So what should Obama have done?

[xsited1]

So what should Obama have done?

Anderson Cooper said this last week:

COOPER: It is sort of fascinating, David (GERGEN), for a president who watched Katrina and saw the- you know, the failures of the Bush administration- and there were failures, also, at the state and local level, we all know, in Katrina. But for a president who saw that and- you know, was very critical of it, to now find himself in a situation in which he's being criticized for the lack of response or lack of coordination, is kind of stunning.

Read more: CNN's Cooper: It's 'Stunning' Obama Let Oil Leak Become 'Katrina in Slow Mo' | NewsBusters.org

Obama said "the American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort." What the world sees is a lack of response and a lack of coordination by the Federal government to stop this. Obama’s aloof detachment is a big part of the problem. He needs to be more emotive, have daily progress reports, provide a website with up-to-the-minute updates, etc. This should have started from day 1.

 

[sangha]

Obama should have directed US Attorney General Holder and his staff at DOJ to commence a criminal investigation immediately. Obama has finally done so, but the scope of the investigation needs expand to include the government workers at Minerals Management Service that crawled into bed with BP and allowed them to so badly damage our country.

First, I want to thank you for a serious response. It's rare.

Secondly, there was no evidence of criminal activity at the time of the explosion, so a criminal investigation was not warranted at that time. Furthermore, a criminal investigation does nothing to clean up the oil. It is undoubtedly the right thing to do, but it does nothing for the cleanup effort.

Thirdly, the workers at MMS are being investigated. However, that will do nothing as far as cleaning up the oil.

From hour one, it has been apparent that BP never had adequate fail-safes nor a clean up plan. Both were required to obtain the permit, so BP lied on its application and almost certainly, the staff at MMS knew it had lied. EVERYONE involved should go to prison; Tony "I Want My Life Back" Hayworth, BP's CEO, should have been extradicted and remanded without bail ASAP.

I agree, but again, that does nothing for the cleanup effort. Obama is being criticized but it has nothing to do with delaying a criminal investigation; he is being criticizing for not starting the cleanup response quick enough.

And for sure, Obama needs to EFFECTIVELY tighten environmental controls.

Again, I agree with you but this has nothing to do with the issue I spoke about in the OP - the cleanup.

A kindergartner could see the right things to be doing here. WTF is taking Obama so long?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

Only a kindergartner would think that criminal investigations can begin with the wave of Obama's magic wand, and besides, as the links you posted reveal, you already KNOW that Obama has been investigating MMS.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Some are criticizing Obama for not doing enough in response to the oil leak that BP created. (Of course, some of those same people are criticizing Obama for doing too much).
However, when I've asked many of these people what Obama should have done, they suddenly stop posting. So far, only one whiner has offered a suggestion, and it was.....get this... Obama should have put his boots on, and gone to LA to have his picture taken on a oil-stained beach wearing his boots.

So let's hear it you oil cleanup Einsteins? Are you going to wimp out like you usually do and not post in order to avoid having your ignorance and hateful hypocrisy revealed, or will display some strength of character and meet the challenge?

I never critisized him for his inactions in the first few weeks, there really isn't much he can do. What he should be doing now is at least direct his agencies to allow the states to take action themselves, like LA.

What Jindal said really hit the nail on the head:

JINDAL: We didn't need another meeting. We didn't ask for another meeting. On Friday with the president, we were very clear: It's not the process that interests us; it's the outcomes. So many may ask, "Are you happy with the meeting? Are you happy with the process?" I could care less about the meeting; I could care less about the process. There were a lot of professors there. And I told them when I had a chance to speak at the end, I said, "To me this is not a multiple choice test. This is not an essay test. This is a pass-fail. This is a yes-no test. This is pretty simple: If we get approval to move forward on at least our first six segments, then this will have been a successful day. If we do not get approval to move forward, this will have been a waste of another day; we could have spend this day fighting the oil and doing other things to help safeguard our coast." So for us this wasn't about process.

No one is expecting a miracle solution. But the least our Empty-Suit-in-Chief can do is try to help eliminate all this bureaucracy. And it wouldn't hurt if he stopped trying to vilify BP.

Why does Obama hate Gov "Gin Doll"?

JINDAL: We didn't need another meeting. We didn't ask for another meeting. On Friday with the president, we were very clear: It's not the process that interests us; it's the outcomes. So many may ask, "Are you happy with the meeting? Are you happy with the process?" I could care less about the meeting; I could care less about the process. There were a lot of professors there. And I told them when I had a chance to speak at the end, I said, "To me this is not a multiple choice test. This is not an essay test. This is a pass-fail. This is a yes-no test. This is pretty simple: If we get approval to move forward on at least our first six segments, then this will have been a successful day. If we do not get approval to move forward, this will have been a waste of another day; we could have spend this day fighting the oil and doing other things to help safeguard our coast." So for us this wasn't about process.

Oh, that's why, Gov "Gin Doll" is running circles around the Boy who would be President

 

[sangha]

i think he should have at least gone to the gulf..and gave it a higher priority than he did...

Just as I predicted - the whiners don't care about the working people on the Gulf who are suffering. They just want a photo op

i think he should have insisted that the relief well drilling begin in earnest...not waited for all else to fail...which is what bp has done...

Umm, Obama insisted that BP drill TWO relief wells. He didn't wait for anything.

i think he should have called up all the experts in this field and formed a 'think tank'

He did that the day after the explosion

are you willing to admit that obama has been a failure as an enviromental crusader.....i am in nc...he announced he was for drilling on the east coast...this of course was before the failure of this rig...now do you know there is another rig..atlantis ...that is questionable shape and expected to fail....but its still pumping...

Yes, unlike the wingnuts, I am able to admit that Obama has a poor record on the environment. However, that's not a justification to spread lies about the feds response to this disaster.

Basically, the suggestions you gave, with one exception (the predicted photo op) were already implemented soon after the disaster occurred

the one seemingly sure solution to reducing this oil flow seems to be a relief well.....why wasnt that began from day one? o cause bp is trying cheaper solutions...

It was the solution from the beginning. However, it takes at least three months to dig a relief well. Do you think Obama should have just sat around and waited?

do you have any idea of the enviromental impact this is having on the gulf coast?

and yet obama goes to play golf...fuck that mal....we all cried fault when bush ignored katrina.....well this is another disaster being ignored..there is no difference in parties ....government is just that...government with no regard to the people...

Like I said, you have no justification for peddling lies. Obama isn't going to dive into the gulf and plug the leak single handedly. He's not superman.

He didn't ignore anything and has been responsive from the moment he was informed of the explosion. You're just upset because you're not getting your photo op of Obama wearing boots on a beach.

let me discuss this with you....i am a fucking liberal democrat...i am not happy with obama...if your partisan ass cant see whats going on..that is on you....but stop your fucking...yall are this and yall are that...you are too new here to know the lay of the land....

OK. I'm also a fucking liberal democrat and I'm unhappy with obama, but that doesn't justify spreading lies and pretending that Obama didn't insist that BP drill two relief wells from the beginning. I may be new here, but I know better than to lie

 

[sangha]

So what should Obama have done?

Anderson Cooper said this last week:

COOPER: It is sort of fascinating, David (GERGEN), for a president who watched Katrina and saw the- you know, the failures of the Bush administration- and there were failures, also, at the state and local level, we all know, in Katrina. But for a president who saw that and- you know, was very critical of it, to now find himself in a situation in which he's being criticized for the lack of response or lack of coordination, is kind of stunning.

Read more: CNN's Cooper: It's 'Stunning' Obama Let Oil Leak Become 'Katrina in Slow Mo' | NewsBusters.org

Obama said "the American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort." What the world sees is a lack of response and a lack of coordination by the Federal government to stop this. Obama’s aloof detachment is a big part of the problem. He needs to be more emotive, have daily progress reports, provide a website with up-to-the-minute updates, etc. This should have started from day 1.

And another rightwinger proves they have no idea, just lies and hate for Obama.

