In the political world, apparently, we have a name for the huge oil spill occurring in the Gulf of Mexico. While one would think a name like "The Big BP Oil Spill" would be the most apropos, the news outlets seem to think "Obama's Katrina" is best.
No matter what channel or news outlet you watch - Fox News, CNN, CNBC, CBS - political analysts and TV talk show hosts are calling the environmental disaster "Obama's Katrina" in an effort to compare the current government's supposedly slow reaction to the oil spill to President Bush's sluggish response to help those in need in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
In a show dedicated to "drawing similarities" between Bush's handling of the flooding in New Orleans to Obama's response to the current toxic spew, CNBC host Larry Kudlow basically said they both sat idly by. "He hasn't done a thing. The White House, the administration, hasn't done a thing to defend the shoreline from the spill," he shouted on his morning CNBC show. "They've basically let five weeks go by, have they not? Isn't that the breakdown in the Obama argument?" It is human nature to always compare and contrast political leadership, especially when it comes to the White House, but these two situations are anything but equal. Like Kudlow, one can certainly argue that both presidents did drag their feet when it came to their respective southern catastrophes, but it's like comparing apples to oranges.
First of all, let's not forget this huge environmental disaster is due to what we all thought was a simple and easy-to-remedy plumbing problem. This oil spill has now surpassed the Exxon Valdez spill by millions of gallons and has become the biggest in US history (and still growing at a rate of 25,000 per day), but, again, it's because of a simple broken pipe, which basically means of course, that the government's reaction was lackadaisical and apathetic. If any one of us were sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office and our advisors came in to tell us that there was an explosion on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico and a broken pipe was causing oil to spew into the water, we'd all react the exact same way. It wouldn't be immediately to mobilize all our resources, troops, environmental scientists, Coast Guard, money, and send it all to the region to help stop the discharge and protect the shores, especially not in this economy. It would be to call the company that owns the oil rig, the same company that tragically lost 11 workers in the explosion that started the toxic flow in the first place, to offer condolences and make sure the leak was being contained.
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— go to most recent comments1 - Paul Harris
THANK YOU!!!!! H1N1 was Obama's Katrina. The Kentucky Ice Storm was Obama's Katrina. The Ft. Hood shootings were Obama's Katrina. The Goldman Sachs debacle was Obama's Katrina. Do we see a pattern by the right wing?
Funny but I can't tell you how many times during and after Katrina that the right wing kept yelling, this is NOT a Federal responsibility. It should be handled on the local level. Now suddenly a disaster caused by a PRIVATE corporation is the Fed's responsibility. The hypocrisy is almost as disgusting as the oil.
2 - Doug Hunter
#1
But Paul, aren't you doing the exact same thing you accuse the right wing of only in reverse... i.e holding Bush accountable but making excuses for Obama?
Same loudmouth hypocritical partisan [Gratuitous vulgarity deleted by Comments Editor], different political spin.
3 - Arch Conservative
No one can fairly blame the spill on Obama because it is not his fault.
However, in the words of our illustrious vice president, this spill is, "a big fucking" deal. Even I, a conservative who thinks Al Gore is full of shit, can recognize the danger to the global ecosystem posed by this spill and am concerned that something must be done and done yesterday. It seems like Obama didn't realize this until very late in the game.
The simple fact is that many Americans view Obama's response to the spill as woefully inept and inadequate. No one expects him to come up with the engineering solution himself but he's done a piss poor job of showing the American people just how seriously he's taking this problem.
It's BP's fault but the world's problem. He's let us know the former but not the latter in any meaningful way. He should be reminding us all every day that he's committed to using every resource at his disposal, everything within his power as president to resolve this issue ASAP. He's not done this though.
Obama is incredibly sensitive and thin skinned. He wanted the job but he often proves that he wants all the adulation and none of the responsibility. How anyone can laud his non-existent leadership skills is beyond me.
4 - roger nowosielski
Indeed, Arch. I do believe the response was painstakingly slow and inept.
5 - roger nowosielski
You're making excuses, BG. You're suggesting taking the word of a company responsible for the problem, just like taking the word of the mining company in Virginia. Until but a week ago, no one questioned BP's figures regarding the extent of the spill - not until they were double-checked by independent sources. Now we know BP's figures were ridiculously low compared to more realistic estimates. A coincidence? I hardly think so. Cover-up and lies is a standard MO when people are caught in a major fuck-up. BP's handling of the situation, their reports, etc. should be viewed with suspicion from the get-go. I would expect that from any astute administration. Well, this one just sat on its ass until it became evident making a move was a political necessity and public opinion against their inaction and failure of leadership was mounting. So either they were naive or just turned a blind eye, your pick.
Similarly with their handling of the Minerals Management Service agency. They have known of the abuses and kickbacks and the fraternal atmosphere between our "civil servants" and oil company executives; they vowed to clean it up. Yes, they're cleaning it up after the fact, BG; the agency head just resigned under pressure.
But hey, you've got confidence in that guy. Somebody's got to.
6 - Heloise
Top Kill not working...Obama...not working!
7 - Silas Kain
BP not working... lobbyists, working OVERTIME.
Let's not be too quick to pin this on Obama. This is a national problem brought about by politicians from both sides of the aisle beholden to highly financed special interests who care more about obscene profits than the environment.
This disaster will not be remedied by Nature, folks. God will not fly in at the last moment to save the day. You see, this whole planet was a gift from God, given to us out of unconditional love; for our use to use with our free will. We squandered that gift. We have cursed our children and grandchildren to a horrible fate. I hope every politician, lobbyist and Right wing-nut bag is proud of themselves. Don't blame Barack Obama, look in the damn mirror.
8 - roger nowosielski
You're going on a hyperbole, Silas. No one is pinning this on Obama, but cleaning the house and all the respective agencies, though inherited from Bush, is something he ought to have done.
9 - roger nowosielski
What I mean, Les, "legal" is an already discredited term - which is why you should be able to do without. By resorting to it, you're only replacing one notion of "legal" for another.
Foucault's discussion with the Maoists in the Power/Knowledge essays put forth this kind of argument.
10 - roger nowosielski
with another . . .
11 - roger nowosielski
In fact, the argument is a stronger one yet, critiquing the very idea of justice (in this case, bourgeois justice) as being a historically-conditioned term, and therefore tainted and less-than-adequate to reflect and represent new social relations.
The same point is made in the famous Foucault-Chomsky debate.
12 - Silas Kain
I agree, Roger. There should have been a thorough house cleaning with surgical precision. On that issue, the President has failed. There should have been a serious reconstruction of the financial sector with comprehensive financial regulatory reform which took any former Goldman-Sachs employee out of the equation. On that, the President has failed. Don't Ask, Don't Tell has not been repealed. It's all a smokescreen. The President has failed. Millions of Americans on January 20, 2009 said things wouldn't change. The President has been a rousing success.
While this Administration may have been on deck from the spring of this leak, they have failed miserably in communicating their message to the public. Barack Obama has a serious problem and it is of his own creation. It's time to reshuffle the Administration. He should not put this off until after the election because in doing so he is symbolically admitting he's been lacking. Cool as a cucumber Obama needs to throw some of the weight of his office on the table and not through a surrogate. It's time for him to act like an executive who has rolled up his sleeves. He has the intelligence. He has the common sense. The question which remains is whether is has the political courage.
13 - roger nowosielski
Eloquently said, Silas.
14 - roger nowosielski
the horror
15 - Kiera
Obama didn't it, no, but he is doin a piss-poor job as likewise, same with Bush and Katrina. When are you, right-wingers, left-wingers, etc, or whatever u call yourselves going to realize your party is not the Right party eitherway anymore. Both parties are all FUCKED UP! In fact, 90% of all the politicians are FUCKED UP! Sorry, or I suppose I'll tell it as is, they are all simply evil, a word I used to never use to describe people. Don't believe, than just look around to see what's going on with the country the past several years. Also, the world's money is within the hands of the most stickin, low-life's that walk the planet and until we get that money out of their hands, there will not be too much hope for us
16 - Arch Conservative
Who exactly were you addressing when you said don't blame Obama Silas?
Nobody on this thread was blaming him for the spill, just his pathetic response to it.
17 - Silas Kain
Let's blame the Black guy. That's how I see this entire argument heading, Arch. I wasn't addressing anyone specific inasmuch as I am trying to lay the case that the worst environmental disaster in history is not Barack Obama's direct fault. Pundits and politically inspired individuals keep steering the debate toward Obama's failure to take charge. While a valid point which deserves debate, we cannot let it detract from what's happening every second oil comes out that hole. Every day that this continues, the attention seems to sway from the Gulf and to the Oval Office. Before we know it all the attention will be on B.O. and not BP.
Ultimately, Arch, we are all to blame for that disaster. Our obscene dependence on all things petroleum from fuel for cars, home heating oil, plastics and even Vaseline have led us to this point. The political leaders who we elected recognized our dependence and rather than lead they have made millions advancing the petro-industry cause. The military complex which President Eisenhower warned us about is second runner-up.
