| The Great Pretender The Marxmeister in the White House now says he takes full responsibility for ending the oil mess in the Gulf (oil leak has been stopped by BP). He also says he wants to “know whose ass to kick,” that he “can’t suck it up with a straw,” and… well, you know… the ongoing narcissistic spiel—“I, me, my… blah, blah, blah”… day after day, week after week, ad nauseam. Watching his recent performances on the Gulf oil disaster made me think about a monster hit The Platters had in the 50s called “The Great Pretender.” Little did they know that the champion Great Pretender wouldn’t even be born until 1961—probably in Kenya… but, then, no one is really sure about that because no one is allowed to see his birth certificate. Everyone but (1) those on the far left, (2) Bill O’Reilly, and (3) the loons (O’Reilly’s word) who have yet to return from lunch realizes that The Great Pretender has had a Marxist agenda since even before his pot-smoking days at Columbia. Names like Wright, Ayers, Lloyd, Dunn, Sunstein, Holdren and Jones (both Jeff and Van) are well known to those who have taken the trouble to learn about The Great Pretender’s agenda. As ever more people come to realize that the country has been hijacked by this angry young Marxist, many would argue that a better title for him might be The Great Reactor. Obama listens to the news—especially Fox News—then reacts to his critics by saying or doing whatever they accuse him of not saying or doing, or by changing his tune regarding something he’s said or done that offends too many people. Sort of humorous to watch—if the fate of an entire country were not at stake, that is. Perhaps I’m getting soft with age, but I almost feel sorry for The Great Pretender. His flipping and flopping and spinning and twisting and contradictions have become downright embarrassing. He’s Abbott and Costello and Laurel and Hardy all rolled into one. I admit it—I’m truly embarrassed for him. Now, of all people, Mike Huckabee—continuing his swift turnabout in an effort to make voters forget about his slobbering interview of Michelle Obama (who, he tried to convince us, wakes up every morning frantically worrying about childhood obesity)—has succeeded in making The Great Pretender look like an incompetent, arrogant boob. Hopefully, you saw The Huckster’s show several weeks ago where he paraded out one guest after another—entrepreneurs, inventors, engineers and chemists—to present remarkable solutions for cleaning up the oil in the Gulf. It truly was amazing to watch the simplicity of the methods presented, as contrasted with The Great Pretender’s spending his time talking about kicking ass, wagging his finger at everyone and bending over and picking up a lonely tar ball on the beach in his daily photo ops. Was the oil spill really just an accident? Probably. BP America Chairman and President Lamar McKay recently said that it was caused by “a failed piece of equipment.” I’ll buy that, at least for now. But it doesn’t matter. Rahm never said that you have to create a crisis. He already knew there are crises popping up all the time. All he said was that you should never allow a good one to go to waste. In the case of the BP oil accident, it was a slam-dunk. More to the point, it was like unlocking the door to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) cage. Obviously—surprise, surprise—offshore drilling is now out of the question, right? So it puts a few hundred thousand people out of work (ripple effect)… so what? The progressive must do what he must do to protect “the people,” even if it means taking away their jobs and giving them higher gas prices to boot. What in the world would we do without government to protect us? (Hmm… I think John Stossel has repeatedly answered that question for us over the years.) So, yes, the BP crisis will not be wasted if it results in an end to offshore drilling. Nevertheless, I think The Great Pretender is going to have to come up with another crisis—or two—before November to pull off a number of miracles for the Demagogic Party. The Dems, of course, would have us believe that they can win because so-called moderates will pull away from Republican candidates affiliated with the Tea Parties. If they really believe that, it would be wonderful. But, quite frankly, I don’t think they’re that stupid. So I, for one, I’m still thinking crisis. A manufactured crisis is much better than an unforeseen one, of course, because you can have a prefabricated “solution” prepared in advance. You don’t have to do anything that actually helps make things better for people. All you need are a few talented individuals to put the right words on your teleprompters and be good at pretending you’re making things better. As I said in my article ”The Ghost of FDR,” Obama has been following the dictatorial Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s playbook to the T. In his 1937 inaugural address, at a time when unemployment was still rising (15 percent on inauguration day), FDR bodaciously said, “Our progress out of the depression is obvious.” Sound familiar? It should. With the economy on the verge of total collapse, The Great Pretender continues to look his teleprompters in the eye and tell Americans how he’s saved the country from a depression and that “the worst is now behind us.” He always sounds so darn convincing when he says these things, but I hear through the White House grapevine that on at least one occasion after slinging this kind of B.S., he was overheard singing to himself in the Oval Office: Oh yes, I’m the great pretender,
Pretending that I’m doing well.
