It's been over a month since a British Petroleum oil rig exploded in the gulf of Mexico. Since that time eleven people working on that rig lost their lives, millions of gallons of crude oil has been released into the richest fishing waters our country has and Rush Limbaugh has again affirmed his role as America's biggest jack ass.
One more thing, President Obama has proved you can't have it both ways. Or at least you can't always have it both ways. President Obama is trying very hard to be a business friendly president very much like President Clinton was. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. The problem is business' are in business to make money not lose money on costly clean ups. Because of a friendly relationship with our government during the Bush years business is not prepared to clean up the disasters they create. So, when the oil rig in the gulf exploded British Petroleum told the White House they could handle the problem. The word disaster had not come up yet even though eleven people lost their lives pulling oil out of the gulf for BP. Now if Obama were the socialistic big government tyrant the right makes him out to be, he would've handled the response differently. Most likely he would've strolled in front of the cameras and declared a massive government response with the military taking the lead. There would've been coverage of US Navy ships rushing to the scene and helicopters hovering over head drop oil sponges into the sea. No expense would've been spared by the White House Press office to show how on top of things the government was. It didn't happen that way.
President Obama took BP's word that they could handle the spill. The president didn't want to appear as a guy who overreacts and that he trusts companies to take care of their responsibilities. Unfortunately BP was unwillingly or unable to handle the problem they created. Obama and his administration has for the most part stood on the sidelines and prayed BP could fix problem. That strategy has failed miserably and is making Obama look more like George W. Bush everyday.
Before any of you right wingers stand up and rejoice let me stop you right now and tell you, "shut up, you don't get a say in this". You can not espouse small government day in and day out and and then witness what happens when government stands on the sidelines and lets business have their way to disastrous effects. Then have the stones to say "see told ya, big govmint is bad!". This is a perfect example of the simple fact that massive problems can not be solved by big business because it's not in their interests to solve them.
There doesn't seem to be a solution in the immediate future. I do hope the Obama administration has learned that when something looks like a potential disaster that they rush in with everything they have even if it looks like over kill. Let the conservative pundits howl about how the president looked scared and unsure when he overreacted. The fisherman and their families in the gulf would've appreciated a little more help than they've gotten from BP or the federal government.
So what are you going to do now Mr. President? Are you going to continue to sit on the sidelines or are you going to commit every government resource to try to mitigate the damage. Or are you going to fly over the gulf and stare dispassionately out of the window like a failed oilman once did?
Many truths in here. A bit over simplified and too much generalizing. No true conservative would ever say, no government at any time. The government has acknowledged that they do not have the equipment or the expertise to fix this one. Still all involved could have done much more it seems, especially in the area of mitigating the surface spread of oil. There are some great solutions out there e.g. the straw and grass approach. A real tragedy.
ReplyDelete