And as I predicted, the only thing this one can think of is "be more emotive" and other useless posturing that does nothing to clean up the oil

Conservatives got nothing. No ideas. No morals. No principles. Just lies and hate

 

[masquerade]

Some are criticizing Obama for not doing enough in response to the oil leak that BP created. (Of course, some of those same people are criticizing Obama for doing too much).
However, when I've asked many of these people what Obama should have done, they suddenly stop posting. So far, only one whiner has offered a suggestion, and it was.....get this... Obama should have put his boots on, and gone to LA to have his picture taken on a oil-stained beach wearing his boots.

So let's hear it you oil cleanup Einsteins? Are you going to wimp out like you usually do and not post in order to avoid having your ignorance and hateful hypocrisy revealed, or will display some strength of character and meet the challenge?

Have you asked any left-winged liberal democrats if they have any solutions to the oil leak? How many folks here on USMB are deep water explorers or have worked on oil rigs to be able to offer a legit fix? This question is for both the left and the right. Folks are frustrated and angry and they come here to voice those frustrations.

Conservatives got nothing. No ideas. No morals. No principles. Just lies and hate

Again, what do liberals have?
They had plenty of lies and hate for Bush when Katrina happened.
Imagine for a moment that Bush was still President during this crisis. People would be screaming that he was in bed with big OIL for years .... this is all his fault. Impeach him!

 

[bodecea]

What should Owe Bama have done? I would have liked it if he resigned.

Why?

 

[bodecea]

Obama should have doe whatever he could to plug the fucking leak.

Instead he did nothing.

Show us his personal skill set that would have helped plug that leak in some way.

 

[sangha]

Have you asked any left-winged liberal democrats if they have any solutions to the oil leak?

Yes.

How many folks here on USMB are deep water explorers or have worked on oil rigs to be able to offer a legit fix?

IOW, it's OK when people who know nothing about it whine about what is and isn't being done, but it's wrong for others to ask them what they think should have been done

Again, what do liberals have?

Brains. If you had one, maybe you'd offer an idea instead of using the oh-so-mature "You're rubber, I"m glue" defense.

Another whiner with no ideas, and no clue. You've put yourself in the position of defending critics who even you admit, don't know what they're talking about.

 

[xotoxi]

What should Owe Bama have done? I would have liked it if he resigned.

In that case, what would you have liked President Biden to have done? Resign?

Then what would you like President Pelosi do have done?

 

[masquerade]

Again, what do liberals have?

Brains. If you had one, maybe you'd offer an idea instead of using the oh-so-mature "You're rubber, I"m glue" defense.

Another whiner with no ideas, and no clue

Bwaaaaaahahahahaha!!!

Okay sangha ... what idea do YOU have? Hmmmm? Instead of an attempt at insulting, tell me what idea you have. If it's a good one, perhaps you should contact Mr. Obama and let him know.

 

[sangha]

Again, what do liberals have?

Brains. If you had one, maybe you'd offer an idea instead of using the oh-so-mature "You're rubber, I"m glue" defense.

Another whiner with no ideas, and no clue

Bwaaaaaahahahahaha!!!

Okay sangha ... what idea do YOU have? Hmmmm? Instead of an attempt at insulting, tell me what idea you have. If it's a good one, perhaps you should contact Mr. Obama and let him know.

Here's a clue - No one knows how to stop the leak. No has enough equipment to keep all of the oil off of our coastline. Those who are whining about this KNOW this, but they will lie and pretend there is something else Obama could have done, but they will never mention what it is because they are lying.

I, on the other hand, have no need to lie. I haven't criticized Obama for not responding because I know there isn't much he can do. It's hypocritical to insist that Obama could have done something, and then run for the hills when asked to explain exactly what he could have done.

So if I think Obama is doing all he can do, why would I have any suggestions about things he is already doing? That makes no sense. The people who are lying and saying that Obama didn't do all he could should tell us specifically what it was that he didn't do.

But like I said before, the whiners don't have a clue. The reason they are complaining is that they hate and they lie. It's what whiners do

 

[boedicca]

What Obama should have done:

1. Put out an immediate search to gather the best independent experts in the world in the various disciplines required to deal with containment, clean up, and restoration.

2. Gone to the gulf immediately. Leadership matters. Whether or not one likes Bush, his presence at Ground Zero after 9/11 was effective. Being There is half the job of leadership.

3. Developed and communicated a Vision of: Job One is stopping the spill and containing the oil to prevent further damage. Job Two is Clean Up. Job Three is Restoration. Job Four is Investigation, and Financial, Legal, and Regulatory remedies and reforms. Let's focus now on saving the environment and the ecology of the Gulf. We have plenty of time to analyze and address what happened after the emergency is over. And then initiated the efforts in those priorities.

4. Listened to Jindal and gotten the permits and resources LA and other states needed to protect their coasts.

5. Left politics and blame throwing out of it. This is an issue that affects all Americans, a great many of whom are going through severe hardship right now. To fix the problem as quickly as possible requires the focus of all available resources. Making an enemy of BP by making them a target of a CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION is distract their resources from the emergency.

6. Cleared the calendar of discretionary leisure activities such as vacations, golf, and parties. It's too much Nero and Marie Attoinette combined - and shows a callousness detachment that if very poor leadership.

 

[bodecea]

What Obama should have done:

1. Put out an immediate search to gather the best independent experts in the world in the various disciplines required to deal with containment, clean up, and restoration.

You don't think that BP did that....or the Administration didn't confirm that they had done that? Could you please show which independent experts are not being used in this case?

2. Gone to the gulf immediately. Leadership matters. Whether or not one likes Bush, his presence at Ground Zero after 9/11 was effective. Being There is half the job of leadership.

I partially agree....but as having dealt with VIP visits in the past, it is a PR stunt only. Are you complaining NOW that Obama did NOT perform a PR stunt?

3. Developed and communicated a Vision of: Job One is stopping the spill and containing the oil to prevent further damage. Job Two is Clean Up. Job Three is Restoration. Job Four is Investigation, and Financial, Legal, and Regulatory remedies and reforms. Let's focus now on saving the environment and the ecology of the Gulf. We have plenty of time to analyze and address what happened after the emergency is over. And then initiated the efforts in those priorities.

What part of this(except for the Investigation) could Obama have done better than BP? Please be specific.

4. Listened to Jindal and gotten the permits and resources LA and other states needed to protect their coasts.

Clarify what permits Jindal asked for that were not granted. Need more information on this before commenting.

5. Left politics and blame throwing out of it. This is an issue that affects all Americans, a great many of whom are going through severe hardship right now. To fix the problem as quickly as possible requires the focus of all available resources. Making an enemy of BP by making them a target of a CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION is distract their resources from the emergency.

Wait a minute....WHO is using politics and blame throwing here? Obama is? Really?

6. Cleared the calendar of discretionary leisure activities such as vacations, golf, and parties. It's too much Nero and Marie Attoinette combined - and shows a callousness detachment that if very poor leadership.

Maybe...but sounds like you WANT Obama to do PR stunts and you WANT Obama to go for appearances. Is that what you want?

 

[rightwinger]

What Obama should have done:

1. Put out an immediate search to gather the best independent experts in the world in the various disciplines required to deal with containment, clean up, and restoration.
I think this is being done, I'm sure the subject matter experts have all been brought in, its just that options are limited
2. Gone to the gulf immediately. Leadership matters. Whether or not one likes Bush, his presence at Ground Zero after 9/11 was effective. Being There is half the job of leadership.

Agree, Obama repeated Bush's Katrina mistake of not providing Presidential level leadership at a national catastrophe

3. Developed and communicated a Vision of: Job One is stopping the spill and containing the oil to prevent further damage. Job Two is Clean Up. Job Three is Restoration. Job Four is Investigation, and Financial, Legal, and Regulatory remedies and reforms. Let's focus now on saving the environment and the ecology of the Gulf. We have plenty of time to analyze and address what happened after the emergency is over. And then initiated the efforts in those priorities.

