President Barack Obama spent nearly an hour answering questions on the policy and the politics of the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf Coast -- among other topics -- as his Administration sought to seize back control of the politics of the disaster.
We tweeted the entire thing -- you can check it all out at " The Hyper Fix".
Below are our first thoughts on what the takeaway from the press conference will be as the President heads to the Gulf tomorrow.
* The government=boss: From his opening statement to his answers to just about every oil spill-related question, President Obama made clear that BP was working under orders from the federal government, not the other way around. "Make no mistake," he said. "BP is operating at our direction." The repeated emphasis on that point is designed to rebut criticism that the Obama Administration deferred to BP in the clean-up effort. It's a complicated argument to make. Why? Because BP has been leading on the technological side -- as the President noted, the company is far better equipped than the government to figure out how to fix the problem -- but not on the overall strategy and direction of the effort. It's a nuanced argument to make and a distinction that Obama has to hope average Americans understand.
* Urgent!: It was clear from the very start of the press conference that Obama understood that he and his team were back on their heels politically when it came to the situation in the Gulf. And so, he methodically set out to emphasize that from the minute the oil rig accident occurred that he and his Administration have understood the gravity of the situation and the need to act quickly. "This is what I wake up to in the morning and this is what I go to be tonight thinking about," Obama said about the spill. He added that his Administration is operating under a "constant sense of urgency" about the matter and noted that he convened a meeting of his top advisers in the Oval Office on the same day he learned of the accident. "This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred," he said. While Obama rejected the comparisons to how the Bush Administration handled Hurricane Katrina -- "I will leave it to you guys to make those comparisons," he said -- it's clear that the perceived detachment from President George W. Bush during that crisis is deeply impacting how Obama and his White House are seeking to handle this one.
* I feel your pain: Obama is not the most naturally empathetic politician -- that would be Bill Clinton -- but he does understand the need, in moments like this one, to make clear to people that he feels this stuff in his gut. Obama repeatedly used the word "frustrated" to explain his feelings; "I am angry and frustrated as well," he said in the early moments of the presser. He also sought to make clear to those in the affected area that he would not -- again the ghost of Katrina lingered -- forget about them. "We are not going to abandon our fellow citizens," said Obama. But Obama, ever the political realist, acknowledged that the only way to change how people feel about the spill is to end it; "People are going to be frustrated until it stops," he said.
* Tough visuals: The difficulty of Obama's political positioning on the oil spill was made plain when MSNBC and CNN went to a two-shot -- showing both the President as well as the punctured pipe continuing to spew into the Gulf Coast. On the one hand, Obama was asserting that he and his government were doing absolutely everything to solve the problem; on the other, the picture of the pipe served as a stirring reminder that the problem still isn't fixed.
Have thoughts of your own after watching the press conference? Offer them in the comments section below.
We tweeted the entire thing -- you can check it all out at " The Hyper Fix".
Below are our first thoughts on what the takeaway from the press conference will be as the President heads to the Gulf tomorrow.
* The government=boss: From his opening statement to his answers to just about every oil spill-related question, President Obama made clear that BP was working under orders from the federal government, not the other way around. "Make no mistake," he said. "BP is operating at our direction." The repeated emphasis on that point is designed to rebut criticism that the Obama Administration deferred to BP in the clean-up effort. It's a complicated argument to make. Why? Because BP has been leading on the technological side -- as the President noted, the company is far better equipped than the government to figure out how to fix the problem -- but not on the overall strategy and direction of the effort. It's a nuanced argument to make and a distinction that Obama has to hope average Americans understand.
* Urgent!: It was clear from the very start of the press conference that Obama understood that he and his team were back on their heels politically when it came to the situation in the Gulf. And so, he methodically set out to emphasize that from the minute the oil rig accident occurred that he and his Administration have understood the gravity of the situation and the need to act quickly. "This is what I wake up to in the morning and this is what I go to be tonight thinking about," Obama said about the spill. He added that his Administration is operating under a "constant sense of urgency" about the matter and noted that he convened a meeting of his top advisers in the Oval Office on the same day he learned of the accident. "This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred," he said. While Obama rejected the comparisons to how the Bush Administration handled Hurricane Katrina -- "I will leave it to you guys to make those comparisons," he said -- it's clear that the perceived detachment from President George W. Bush during that crisis is deeply impacting how Obama and his White House are seeking to handle this one.
* I feel your pain: Obama is not the most naturally empathetic politician -- that would be Bill Clinton -- but he does understand the need, in moments like this one, to make clear to people that he feels this stuff in his gut. Obama repeatedly used the word "frustrated" to explain his feelings; "I am angry and frustrated as well," he said in the early moments of the presser. He also sought to make clear to those in the affected area that he would not -- again the ghost of Katrina lingered -- forget about them. "We are not going to abandon our fellow citizens," said Obama. But Obama, ever the political realist, acknowledged that the only way to change how people feel about the spill is to end it; "People are going to be frustrated until it stops," he said.