My need is such, I pretend too much,
I’m lonely but no one can tell. Lacking a really great crisis, The Great Pretender, hopefully, is going to feel a lot lonelier starting next January. —Robert Ringer
NOAA Gulf oil spill map shows deadly oil plume moving closer to St. Petersburg, Florida
NOAA Gulf oil spill map shows deadly oil plume moving closer to St. Petersburg, Florida
Updated NOAA oil spill maps show an increase in the size of the BP oil slick, which now extends further south than previous images. The tracking of a massive oil plume has also been charted now just 227 miles from St. Petersburg, Florida
“NOAA near shore trajectories continue to show direct onshore impacts into Walton County through Thursday with the uncertainty line extending into Bay County.”
Multiple plumes have been spotted moving and changing shape in the Gulf of Mexico. University of South Florida scientists have confirmed that the oil mixed with oil spill chemical disbursants create dead zones where oxygen is depleted from the water. Marine life cannot survive under the influence of the plumes.
Newly released photos and videos have led the scientific community to conclude that there has been such a massive amount of oil and toxic chemical disbursants dumped into the Gulf of Mexico there is no way to avoid catastrophic consequences on an unimaginable scale. The spill has been called the worst environmental disaster in history.
Whistle blower to testify on oil spill worst fear:BP deliberately sinks oil with Corexit as cover up Examiner.com 
Testimony before a Senate investigative panel this week is expected to reveal what many have suspected about BP all along; they don’t care about the environment, the animals that are dying, and the lives that are being destroyed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
In a shocking interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on June 29th, Allegiance Capitol Corporation V.P. Fred McCallister said that BP is deliberately sinking oil with the toxic chemical disbursant Corexit, to hide the size of the oil spill. By sinking the oil before it can be collected, BP won’t have to pay fines on it.
McCallister said, “Everybody in Europe, where the standard practice is to raise the oil and collect it, is scratching their heads, and quite honestly laughing at what’s happening in the Gulf.” He added, “Everyone is looking at us and wondering why we’re allowing this to happen.”
McCallister is set to appear before a Senate investigative panel on Thursday and testify that BP’s only interests regarding the Deepwater Horizon spill is protectimg their own financial interests. His statements explained why BP has been refusing offers of help from additional foreign skimmers. BP’s fear is that independent skimmers would be able to count the number of gallons collected, and thus provide the US government with data to assess spill rate financial penalties against BP, according to McCallister.
“BP is in control of this situation and they are doing what’s in the best interests of BP and their shareholders,” McCallister said.
BP’s Amateur Inadequate Attempts At Stopping Leaks, Benefits of Failure For BP, Obama And Friends BP And Obama Benefit From Oil Leak Continuing By Dr. Tim Ball Monday, June 28, 2010 When is President Obama going to deal with the real pollution? How much longer can he essentially ignore the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico? How many times can he repeat the scientific falsehood about carbon pollution causing global warming? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says CO2 is the cause not carbon. An increase in atmosphere carbon would result in cooling. Carbon from incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons is called soot and that blocks sunlight. CO2 is not a pollutant but a natural gas essential to life. In a speech to Congress Obama linked the falsehood with his goal. He asked them “to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America.” BP and the Obama administration have no interest in stemming the oil leak because it provides opportunities for their objectives. If they consider the leak serious as they profess they would focus all efforts to stop the flow. Direct some attention to restricting the spread of oil, but only after all effort is made to stop it at source. BP’s Amateur Inadequate Attempts At Stopping Leaks Solutions to stop the flow are readily available yet they insist the only solution is a relief well that won’t be ready until mid-August - with no guarantee. One amateurish effort after another fails because of problems well known in the industry or to those familiar with deep-water conditions. The dome designed to cover the well with a capacity to pump oil to the surface was completely inadequate. It quickly clogged as methane crystals formed.
