NY Times: Obama Missed Chance To Act On Oil Spill

01 May, 2010 by William Teach

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Part mega lots in the on going visibility of the biased media. Check the headline

BP Is Criticized Over Oil Spill, but U.S. Missed Chances to Act

Ah. The US missed its chance. Not Obama. The US. But, interestingly, in the meat of the article

(Obama’s) administration has publicly chastised BP America for its handling of the spreading oil gusher, yet a review of the response suggests it may be too simplistic to place all the blame for the unfolding environmental catastrophe on the oil company. The federal government also had opportunities to move more quickly, but did not do so while it waited for a resolution to the spreading spill from BP.

The Department of Homeland Security waited until Thursday to declare that the incident was “a spill of national significance,” and then set up a second command center in Mobile, Ala. The actions came only after the estimate of the size of the spill was increased fivefold to 5,000 barrels a day.

The delay meant that the Homeland Security Department waited until late this week to formally request a more robust response from the Department of Defense, with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano acknowledging even as late as Thursday afternoon that she did not know if the Defense Department even had equipment that might be helpful.

Remember when Paul Krugman pretty much Blamed Bush for Katrina? Blasted him personally? Remember this?

But those were rules for the little people. Now that the Bush administration has botched its own response to disaster, we’re not supposed to play the “blame game.” Scott McClellan used that phrase 15 times over the course of just two White House press briefings.

The same deer-in-the-headlights immobility prevailed as Katrina approached and struck the Gulf Coast. The storm gave plenty of warning. By the afternoon of Monday, Aug. 29, the flooding of New Orleans was well under way – city officials publicly confirmed a breach in the 17th Street Canal at 2 p.m. Yet on Tuesday federal officials were still playing down the problem, and large-scale federal aid didn’t arrive until last Friday.

Ah, how things change

The Oil Spill Is Obama’s Fault

No, I haven’t lost my mind – that’s not what I believe. But you know that’s what the talk-show hosts will be saying soon, if they haven’t already started. The only question is what the story will be.

Will it be claims that liberals and/or scientific conspirators sabotaged the rig, to undermine good Americans who want to drillheredrillnow? (Michael Crichton already wrote that novel).

Perhaps you should go back and read your old blame articles, Paul.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach