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On the morning of May 27, 2010 as the 45th President of the United States began his day - as we all do, in the bathroom grooming himself. Little Malia took time away from her standard morning preparations to ask her father, in her own way, the question that is seemingly on everyone's mind: "Did you plug the hole, Daddy?"
Does anyone besides me find this an odd question, for the President of the United States to draw upon for addressing the media? Never mind the President's (rightful) disposition about the media highlighting the goings on of his young children. Never mind the supposition that most of our - non-presidential - children rarely pay too much attention to what we do in our day to day. Never mind the ubiquitous notion (at least in my mind) that the presentation may have been for dramatic purposes only and using what may generously be termed as poetic license to do so. His opinion that he must command and control - this is a recurring one. Days before that we are treated with insider accounts of the President demanding staff to "Plug the **** hole!". He felt the same way about GM...and AIG...and Health Care.
I, for one, would like to give the President a pass on "plugging the hole". If you are tea party faithful, I think you should too. In fact, I think that the interests of the country would be better served if President Obama simply maintained pressure on the companies in charge to corral the resources of the American people - and get the hole plugged. They will get it done. Then he can use what he does control: the regulatory agencies that monitor this situation to correct, rebuke and penalize the appropriate parties at an appropriate time and in an appropriate way. In this he would be condoning what is good (creativity, inginuity and efficiency of the American people). And punishing evil. (Those who through neglect, greed, or political posturing allowed this to occur.)
I know, my republican friends are secretly behind the scenes, even as I write, trying to figure out how they will follow the advice of the Presidents Chief of Staff. Who famously stated out loud what every politician intuitively knows, "Never let a good crisis go to waste." And make no mistake, politically, this will be a "great" crisis for the opposition. I'm not from that school of thought, anymore. I am tired of living in a world that is so caught up with the "social investment" by our government (read: taxes) that we don't know where our ownership ends and government control begins. Let me rephrase that, "I am petrified of living in a world that is so caught up with the social investment by our government that we don't know where our ownership ends and government control begins.
We demand our medicare; We demand our social security; We demand our public school funding; We demand our unemployment compensation; We demand, we demand, we demand. And then we rally ourselves Washington, or Chicago, or Madison, or Atlanta and demand that government get out of the way. Shame on us. We should be appalled at the notion of which our President burdens himself: that he "is in control". That is exactly the problem. And that would be true whether the President of the United States who held the notion were Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan or Abraham Lincoln. So, please, take a step back Mr. President, give yourself a break. Let the creative and fiduciary forces available in this country (so far) create a solution to "plug the hole." The result will be a more efficient and effective solution than a distant central government could ever provide.
I am tired of the hypocrisy. I am tired of it in myself and I'm tired of it in those around me. When will we repent of this? When will we acknowledge the need for sacrifice and when will we take action based upon those prerequisites? Give yourself a break Mr. President, you can't control this - nor can you control GM, AIG, Healthcare, the student loan industry, ad infinitum... Please stop trying to control - guide, enforce and lead. Punish evil and condone what is good. Then stand back let the people come together and take care of themselves.
Showing posts with label Oil spill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oil spill. Show all posts
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Obama's "Katrina" Presser - summary
Our President taking control of the gulf coast disaster:
Observations:
Obama to Americans: "Go to the Beaches" - surely this will be a headline in some of the conservative commentary. The president here is merely voicing, as he should the concern of gulf coast governor's that all but 2 of the beaches are still open. Surely they will attempt to equate this with George Bush's equally out of contexted remarks in Chicago after 9/11: "Go shopping", although it is likely that this won't get such wide spread exposure as the ridicule that Bush has received.
15:30 - "...should the Federal Government have such capacity..." - a dangerous question when it relates to the President's rhetorical assertion which basically is the first suggestion I've heard him publicly make that the government also get into the oil business. I can almost see him thinking, "You know, only the government can do this right, so we better look at getting into the oil business." Very dangerous notion, yet consistent with his views of the efficacy of government.
30:00 - "...still having to rush more equipment, more Boom..." - what in the world is "boom"? Apparently there wasn't enough of this containment product to help stave off the gushing leak. Would it be possible for the government to encourage standards of "how much is enough" without getting into the oil business? Probably. It could encourage through condoning industry standards and bench marks, penalizing where standards are not met and punishing where this is done intentionally and neglectfully.
33:20 -"...what became a habit, predating my administration..." - whether or not this get's traction is a question. Certainly the conservative commentary will pick up on it. The President makes clear that the fact that permit waivers were offered is a habit that started before he took office. Maybe he intends to simply show the habit is entrenched, but it smacks of "blaming Bush". I think that folks are getting tired of hearing him push the blame off on others. Maybe this will be placated by his statement at the very beginning. He does follow with a reasonable explanation of the waiver, which constitutes an unintended argument about the efficacy of governement.
44:30 - "... domestic production is an important part of our overall energy strategy..."- the question ask why the President chose to ask for expanded drilling given the fact that he knew about the corruption in the MMS (mineral management services) points to the fact that the administration still chose to move forward even though they clearly understood the corruption that was involved. He says that oil must be a part of our overall strategy and admits to being wrong (46:10) that the government and oil companies have the ability to shut them down in a worse case scenario. It is good to know that he is still acknowledging is that domestic drilling is still important and that we will continue it after ("further reforms).
49:40 -"...the fact that oil companies now, have to go a mile underwater and then drill another three miles below that, in order to hit oil, tells you something about the oil industry..." - The President hits the nail on the head here but then get's the message wrong-- or at least incomplete. He takes from this that it is going to be "expensive and risky". True enough. Is perhaps the message is that we should be allowed to drill for oil in the area's of this country where oil is more accessible? Is it not less risky then, to drill off the east and west coasts? In ANWAR? He takes the opportunity to criticize our "drill, baby drill" friends. But chooses not to acknowledge that the drilling for which they shout offers exponentially greater reserves at significantly lessor risk. The shrillness of the phrase will likely be amplified, while the intent (safe, abundant oil) obfuscated. It's not true that "...the easily sucked up oil has been already been removed out of the ground....". (50:34) It's just that the "easily sucked up" stuff has been regulated out of reach. He should change that as a result of this.
57 :22 - "...boot is on the neck of BP..." - while the President did not say this himself, members of his administration did. The question asks if the President is comfortable with that metaphor. Outsiders indicate that the assertion is "ludicrous" that the government can do anything. The President says we don't need to use language like that, but BP "...needs to be held accountable...". True.
1:00:10 - "...did you plug the hole yet, Daddy..." - the weirdness of the insertion, or offering us insight into Malia's supposed comment not withstanding the President does a nice job communicating that their are consequences to this. One might even believe that he emphasizes with the responsibility to be a good steward of, what he calls this "bounty" we've been given. He does a good job of showing how frustrating and infuriating it would be to be affected by this mistake. He alludes to all of the crisis that have hit: financial, economic and, now, this oil spill catastophy.
1:02:35 - "...I take responsibility..." - here the President plays his equivalent to Roosevelt's "the buck stops here...". The question I suppose that remains to be explored is, should he? Do I want him taking responsibility? Do you want him taking responsibility? He certainly seems to feel that he should.
Observations:
Obama to Americans: "Go to the Beaches" - surely this will be a headline in some of the conservative commentary. The president here is merely voicing, as he should the concern of gulf coast governor's that all but 2 of the beaches are still open. Surely they will attempt to equate this with George Bush's equally out of contexted remarks in Chicago after 9/11: "Go shopping", although it is likely that this won't get such wide spread exposure as the ridicule that Bush has received.
15:30 - "...should the Federal Government have such capacity..." - a dangerous question when it relates to the President's rhetorical assertion which basically is the first suggestion I've heard him publicly make that the government also get into the oil business. I can almost see him thinking, "You know, only the government can do this right, so we better look at getting into the oil business." Very dangerous notion, yet consistent with his views of the efficacy of government.
30:00 - "...still having to rush more equipment, more Boom..." - what in the world is "boom"? Apparently there wasn't enough of this containment product to help stave off the gushing leak. Would it be possible for the government to encourage standards of "how much is enough" without getting into the oil business? Probably. It could encourage through condoning industry standards and bench marks, penalizing where standards are not met and punishing where this is done intentionally and neglectfully.
33:20 -"...what became a habit, predating my administration..." - whether or not this get's traction is a question. Certainly the conservative commentary will pick up on it. The President makes clear that the fact that permit waivers were offered is a habit that started before he took office. Maybe he intends to simply show the habit is entrenched, but it smacks of "blaming Bush". I think that folks are getting tired of hearing him push the blame off on others. Maybe this will be placated by his statement at the very beginning. He does follow with a reasonable explanation of the waiver, which constitutes an unintended argument about the efficacy of governement.
44:30 - "... domestic production is an important part of our overall energy strategy..."- the question ask why the President chose to ask for expanded drilling given the fact that he knew about the corruption in the MMS (mineral management services) points to the fact that the administration still chose to move forward even though they clearly understood the corruption that was involved. He says that oil must be a part of our overall strategy and admits to being wrong (46:10) that the government and oil companies have the ability to shut them down in a worse case scenario. It is good to know that he is still acknowledging is that domestic drilling is still important and that we will continue it after ("further reforms).
49:40 -"...the fact that oil companies now, have to go a mile underwater and then drill another three miles below that, in order to hit oil, tells you something about the oil industry..." - The President hits the nail on the head here but then get's the message wrong-- or at least incomplete. He takes from this that it is going to be "expensive and risky". True enough. Is perhaps the message is that we should be allowed to drill for oil in the area's of this country where oil is more accessible? Is it not less risky then, to drill off the east and west coasts? In ANWAR? He takes the opportunity to criticize our "drill, baby drill" friends. But chooses not to acknowledge that the drilling for which they shout offers exponentially greater reserves at significantly lessor risk. The shrillness of the phrase will likely be amplified, while the intent (safe, abundant oil) obfuscated. It's not true that "...the easily sucked up oil has been already been removed out of the ground....". (50:34) It's just that the "easily sucked up" stuff has been regulated out of reach. He should change that as a result of this.
57 :22 - "...boot is on the neck of BP..." - while the President did not say this himself, members of his administration did. The question asks if the President is comfortable with that metaphor. Outsiders indicate that the assertion is "ludicrous" that the government can do anything. The President says we don't need to use language like that, but BP "...needs to be held accountable...". True.
1:00:10 - "...did you plug the hole yet, Daddy..." - the weirdness of the insertion, or offering us insight into Malia's supposed comment not withstanding the President does a nice job communicating that their are consequences to this. One might even believe that he emphasizes with the responsibility to be a good steward of, what he calls this "bounty" we've been given. He does a good job of showing how frustrating and infuriating it would be to be affected by this mistake. He alludes to all of the crisis that have hit: financial, economic and, now, this oil spill catastophy.
1:02:35 - "...I take responsibility..." - here the President plays his equivalent to Roosevelt's "the buck stops here...". The question I suppose that remains to be explored is, should he? Do I want him taking responsibility? Do you want him taking responsibility? He certainly seems to feel that he should.
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