Methane crystal formation is well known and alleviated by heat. Why wasn’t adequate heat provided? Apparently the dome was designed for a flow of 5000 barrels a day (bd), which is a good estimate because flow rate is critical to the operation and profitability of a well. Increase in flow to an estimated 50,000 bd is not surprising and not necessarily due to early deception by BP. Once the well casing and concrete containment were bypassed the force of the emerging liquid eroded and increased the vent thus increasing flow. (Source)
If the small dome is a standard technique why wasn’t a much larger dome used then or since? This could include inverting an oil barge large enough to hold a day’s flow with vents in the top.
They tried to cut the wellhead pipe and place a connector over it with little success. Why wasn’t a submersible sent down? Humans operating at depth must be better than remote operation from a surface ship. Why haven’t they attempted to stop the leak with nuclear explosions as experts recommend and the Russians have used. If nuclear is considered too risky why not regular dynamite as other experts suggest? Assistance offered by other countries and private citizens are either deliberately turned away or effectively ignored. The Biloxi Sun Herald reported on June 27, 2010 “No skimmers in sight as oil floods into Mississippi waters.” But this is just one part of a wider failure. “The single truth that has come out of this calamity is how woefully unprepared the oil industry and U.S. government have been in dealing with the oil spill.”
Obama’s administration has done nothing to improve the situation while acting to make it worse by stopping all drilling for six months. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, frustrated by the Federal failures, was at the front line showing true leadership. Benefits of Failure For BP, Obama And Friends The level of incompetence displayed by BP and the Federal government in dealing with the spill goes beyond incompetence. There was incompetence but on such a massive scale it was clearly aided and abetted by deliberate strategies. But why would they do this? What do they expect to gain?
Obama’s administration provided billions of dollars to Petrobras the state owned Oil Company of Brazil to help them develop deep water offshore drilling. Meanwhile he has put a moratorium on US drilling and plans to fight a court order against the ban. As one report notes, “Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is underwriting in Brazil what he won’t allow at home.”
That investment was in early 2009. In August 2008 “Billionaire investor George Soros bought an $811 million stake in Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) in the second quarter, making the Brazilian state-controlled oil company his investment fund’s largest holding.” Later that year we learn, “…the stake in Petrobras…made up 22 per cent of the $3.68 billion of stocks and American depositary receipts held by Soros Fund Management.”
Discovery of a massive oil field in Brazil’s deep water raised profit potential and demand for deep sea drilling rigs. By May 2008 Petrobras had tied up 80% of deep -water rigs. By 2009 it became a problem for Petrobras as well. “Brazil is suspending auctions of new exploration blocks until at least 2009 because the industry lacks the equipment needed to expand, Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said today in an interview.”
The affiliations between Soros and Obama are well documented. So is Soros’ support of many left wing organizations such as Moveon.org. The hypocrisy of these people protesting fossil fuels while making millions from them is typical.
BP benefits from limits on Gulf drilling and regulations because they will move their oil operations to other less regulated countries. Robert Heilbroner saw multinationals as a form of parasitic state that would lead to a progressive erosion of national sovereignty. If they didn’t like the rules of one state they move to a more favorable opportunity. BP is happy to move to more profitable and less restrictive regions.
They also plan to expand their “green energy” business. As their web page states, “BP, one of the world’s largest integrated energy companies, is looking beyond traditional energy choices….With over 35 years of experience and installations in over 160 countries, BP Solar is one of the world’s largest solar companies.” “To date BP Solar’s modules installed worldwide will offset more than 14 million metric tons of CO2 during their lifetime.”
