Posted on 05/31/2010 8:32:26 PM PDT by Steelfish
Obama Administration Moves To Distance Itself From BP On Oil Spill Response
Joel Achenbach and Jerry Markon June 1, 2010
Struggling to convey command of the worsening Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Obama administration is taking steps to distance itself from BP and is dispatching Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to the Gulf Coast to meet with federal and state prosecutors. The Holder trip could signal that the environmental calamity might become the subject of a criminal investigation.
Holder has said Justice Department lawyers are examining whether there was any "malfeasance" related to the leaking oil well, and investigators, who have already been on the coast for a month, have sent letters to BP instructing the company to preserve internal records related to the spill. But federal officials indicated that Holder's trip, which will include a news conference in New Orleans on Tuesday afternoon, will focus on enforcement of environmental laws and holding BP accountable.
The opening of a criminal investigation or civil action against BP, if either were to happen, would create the unusual situation of the federal government weighing charges against a company that it is simultaneously depending on for the most critical elements of the response to the record oil spill.
"We're cooperating fully with all inquiries, and we're doing everything we need to do and more in terms of preserving records," BP spokesman Andrew Gowers said Monday.
The relationship between the federal government and the oil company has been an awkward collaboration all along --
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
This is how the lawyer party deals with problems. Start trying to fix blame, and send in the lawyers. And this is going to stop the leak, minimize the damage and/or cleanup the mess, how?
Then there was Browner on TV today crowing “They were going to drill one relief well, but we told them to drill two” - what a nauseating bunch, ready to take credit for the least little thing that works out, and blame anybody else for what ever goes wrong, all the while trying to sound as though they’re masterminding the whole show - a real farce.....
Seems like Axelrod, or one of his kids would tell him: “dude, you’re the f%&$@#% PRESIDENT! You lead the country through EVERYTHING significant. You can’t pick and choose”
This disaster is not only a humongous technical challenge for engineers it is also, in my opinion, the biggest PR challenge in our nations history.
This is a disaster that defies the news cycle. This is a disaster whose scope, both in terms of damage (enviromental and fiscal) and geographic area (this stuff might even hit Cuba), will only grow adding more people into the mix.
This is also all taking place in the social media era. Oh did I mention this an election year with a very discontent electorate?
This is going to sink almost everyone involved BP, DOJ, DOI (MMS in particular), Obama, DHS, FEMA everyone. The only people in power who might come out looking better are local and state officials who move mountains to help (Jindal I’m looking at you) alleviate the damage.
I look forward to seeing the ads this fall of Obama joking with leno and playing golf whilst the spill goes on.
“the Obama administration is taking steps to distance itself from BP and is dispatching Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to the Gulf Coast to meet with federal and state prosecutors.”
They finally found the solution to the oil leak. SEND IN THE LAWYERS.
Don’t bet on it. We have a lame RNC!
How does it stack up with the Bhopal disaster of 1984?
Yesterday on Sunday Talk Shows Carol Browner said ALL decisions are being made by administration.. that the stopping the mud was a call by their “resident genius” Choo... etc., she took full responsibility for everything... so which is it???????
It is my hope that several unbiased groups are charged with independently investigating the cause of the problem so that a cover up doesn’t happen.
In short, was it an accident or wasn’t it?
Wow! Can you imagine how this administration would handle another 911?
We could use the lawyers to plug the hole.
A blow up doll would manage this disaster better than the current occupant of the White House.
So far he’s accomplished a big zero.
Just last week, Obama said every move BP made was approved by his administration first. Of course, that was the morning it looked like the “hole would be plugged”.
Carol Browner has stated that BP can’t do anything, ANYTHING, without Federal approval; no doubt that means her approval and/or His Holiness’ approval.
"We're from the government and we're here to help you."
“How does it stack up with the Bhopal disaster of 1984?”
It stacks up about 12,000 miles closer to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.!
Browner was only aping what the head Ape stated a few days earlier, monkey see monkey do.
This is so petty and amateurish it’s beyond belief. Eighteen months in and this administration still outdoes itself in stupidity every day.
BP forged an alliance with Obama’s inner circle and got some relief from some safety rules. Accidents do happen and now Obama wants to make BP the enemy after he tried to let the government take control of the clean up and when that failed he is turning on his old friends. I won’t necessarily go out of my way to boycott BP.
Why spend the money on an investigation,jut blame Bush and be done with it. Idiots
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