I'm sure this is in place......problem is that they can't get past Job 1

4. Listened to Jindal and gotten the permits and resources LA and other states needed to protect their coasts.

Not sure it is just permits, but we need a concentrated federal response to the whole Gulf Coast Region, not just fulfil the wish list from each Governor affected

5. Left politics and blame throwing out of it. This is an issue that affects all Americans, a great many of whom are going through severe hardship right now. To fix the problem as quickly as possible requires the focus of all available resources. Making an enemy of BP by making them a target of a CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION is distract their resources from the emergency.

Mostly agree....we do not want BP to go into the mode of mitigating potential civil and criminal actions......

6. Cleared the calendar of discretionary leisure activities such as vacations, golf, and parties. It's too much Nero and Marie Attoinette combined - and shows a callousness detachment that if very poor leadership.

Red Herring.........Americans are not dying while this is going on. All Presidents take personal time off during extended crisis. FDR went on vacation while WWII was going on, LBJ and Nixon took time off during Viet Nam. If not playing golf will end the spill any quicker, then he should not play golf...otherwise STFU

 

[Liability]

IF THE GUY CAN WEAR THAT FUNNY GET-UP WITH THE SYMBOL ON HIS CHEST AND THE CAPE AND THE FUNKY BOOTS AND FLY FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT AND STOP A MAJOR EARTHQUAKE IN ITS TRACKS, then certainly he should have been able to dive down to the bottom of the Gulf of Mehico and plug a small leak in a ruptured pipe.

Oh wait.

That was Superman, wasn't it?

Ok. Let's take another look. The President should have diverted the hurricane and ordered the Governor and the Mayor to prepare evacuation plans and ...

Wait. That was the Katrina mess and the prior President.

Ok. Attempt number three:

The President should ABSOLUTELY make it his FIRST order of business to do absolutely NOTHING for a week. Then, when the nature of the pending catastrophe is manifestly clear, the NEXT thing he should have done was to mobilize an army of lawyers and bureaucrats because THAT'S the stuff that will effectively seal the leak!

No. Wait. That's what he DID. Clearly that's just stupid.

Ok. I've got it.

MAYBE he should have ordered the Oil Company (BP) to hire the soon to be unemployed fisherman to place the floating booms in the waters to prevent as much of the SPREAD of the oil as possible to minimize the natural calamity of it making landfall. And simultaneously, he might have directed the Army Corp (pronounced "corpse") of Engineers and his National Science Adviser and the Secretary of the Interior and the Coast Guard to come up with a plan to SEAL the freakin' leak with the cooperation of BP or over their irrelevant objections. As it was, BP wasn't the one putting up objections. That was the hideous national bureaucracy imposing the mindless hurdles and obstacles.

I would have liked it if the nations CHIEF EXECUTIVE had directed his underlings to cut through ALL stupid ass red tape in order to actually deal with the problem.

 

[sangha]

What Obama should have done:

1. Put out an immediate search to gather the best independent experts in the world in the various disciplines required to deal with containment, clean up, and restoration.

That is exactly what Obama did do

2. Gone to the gulf immediately. Leadership matters. Whether or not one likes Bush, his presence at Ground Zero after 9/11 was effective. Being There is half the job of leadership.

Like I predicted, the wingnuts are fixated on photo ops.

3. Developed and communicated a Vision of: Job One is stopping the spill and containing the oil to prevent further damage. Job Two is Clean Up. Job Three is Restoration. Job Four is Investigation, and Financial, Legal, and Regulatory remedies and reforms. Let's focus now on saving the environment and the ecology of the Gulf. We have plenty of time to analyze and address what happened after the emergency is over. And then initiated the efforts in those priorities.

Again, that is exactly what he has done.

4. Listened to Jindal and gotten the permits and resources LA and other states needed to protect their coasts.

Again, that is exactly what he has done.

BTW, Jindals plans won't keep any oil off of the beaches; it merely will shift the oil to another beach, and that's if the berms actually hold up in a storm, which they often do not.