BP is perfectly poised to reap the benefits of the massively subsidized renewable energies Obama urged Congress to support by legislating against carbon pollution. No wonder Obama didn’t call BP CEO Tony Hayward and urge he stop the oil flow. They had nothing to say, they are both using the oil spill to advance political and economic agendas. There is no other explanation for their incompetence that is so egregious it can only be premeditated.
Judge Blocks Obama Moratorium On Deep-Water DrillingVideo
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal urges the federal government and President Obama not to appeal the judge's ruling on the 6-month drilling moratorium. Jindal also presses BP on more transparency for its claims and cleanup process.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 The oil industry won a round in the legal battle over offshore drilling Tuesday when a federal judge in New Orleans issued an injunction blocking the six-month moratorium President Obama imposed on deep-water drilling in late May. The decision, which included a stinging rebuke of the Obama administration, was hailed by oil companies that work in the Gulf of Mexico. But the White House said it would immediately appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which could grant an emergency stay while weighing the case. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar said Tuesday evening that "I will issue a new order in the coming days that eliminates any doubt that a moratorium is needed, appropriate and within our authorities." Oil companies said they would not restart costly, long-term deep-water drilling projects while the legal wrangling continued. U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman said in issuing his injunction that the Interior Department had failed to show that the oil spill triggered by the Deepwater Horizon rig blowout in April meant that there was imminent danger on all deep-water drilling rigs in the gulf. By contrast, he said, the "blanket, generic, indeed punitive, moratorium" had clearly harmed the industry and region. "An invalid agency decision to suspend drilling of wells in depths of over 500 feet simply cannot justify the immeasurable effect on the plaintiffs, the local economy, the Gulf region and the critical present-day aspect of the availability of domestic energy in this country," Feldman said in a case brought by Hornbeck Offshore Services and three other offshore oil service firms. Groups supporting the moratorium quickly took aim on Tuesday at the judge, who was appointed to the federal bench in 1983 by President Reagan. Disclosure forms from 2008 obtained by the group Judicial Watch show that Feldman has invested in companies involved in offshore oil and gas exploration, including deep-water rig owner Transocean, shallow-water drillers Hercules and Rowan, and international rig and tool provider Parker Drilling. The investments were as much as $15,000 each, according to the forms. The judge's 2009 disclosure form was not immediately available, and Feldman could not be reached for comment. Decisions by federal agencies are sometimes challenged in courts, however, and a recent law review article said such efforts are successful nearly a third of the time. David F. Engstrom, a law professor at Stanford, said there are several justifications for such challenges under the Administrative Procedures Act. In this case, Feldman granted the preliminary injunction after deciding that the oil companies would probably prevail in their arguments that Interior's actions were "arbitrary and capricious" and that they were being harmed irreparably by the moratorium. Under that standard, Feldman -- and the appeals court that will review his order -- must decide whether there is "a rational connection between the facts that the agency found and the action that it took," Engstrom said. In his order Tuesday, Feldman emphatically said there was not. "The Court is unable to divine or fathom a relationship between the [Interior Department's] findings and the immense scope of the moratorium," he said. He added that the administration's drilling suspension "does not seem to be fact-specific and refuses to take into measure the safety records of those others in the Gulf." He said that "the blanket moratorium, with no parameters, seems to assume that because one rig failed and although no one yet fully knows why, all companies and rigs drilling new wells over 500 feet also universally present an imminent danger." TOXIC GASES AND VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS FROM UNDERSEA PLUMES | | OBAMA'S OIL SPILL TO-DO LIST The Heritage Foundation, Morning Bell 6/30/10
The oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico gets worse by the day. Oil spews from the broken well, further polluting our water and shores. The clean-up efforts drag on with bureaucratic interference, making matters worse. And what is the Obama administration doing? It continues to push for unrelated responses that will have a disastrous effect on our economy, especially the economy of the Gulf states most affected.
In fact, President Obama summoned a bipartisan group of senators to the White House on Tuesday to discuss his climate change legislation. When Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander suggested that any such energy meeting should include a focus on the oil spill and BP, Obama responded: "that's just your talking point" and refused to discuss the crisis.
