"Just as they did five years ago,
Americans have had trouble comprehending that their government is
powerless and that there is no special technique for overcoming the disaster. Yet they expect their
president to find a solution."
Barack Obama had no role in
the onset of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but it's the most serious
environmental disaster in American history and as president of the United
States, he cannot escape unscathed.
Yesterday he returned to the
threatened beaches for the third time since the April 20 explosion that killed
eleven people on a British Petroleum drilling platform. His presence did
nothing to advance efforts to plug the 5,000-foot-deep leak [watch live feed]. He simply intends
to show that as chief of state, he cares about the magnitude of the disaster
and that everything possible is being mobilized that might lessen the pollution's
impact.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Six weeks of impotence have
given White House opponents ammunition. They accuse the president of being late
in recognizing the scale of the catastrophe, lacking severity in his comments
on BP and failing to take control of operations to combat the oil spill.
His trademark detachment hasn't
served him in the circumstances. Now he needs to forget "Mr. Cool," express
his "anger" at officials who haven't registered the consequences of
their actions and demonstrate compassion for people who will in the end suffer the effects.
Even if the level of human
influence isn't comparable, the precedent of Katrina imposes itself on everyone.
George W. Bush paid a heavy political price for his inaction, when the 2005
hurricane devastated New Orleans. Obama wants to avoid the same pitfall.
But just as they did five
years ago, Americans have had trouble comprehending that their government is
powerless and that there is no special technique for overcoming the disaster. Yet they
expect their president to find a solution.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
It will likely take months if
not years to clean the beaches and dissolve the oil slick. With the approach of
Congressional elections in November, the White House is vulnerable to any jump
in public discontent.
His energy policy, which was
to authorize deepwater drilling in order to pass his climate bill, is the first
victim. One fears that his administration will be paralyzed by the oil slick as
long as it was by the debate over health reform.