5. Left politics and blame throwing out of it. This is an issue that affects all Americans, a great many of whom are going through severe hardship right now. To fix the problem as quickly as possible requires the focus of all available resources.

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! You want to leave the blame throwing out of it?? What a hypocrit you wingnuts are.

Making an enemy of BP by making them a target of a CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION is distract their resources from the emergency.

Another wingnut makes the ridiculous claim that the investigation will interfere with cleanup effort. Another wingnut with no facts to back that up.

6. Cleared the calendar of discretionary leisure activities such as vacations, golf, and parties. It's too much Nero and Marie Attoinette combined - and shows a callousness detachment that if very poor leadership.

And again, the wingnut who wants to take politics out of it also wants the president to go on photo ops.

Bottom line - the reasonable suggestions you make have all been implemented by Obama. all you've got is photo ops.

 

[MaggieMae]

Some are criticizing Obama for not doing enough in response to the oil leak that BP created. (Of course, some of those same people are criticizing Obama for doing too much).
However, when I've asked many of these people what Obama should have done, they suddenly stop posting. So far, only one whiner has offered a suggestion, and it was.....get this... Obama should have put his boots on, and gone to LA to have his picture taken on a oil-stained beach wearing his boots.

So let's hear it you oil cleanup Einsteins? Are you going to wimp out like you usually do and not post in order to avoid having your ignorance and hateful hypocrisy revealed, or will display some strength of character and meet the challenge?

Obama has a public image problem with this thing. He should have done the politically correct thing and not taken Memorial Day weekend for a Chicago visit, but instead spent the weekend somewhere on the Gulf with his family. He's given the "appearance" of not caring, which is of course what the right wing noise machine jumps all over. Obama's mistake is still not realizing that he needs to check, double-check, and double-check again his every word, his every move, or he will immediately be the object of criticism.

 

[manifold]

He should've plugged it up with a Ravi-sized tampon.

 

[sangha]

The President should ABSOLUTELY make it his FIRST order of business to do absolutely NOTHING for a week. Then, when the nature of the pending catastrophe is manifestly clear, the NEXT thing he should have done was to mobilize an army of lawyers and bureaucrats because THAT'S the stuff that will effectively seal the leak!

No. Wait. That's what he DID. Clearly that's just stupid.

Umm, Obama had the Coast Guard on the scene within hours of the explosion. Within 24 hours he had begun assembling a team of experts, and sending the navy in.

MAYBE he should have ordered the Oil Company (BP) to hire the soon to be unemployed fisherman to place the floating booms in the waters to prevent as much of the SPREAD of the oil as possible to minimize the natural calamity of it making landfall.

That is exactly what Obama has done. BP is paying fishermen up to $3000/day for the work

And simultaneously, he might have directed the Army Corp (pronounced "corpse") of Engineers and his National Science Adviser and the Secretary of the Interior and the Coast Guard to come up with a plan to SEAL the freakin' leak with the cooperation of BP or over their irrelevant objections.

Neither the ACE nor the NSA have any knowledge of how to clean an oil spill in deep water. The Sec'y of the Interior doesn't know either, but he has people working for him that do, and they were consulted immediately.

Secondly, there is no plan to seal the leak because no one, absolutely no one, knows how to do it. You can assemble as many scientists as you like, but they still won't know.

As it was, BP wasn't the one putting up objections. That was the hideous national bureaucracy imposing the mindless hurdles and obstacles.

I would have liked it if the nations CHIEF EXECUTIVE had directed his underlings to cut through ALL stupid ass red tape in order to actually deal with the problem.

What you call "stupid ass red tape" is also known as "the law". We have a president, not a king. If you want to live in a dictatorship, then move to one.

So far, the wingnut response to my question has been

1) Continue whining about how Obama did nothing while offering no ideas
2) Offer suggestions about things that Obama has already done
3) Offer suggestions that are unrealistic (like making regulations disappear)
4) Demand photo ops and other actions that do nothing to cleanup the oil