It all comes down to money, Arch. It doesn't matter which side of the political spectrum one is on, it still comes down to money. Wall Street, K Street and Pennsylvania Avenue switch political allegiances like most of us change our underwear. Special interests have become so powerful that they can steer national elections to their benefit -- George W. Bush is the classic example.
This mess is not Obama's Katrina. It is our nation's Waterloo. It's time to be realists, here. Our founders created a system which no longer works without major modification. If there is a desire to fix the system and make it work for the benefit of us all, let's do it. If not, let's negotiate a peaceful resolution. Let's have a civilized debate which leaves this land in better condition for our future. In the meantime, let's figure out a way to clean up this mess without bankrupting the poorest among us because BP and Halliburton won't lose a dime.
18 - John Wilson
Blame can more properly be placed on Reagan and his rightist supporters consistent attacks, over the last 30 years, on government oversight and regulation functions. It is they who have neutered government agencies that could have prevented this blowout in the first place.
Sometimes, government IS the solution to the problem.
So, would rightists please purge from their cant "government isn't the solution to the problem, government IS the problem", which is as childish as the man who said it.
We now have before us, after 30 years of rightist republican hegemony, proof of that in the recent financial ruins and now the oil crises.
The right had their chance and they failed.
19 - Silas Kain
You're absolutely right, the right has failed, John. And, as I said in an earlier post, this is the Rise of the Third Right. Unfortunately, the Left has been an equal failure. What we have here is not a failure of ideologies, but a failure of common sense governance.
This afternoon I started to wonder why pundits are calling this Obama's Katrina. I mean, we're comparing apples to kumquats here. Katrina was a natural disaster which could not have been avoided but could have been managed much more efficiently. The disaster in the Gulf is not an act of nature. It was created by human error driven more by greed than consumer demand. In the end, the common bond of Hurricane Katrina and the oil spill brought to you by BP, TransOcean and Halliburton is mismanagement and lack of response. Towing party lines is no longer effective. It's time for compromise steeped in determination of the public will.
20 - Clavos
Blame can more properly be placed on Reagan and his rightist supporters consistent attacks, over the last 30 years, on government oversight and regulation functions.
Of course. Everything that's fucked up about amerika (and pretty much everything is) is the fault of the fuckin' right.
21 - Arch Conservative
Silas....money makes the world go round and is the motivating factor for for at least 805 of the things the human species does on this planet. When push comes to shove it's not about rep vs. dem, black vs. white....it's all about green. You'll get no argument from me there.
But why did you feel it necessary to throw in "blame the black guy." That black guy chose to suit up and get in the game called American politics and it's rather cheap and disengenuous to suggest all criticism of him is rooted in racism.
At a very basic level Katrina and this oil spill are exactly alike. An event totally out of the president's control happens and the president drops the ball big time in responding to the event.
I guess I'm a rightist as John Lake would call it. However I don't trust big business and I fail to see where John's faith in big government comes from in light of the fact that we have more than ample evidence to support the notion that both big business and big government will screw ya every chance they get. The only differencesare that big business doesn't get to wake up one morning and decide they're going to take more of your money without your say so, and big businesses doesn't get to make the laws and then throw you in prison for not conforming to them.
22 - zingzing
clavos: "Everything that's fucked up about amerika (and pretty much everything is) is the fault of the fuckin' right."
you fuckin' right.
23 - Silas Kain
But why did you feel it necessary to throw in "blame the black guy.
Because I'm trying to make a point, Arch. And, ironically, I'm not blaming the right for this one. The liberal, "Progressive" MSM has made the President's race an issue by injecting it into every news story that comes out of the Oval Office. By their behavior and "reporting" they intimate that the Right's opposition to the President is racially based. That's a crock of shit. Sure, there are plenty of racists out there who hate the President by virtue of his race. But they are not in the majority within the opposition. The MSM would like us to think so. The MSM has done more to widen the racial divide than the citizenry itself. That's how I see it. If I am wrong, show me why.
24 - roger nowosielski
Well, Silas, we should just boycott MSM. We no longer adhere to the journalistic standards as set my Murrow or Cronkite. It's controlled by the likes of Rupert Murdoch. And in this internet age, they're scared shitless.
I should think just the opposite would the natural effect - radicalizing the issues and politics. But no, they're taking the path of low resistance.
I suppose the prevailing opinion among the pundits is that the people are dumb. That's the only reason I can think of why they keep on giving us a rash of shit.
There goes the despicable elitism on the part of "the Left." They're all whores.
25 - Silas Kain
Not boycott inasmuch as choose the outlets to follow. Al Jazeera, BBC and Reuters are a good place to start as alternatives to NBC (GE), FOX (Murdoch) and CBS (Viacom).