Unfortunately, the American people are not hearing any of this. Day after day, blind allegiance to the president causes his supporters on the left to simply say the government is doing all that it can. The national media, prone to attention deficit disorder when a president they support is in the White House, have already moved on to a myriad of other subjects, offering only sporadic updates on the continuing crisis.
When the president answered questions following the G20 conference, not one reporter asked him about the situation in the Gulf. Not one question. When attention is paid, it is focused on BP, which is only half the story — the other half being government incompetence or an ideological rigidity that prevents commonsense solutions.
The Heritage Foundation has offered a great deal of research and analysis related to the current crisis. It can be found indexed here. Starting today, we will also highlight the top actions the federal government must take immediately to assist the citizens of the Gulf as they cope with this tragedy. As the government responds or acts on these actions, we will directly update this post online to reflect the news and add new actions as we deem appropriate.
Please let us know in the online comments section any other deficiencies we should be monitoring. Until this crisis is resolved, you will be able to find this post, as well as future updates, under our Foundry Features labeled: Oil Spill To-Do List. Without further delay, here are the first ten actions President Obama can take immediately to help solve the crisis in the Gulf.
1. Waive the Jones Act: According to one Dutch newspaper, European firms could complete the oil spill cleanup by themselves in just four months, and three months if they work with the United States, which is much faster than the estimated nine months it would take the Obama administration to go at it alone. The major stumbling block is a protectionist piece of legislation called the Jones Act, which requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flagged ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens. But, in an emergency, this law can be temporarily waived, as DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff did after Katrina. Each day European and Asian allies are prevented from helping us speed up the cleanup is another day that Gulf fishing and tourism jobs die. For more information on this, click here.
2. Accept International Assistance: At least thirty countries and international organizations have offered equipment and experts so far. According to reports this week, the White House has finally decided to accept help from twelve of these nations. The Obama administration should make clear why they are refusing the other eighteen-plus offers. In a statement, the State Department said it is still working out the particulars of the assistance it has accepted. This should be done swiftly as months have already been wasted.
Take Sweden, for example. According to Heritage expert James Carafano: "After offering assistance shortly after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, Sweden received a request for information about their specialized assets from the State Department on May 7. Swedish officials answered the inquiry the same day, saying that some assets, such as booms, could be sent within days and that it would take a couple of weeks to send ships. There are three brand new Swedish Coast Guard vessels built for dealing with a major oil spill cleanup. Each has a capacity to collect nearly 50 tons of oil per hour from the surface of the sea and can hold 1,000 tons of spilled oil in their tanks. But according to the State Department's recently released chart on international offers of assistance, the Swedish equipment and ships are still 'under consideration.' So months later, the booms sit unused and brand new Swedish ships still sit idle in port, thousands of miles from the Gulf. The delay in accepting offers of assistance is unacceptable." For more information, click here or here.
3. Lift the Moratorium: The Obama administration's over-expansive ban on offshore energy development is killing jobs when they are needed most. A panel of engineering experts told The New Orleans Times-Picayune that they only supported a six-month ban on new drilling in waters deeper than 1,000 feet. Those same experts were consulted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar before he issued his May 27 report recommending a six-month moratorium on all ongoing drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet. A letter from these experts reads: "A blanket moratorium is not the answer. It will not measurably reduce risk further and it will have a lasting impact on the nation's economy which may be greater than that of the oil spill. We do not believe punishing the innocent is the right thing to do."
And just how many innocent jobs is Obama's oil ban killing? An earlier Times-Picayune report estimated the moratorium could cost Louisiana 7,590 jobs and $2.97 billion in revenue directly related to the oil industry. For more information on this, click here.
4. Release the S.S. A-Whale: The S.S. A-Whale skimmer is a converted oil tanker capable of cleaning 500,000 barrels of oil a day from the Gulf waters. Currently, the largest skimmer being used in the clean-up efforts can handle 4,000 barrels a day, and the entire fleet our government has authorized for BP has only gathered 600,000 barrels, total in the 70 days since the Deepwater Horizon explosion. The ship embarked from Norfolk, VA, this week toward the Gulf, hoping to get federal approval to begin assisting the clean-up, but is facing bureaucratic resistance.