* Tough visuals: The difficulty of Obama's political positioning on the oil spill was made plain when MSNBC and CNN went to a two-shot -- showing both the President as well as the punctured pipe continuing to spew into the Gulf Coast. On the one hand, Obama was asserting that he and his government were doing absolutely everything to solve the problem; on the other, the picture of the pipe served as a stirring reminder that the problem still isn't fixed.
Have thoughts of your own after watching the press conference? Offer them in the comments section below.
How long has BP been in business? BP is drilling in international waters like a startup company without knowledge that it is possible to drill into pockets of high pressure that could cause an incident like this. They were not, and are not, capable of shutting down the flow of petroleum and until it is shut down there is essentially nothing the administration can do to stop it from befowling our shores.
The oil permeates every level of the Gulf from the sea bed to the surface and the technology does not exist to deal with a disaster of this magnitude. It cannot be burnt off, it cannot be blocked from reaching the coast and dispersants are inadequate to reach the sea bed.
If men were placed shoulder to shoulder on the coast they could not prevent this disaster from reaching our shores.
The only thing that can be done is to clean up as quickly as possible to minimize the damage as much as possible.
Those of you who complain that the administration is not doing anything should share your ideas as to how to stop this disaster or heist your sorry behinds down to the Gulf Coast to lend a hand.
You complain about to much government and now you complain that there is too little. You can't have it both ways.
BB,
I respect your opinion, but I do not think Margret was yanking anyone’s chain since I have seen other comments by her on other topics. She is nice but fairly partisan as well. On a side note, someone from EPA called me and asked about some analytical methodology I had worked on (they were interested in applying it to measure dispersant in the water). I downloaded all my information to my EPA contact in a matter of seconds (I didn’t say I had a lot of experience) and this included salutations. After the phone call, I was initially honored than I thought those guys are really in trouble if they are calling me for advise, but then again maybe they wanted to know how not to approach an issue. Ooooh they are good.
I personally do see this event similar to Bush’s Hurricane Katrina. I did not fault either president since in both cases the events overwhelmed the system. Who can be prepared for a Category 5 Hurricane hitting the coast with a city that is basically underwater from the start or be prepared for deep ocean blow out of an oil rig. Or for that matter and election that is decided by only a few votes. Our systems work when we have large margins. I would note there was a lot of good findings following Katrina especially simple ones like evacuating pets as well as people (simple but profound in its impact). I am sure following this disaster there will be a lot of new key findings that will make us better prepared for such an event and preventing such an event. However, I heard a lot from the left about incompetent government during Katrina and Obama used Katrina often as a metaphor for change during his campaign. The same people (government workers) who served Clinton efficiently also served Bush ineffectively (Katrina) and these are the same ones serving Obama. You can not fault one president without faulting the other president, but that is what people on the left and right do all the time and both do it equally.
The oil permeates every level of the Gulf from the sea bed to the surface and the technology does not exist to deal with a disaster of this magnitude. It cannot be burnt off, it cannot be blocked from reaching the coast and dispersants are inadequate to reach the sea bed.
If men were placed shoulder to shoulder on the coast they could not prevent this disaster from reaching our shores.
The only thing that can be done is to clean up as quickly as possible to minimize the damage as much as possible.
Those of you who complain that the administration is not doing anything should share your ideas as to how to stop this disaster or heist your sorry behinds down to the Gulf Coast to lend a hand.
You complain about to much government and now you complain that there is too little. You can't have it both ways.
BB,
I respect your opinion, but I do not think Margret was yanking anyone’s chain since I have seen other comments by her on other topics. She is nice but fairly partisan as well. On a side note, someone from EPA called me and asked about some analytical methodology I had worked on (they were interested in applying it to measure dispersant in the water). I downloaded all my information to my EPA contact in a matter of seconds (I didn’t say I had a lot of experience) and this included salutations. After the phone call, I was initially honored than I thought those guys are really in trouble if they are calling me for advise, but then again maybe they wanted to know how not to approach an issue. Ooooh they are good.
I personally do see this event similar to Bush’s Hurricane Katrina. I did not fault either president since in both cases the events overwhelmed the system. Who can be prepared for a Category 5 Hurricane hitting the coast with a city that is basically underwater from the start or be prepared for deep ocean blow out of an oil rig. Or for that matter and election that is decided by only a few votes. Our systems work when we have large margins. I would note there was a lot of good findings following Katrina especially simple ones like evacuating pets as well as people (simple but profound in its impact). I am sure following this disaster there will be a lot of new key findings that will make us better prepared for such an event and preventing such an event. However, I heard a lot from the left about incompetent government during Katrina and Obama used Katrina often as a metaphor for change during his campaign. The same people (government workers) who served Clinton efficiently also served Bush ineffectively (Katrina) and these are the same ones serving Obama. You can not fault one president without faulting the other president, but that is what people on the left and right do all the time and both do it equally.
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