the consensus path. Yes, we are finally bringing the military/National Guard in on the shore cleanup, but that doesn’t solve the root problem.
I can understand why many want something different to happen, but no one seems to have an idea of what that something should be.
Aw, Ed. Do you think your conservative friends will give you a cookie for repeating their spin?
I’m curious to know what you think Obama should have done that he didn’t. What would have qualified as “proactive leadership” and how would it have sealed the leak any sooner?
If Obama should be blamed for anything it’s for his continued willingness to endorse “Drill Baby Drill” in spite of the fact that it will yield little more than further environmental destruction simply because it is the “moderate” position. But that would require that he concede that the left is correct and, well, we can’t have that, can we?
Yeah, and we all need to Read more too. This is what the real conservatives were reading yesterday in the WSJ:
WSJ, May 27, 2010
“BP Decisions Set Stage for Disaster”
http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704026204575266560930780190.html?mod=wsjproe_hps_LEADNewsCollection
Synopsis here via another Ga. ‘micro’ blogger, Impishparrot over @ TPM Cafe:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/a/m/amanda_lang/2010/05/bp-decisions-set-stage-for-dis.php?ref=reccafe
JMP
It didn’t.
Anyone know if there is a possibility that nothing will work?
Ed – The one thing that should definitely work is to dig a relief well, but that could take months. By the way, Canada requires that all off-shore rigs have relief wells in place when the oil rig is first built.
That “should definitely” is quite comforting.
I wrote CAP’s report on the spill right after it happened, it was the first CAP product on it, and I think the truth is somewhere between Ed’s obama-bashing and Prince’s Obamapologism. Obama isn’t the sole problem, he did immediately respond to the crisis, and we don’t have a Katrina-style situation. On the other hand he hasn’t kicked BP to the curb like he should, and a large part of that has to do with timidity on behalf of the administration to ever touch any policy that isn’t milquetoast “moderation,” whatever that means.
Z? What Steve B. said: “publish a piece with specific steps federal officials should take but haven’t. Because at this point, unless we can fix the leak with useless media palaver, there’s not much point to the breathless speculation, nebulous criticism, and finger-pointing”.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_05/024036.php
We need less whining & more informed thoughtful action. Always. Everywhere. JMP
[Other comment is still 'awaiting moderation', which means typically it's caught in purgatory, NTBSA]. So again in response to Z? This from Steve Benen via the WashMo/Political Animal:
“publish a piece with specific steps federal officials should take but haven’t. Because at this point, unless we can fix the leak with useless media palaver, there’s not much point to the breathless speculation, nebulous criticism, and finger-pointing”.
And for the 2nd time I’ll try the HTML here: [just for giggles]:
And again I’ll note; We need less whining & more informed thoughtful action. Always. Everywhere. JMP
Zaid, you work for CAP? Since when and why haven’t you mentioned it before?
I don’t get much free time
Amazing innit? We go though the same question, oh every few months. Heck of a job, eh Z?? That IRE character asked this last when? Inquiring minds…Oh Never mind!
JMP