Posted on 06/15/2010 8:15:35 PM PDT by SpareChange
Taking Issue: My Two Cents On Oily Assurances
By David J. Aland /// 16 June 2010
The head of a Gulf oyster company recently put it thus: “This oil spill isn’t an ‘issue’, it’s a [freaking] disaster!” Plainly put, but it is increasingly obvious that the President doesn’t see it that way, and his Oval Office address on Tuesday merely reinforced that impression. Instead of showing a trademark steely-eyed resolve, this President’s trademark tin ear was predominantly in evidence.
Apologists grouse that blaming the President for the Deepwater Horizon disaster is unfair, but it was the President himself who made it clear that his Administration was “in charge from Day One.” It is by no means unreasonable, then, to ask the President why there is no end in sight well past Day Fifty. The exact value of that “in charge” is also clearly in question – so far, the Administration has shown little beyond bluster and bravado, promising to keep a boot on BP’s neck, and “directing” and “ordering” BP to do things for which there may be no authority.
No one blames the Obama Administration for the blowout of the well – there is no question that this disaster is BP’s fault, and there is plenty of blame to go around amongst BP’s corporate partners. But leadership in a disaster requires more than making sure everyone knows who to blame, demonizing the guilty parties, or making sweeping promises about how the guilty will pay.
Since “Day One”, there have been options and actions that have been needlessly left on the table, with no one to blame but whoever is “in charge.” Foreign offers of equipment and ships have been rebuffed – in writing – by this Administration. Oil booms are gathering dust in warehouses rather than gathering oil in the Gulf. Requests for protective berms have festered in bureaucratic limbo, and foreign-flagged ships have been stymied by a President who seems to want to study the Jones Act (prohibiting foreign-flagged operations in US waters) rather than waive its requirements for the clean up.
The President has sent mixed signals since this disaster began. Initially, the White House was notably aloof while the President concentrated on Party fundraisers and vacations. When the President finally made it to Louisiana, it seemed clear that he did so under duress. Then, apparently stung by the perspicacious punditry of Spike Lee, the President put on his tough face and indulged in posturing puerile pique, and trying to figure out “whose a$$ to kick.” On Tuesday, he turned this catastrophe into an excuse to pitch cap & trade energy legislation.
Rahm Emmanuel, the Presidents Chief of Staff, famously quipped that one should never fail to take advantage of a good crisis, and the President clearly took that advice when preparing for Tuesday’s tough talk. Between blaming BP and pitching his domestic energy agenda, the President barely had time to address what most concerns the residents of the Gulf Coast most – how can this mess be cleaned up? But the President clearly prefers to see this disaster as an “issue,” and that’s an issue with which everyone should take issue.
Whether or not the President recognizes it, this “issue” has already become a disaster, both for American citizens and for his Administration. Treating this disaster as an excuse for touting another segment of his domestic agenda, the President has quite possibly created a parallel disaster for that agenda. Americans react poorly to political insincerity.
Recent polls show that most Americans think BP is doing the best they can, and that the government is not. While the government did not cause the spill (even if this Administration approved that particular well), the government could have clearly expedited the movement of resources, equipment, ships, and support agencies to the scene of the disaster, and has not. This is partly due to an inability to recognize and act on the many ways the government could truly be part of the solution, partly due to failing to allow this disaster to take center stage to politics, and partly due to viewing it as an opportunity to advance yet more deeply divisive legislation.
There is a reason the Presidents oily assurances ring hollow – most Americans recognize that the President only reluctantly accepts that this unplanned disaster has become a defining moment for his Presidency. His heart really isn’t in it. By turning the oil spill into an opportunity to push an agenda, the President has, in fact, defined his leadership.
Look up the word “absentee” in the dictionary. Chances are, you will find a family portrait of this Administration.
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David J. Aland is a retired Naval Officer with a graduate degree in National Security Affairs from the U. S. Naval War College.
On a fundamental basis, I understand more about how the space shuttle operates, in detail, than I do about some of the most basic issues involved with deep sea oil drilling. I have learned more in the last 50 days than I ever imagined I would want to, and the education has been akin to getting a sip of water out of a 2 1/2” firehose...
On some level that is where 99% of our national leadership is right now, and their learning curves are steeper than any of us ever imagined they would be. This oil leak is no where near as bad as it could get, it has the potential to get a lot worse for a long time, and it is clear that the well continues to deteriorate every day. It’s a race until August to see if the well destroys itself before the “relief” wells can be finished in one last try to plug this hole in the bottom of GOM before the whole thing collapses and vents itself to the surface.
Premier Hussein was talking about “recovery” tonight, and I fear we are a long ways from recovery, especially if the leak becomes worse by several degrees of magnitude. Recovery cannot happen until the flow is under control and stopped, and I did not hear anything encouraging out of his pie-hole tonight, and the proof will be in what the markets do over the next week, and whether any further setbacks occur at Macondo.
OUTSTANDING article, David J. Aland! Thanks.
Propagandists and puppetmasters presented us with Barack Obama. This lightweight-socialist, this con-man has been selling us snake oil since he slithered on the scene.
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