As a foreign-flagged ship, the S.S. A-Whale needs a waiver from the Jones Act, but even outside that three-mile limitation, the U.S. Coast Guard and the EPA have to approve its operation due to the nature of its operation, which separates the oil from the water and then releases water back into the Gulf, with a minor amount of oil residue. The government should not place perfection over the need for speed, especially facing the threat of an active hurricane season. For more information on this, click here.
5. Remove State and Local Roadblocks: Local governments are not getting the assistance they need to help in the cleanup. For example, nearly two months ago, officials from Escambia County, Fla., requested permission from the Mobile Unified Command Center to use a sand skimmer, a device pulled behind a tractor that removes oil and tar from the top three feet of sand, to help clean up Pensacola’s beaches. County officials still haven't heard anything back. Santa Rosa Island Authority Buck Lee explains why: "Escambia County sends a request to the Mobile, Ala., Unified Command Center. Then, it’s reviewed by BP, the federal government, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard. If they don't like it, they don’t tell us anything."
State and local governments know their geography, people, economic impacts and needs far better than the federal government does. Contrary to popular belief, the federal government has actually been playing a bigger and bigger role in running natural disaster responses. And as Heritage fellow Matt Mayer has documented, the results have gotten worse, not better. Local governments should be given the tools they need to aid in the disaster relief. For more information on this, click here.
6. Allow Sand Berm Dredging: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recently prevented the state of Louisiana from dredging to build protective sand berms. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser immediately sent a letter to President Obama requesting that the work continue. He said, "Once again, our government resource agencies, which are intended to protect us, are now leaving us vulnerable to the destruction of our coastline and marshes by the impending oil. Furthermore, with the threat of hurricanes or tropical storms, we are being put at an increased risk for devastation to our area from the intrusion of oil." For more information on this, click here.
7. Waive or Suspend EPA Regulations: Because more water than oil is collected in skimming operations (85% to 90% is water according to Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen), operators need to discharge the filtered water back into the Gulf so they can continue to collect oil. The discharged water is vastly cleaner than when it was skimmed, but not sufficiently pure according to normal EPA regulations. If the water has to be kept in the vessel and taken back to shore for purification, it vastly multiples the resources and time needed, requiring cleanup ships to make extra round trips, transporting seven times as much water as the oil they collect. We already have insufficient cleanup ships (as the Coast Guard officially determined); they need to be cleaning up oil, not transporting water. For more information, click here.
8. Temporarily Loosen Coast Guard Inspections: In early June, sixteen barges that were vacuuming oil out of the Gulf were ordered to halt work. The Coast Guard had the clean-up vessels sit idle as they were inspected for fire extinguishers and life vests. Maritime safety is clearly a priority, but speed is of the essence in the Gulf waters. The U.S. Coast Guard should either temporarily loosen its inspection procedures or implement a process that allows inspections to occur as the ships operate. For more information, click here.
9. Stop Coast Guard Budget Cuts: Now is not the time to be cutting Coast Guard capabilities, but that is exactly what President Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress are doing. Rather than rebuilding and modernizing the Coast Guard as is necessary, they are cutting back assets needed to respond to catastrophic disasters. In particular, the National Strike Force, specifically organized to respond to oil spills and other hazardous materials disasters, is being cut. Overall, President Obama has told the Coast Guard to shed nearly 1,000 personnel, five cutters, and several helicopters and aircraft. Congress and the Administration should double the U.S. Coast Guard's active and reserve end strength over the next decade and significantly accelerate Coast Guard modernization, but for the time being, they should halt all budgetary cuts. For more information, click here.
10. Halt Climate Change Legislation: President Obama has placed his focus to the oil spill on oil demand rather than oil in our water. Regardless of political views, now is not the time to be taking advantage of this crisis to further an unrelated piece of legislation that will kill jobs and, in the President’s own words, cause energy prices to "skyrocket." Less than 5% of our nation's electricity needs are met by petroleum. Pushing solar and wind alternatives is in no way related to the disaster in the Gulf. It's time for President Obama to focus on the direct actions he can take in the Gulf rather than the indirect harm he can cause in Congress. As Heritage expert David Kreutzer opines: "Fix the leak first, and then we’ll talk." A crisis should not be a terrible thing to waste, as Rahm Emanuel said, but a problem to be solved. For more information, click here.
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Resign... or Change, Mr. President Kevin McCullough - FOXNews.com - June 21, 2010
It now appears that the White House knew about problems in the Gulf two months before the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20. What did the administration know? Why didn't they shut down the well? fox news While defending his own policies President Obama has routinely been rude and sarcastic to his predecessor, George W. Bush. Yet Obama appears to be making the resident of the previous White House look like a genius compared to his own serious missteps in office. Case in point – Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's performance and the communication of priorities on the issue of oil rig safety in the Gulf of Mexico. It seems incomprehensible that the president and other members of the administration still have jobs when it is now being reported that the federal government was apprised by BP on February 13 that the Deepwater Horizon oil rig was leaking oil and natural gas into the ocean floor. In fact, according to documents in the administration's possession, BP was fighting large cracks at the base of the well for roughly ten days in early February. Further it seems the administration was also informed about this development, six weeks before to the rig's fatal explosion when an engineer from the University of California, Berkeley, announced to the world a near miss of an explosion on the rig by stating, "They damn near blew up the rig." It's also now being reported that BP was asking for the administration's help on this matter long before the deadly accident and the now gushing well of tar. Which leads me to some questions for the president. If I were in front row of reporters in the White House briefing room, here’s what I’d like to know: 1. It appears, Mr. President, that you were informed by BP about problems on Deepwater Horizon on February 13 and the company wanted your help. What did you say? 2. Given this new revelation, Mr. President, how can you can sleep at night knowing that your inaction cost the lives of eleven men in Louisiana? 3. Did you inform the victims' families about these facts when you invited them to the White House for last month's photo op? 4. You've said, Mr. President, time and again, that the buck stops with you. Doesn’t that statement seem like something bordering on propaganda when you follow it up with what appears to be a false sense of outrage by telling Matt Lauer that you're looking for rear ends to kick? 5. Does the buck stop with you… or not? 6. Are you going to insist that Mr. Salazar step down from his post in disgrace and shame? 7. Will you hold another prime time television press conference and tell the entire truth to the American people? -- These would be the actions of a man who says that the buck "stops" with him. 8. I know when this news was breaking midday on Saturday about the latest BP developments that you and the Vice President were out on the golf course. Was it 39th or 40th time you've played a round in 18 months? (Just for a point of reference President Bush played golf 24 times in eight years.) Never mind, your priorities are for you to decide. At least until election night... And now here's where I would not be able to stop myself from saying more... It is one thing, Mr. President, to be forced to deal with unexpected circumstances and to have to deal with genuinely new problems. President Bush sure had to. He had to respond to an attack on our homeland that took the lives of 3,000 of our fellow citizens. But on his watch no other terrorist actions took lives of Americans on our soil, largely due to his steadfast leadership and willingness to accept no excuses on the matter. But Mr. President, you seem to have very little leadership experience and it appears you have even less skill. Being a good dad and nice guy who sees the world as he wishes it to be is not exactly a resume of exacting leadership. Your advisers have failed you and you have failed the American people on nearly everything we've asked of you. Where you go from here is really your call, but you should consider two options if you genuinely love the country you work for and those of us you report to. First, change your tactics. Second, appear to care. Attempt to engage and empower Americans who can and will go solve this mess. Otherwise resign. For the good of the nation, for your own children's future, change your patterns or change your path... but change! You do remember that word don't you, Mr. President? Kevin McCullough is the nationally syndicated host of "'Baldwin/McCullough Radio" now heard on 213 stations and columnist based in New York. He blogs at www.muscleheadrevolution.comHis second book "The Kind Of MAN Every Man SHOULD Be is in stores now. And host of "The Kevin McCullough Show" weekdays 7a-9am EST on Sirius 161/XM 227. | |