The Gulf Oil/ Katrina Disconnect

I really try to avoid blogging on national or international issues except in limited circumstances.  But the story of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has become extraordinary to watch.

Let's think back at Hurricane Katrina.  The prevailing narrative offered by the mainstream media was that the Bush administration was too slow in fixing all the problems caused by Katrina; and the drumbeat began within a couple of days after the hurricane struck.  The expectation was that the federal government would swoop down on New Orleans and make everything all better instantaneously.

Of course, this was a thinly disguised, concerted effort to undermine George W. Bush politically on the part of the MSM and the political left.  I had known, because I lived in the Charleston metro area during Hugo, that assistance does not magically materialize overnight when natural disasters occur.  And yet, we even saw Shepard Smith of Fox News becoming unhinged over the federal response.

Haiti, of course, took place months ago, and is still a mess.

But in the case of the Gulf oil spill, it has now been over a month, and we cannot see an endpoint.  I remember reading an AP article a couple of weeks ago in the News and Record reassuring us that the Obama administration was responding in a myriad of ways.

If the same standards expected of Bush during Katrina were applied to Obama, we should reasonably expect that the problem would have been fixed in a matter of days.  But of course, that same standard has not been applied by the media. 

But it gets even worse.  The administration has had an opportunity for a period of greater than one year to effect policy that could have prevented this disaster.  But it did not.  The problem occurred on Obama's watch, and he is responsible.  Let's apply the standards established during Katrina, and let the chips fall where they may.  Second guessing, and seeking ways to score political points, are now considered the best ways to respond to disasters.  That is the lesson we learned from Katrina.

Comments

[cheripickr]

I probably haven't been following this close enough to make such a sweeping generalization but most of what I've heard out of Obama regarding the oil spill is scorn and blame, very similar to the Arizona immigration situation. What I do not see is desirable leadership qualities or effective solutions offered. We made a huge mistake in electing this "post-partisan" president.

[Joe Guarino]

Cheri, the Gulf oil disaster is doubtless a daunting technical challenge. But let's remember the theme that was established during Katrina. It was all about "competence". If the president and his administration were competent, the problem would be resolved with the blink of an eye, regardless of the technical or logistical or political challenges.

[Brandon Burgess]

Katrina could not have been prevented. The spill could have. One might argue that Bush didn't do enough to bail out/relocate residents in danger. Is Obama going to bail out/relocate the fishermen?

[Roch101]

I thought the theme established during Katrina was to assert ideological excuses for a lack of government response.

"The nation was fed the illusion that it is the federal government's responsibility to be the primary responder in the event of disasters; and that it must make everything right instantaneously, even when the locality and the state fumble repeatedly. Never mind the constitutional enumeration of powers. The federal government is mommy, daddy and superhero-- all rolled up in one package." -- Joe Guarino

http://guarino.typepad.com/guarino/2006/03/katrina_redux.html

[Joe Guarino]

You are right, Roch. That is the type of argument I was making at that time. (And it is still the way I truly feel.) But if we are going to play according to the ground rules established by the media and the political left during Katrina, we would need to find ways to point fingers at the president and his administration. That is the way we were taught to behave.

The main difference in this case is that I really don't see as much of a role for localities or the individual states with the Gulf oil spill. They should have had a huge role during Katrina; but we can't reasonably expect them to handle a mile-deep Gulf floor incident.

Brandon, I expect you are right that this incident perhaps could have been prevented. Let's see what else we learn.

[Brandon Burgess]

Roch and Joe, from what I understand government agencies that were supposed to keep oil rigs in check were slacking off, possibly to the extent that they were letting companies slide when it came to safety measures that were supposed to be in place in the event of a disaster of this type (the explosion and where it was located).

How this is not at least partly on government agencies is beyond me. Maybe Obama doesn't care about fisherman or wildlife. We already know Bush didn't care about black people and that is why people died after Katrina.

[cheripickr]

How did that saying go? "Bush frowned, people drowned"?

[Roch101]

"But if we are going to play according to the ground rules established by the media and the political left..."

Why would one play by someone else's rules? It seems to me that the mark of integrity is to consistently play be one's own rules regardless of the situation.

[cheripickr]

Roch, I finally learned a couple of weeks ago that your mind was poured from pure concrete, bless your heart.

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

You beat me to it Joe. I actually had a post very much like this in the drafts.

Actually Roch, you're off a bit on the "theme" you attribute to anyone who might question your superhero (NOT) President's ABJECT (hope you like that word) FAILURE to deal effectively with a MAN-MADE disaster.

Even though we all know that drilling for oil anywhere is all GW Bush's fault, I'll note your champion-of-the-environment did not shut down the oil platforms when he took office . . . and until the Deepwater Horison blew, our "new-world-order" President wanted to INCREASE drilling - including off the North Carolina coast.

Let's go after all that lovely oil as long as it's not in Alaska.

Back to Katrina and acts-of-God-if-you-believe-in-God, some of us who actually lived in the New Orleans area (and saw the way the world worked there before the storm) recognize that Joe was/is spot-on in denouncing the absurdity of expecting the Federal government to swoop in and instantly (key word, instantly) fix our worlds when natural disasters happen. Everyone in Louisiana knew "the big one" was coming - but somehow the state and local planning was not there when Katrina made landfall. And when cramming the entire 9th Ward into the Superdome (a local plan) proved to be a mistake, that was somehow Bush's fault too.

So we're not really talking about ideology. It's the truth.

http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/2006/04/new-orleans-matters.html

I still remember the seeing the photos of all those flooded school-buses in New Orleans and thinking unprintable thoughts. And it's funny how the folks in the nation's heartland can cope with the after-effects F5 tornados on a fairly regular basis, yet we hear barely a whimper in the press. Those folks know they're going to have to take care of themselves.

As I recall, even our ex-Governor, the hopefully-soon-to-be-incarcerated Mike Sleazely recognized Katrina as a cautionary tale for North Carolina . . . because, as Joe aptly points out, government is not and cannot continue to be mommy/daddy/superhero.

Of course, as Joe & Brandon point out, Deep Horizon blew because a private oil company screwed up (and government regulation failed). And we're not talking about 3 days - or even a week or ten days - but well over 35 days of tons of crude pouring into pristine continental (albeit not international) waters. Yet the Federal government, led by Barack Obama, cannot seem to to get off its arse and DO something about what will ultimately be a global environmental disaster.

We have the technology to send a man to the moon. But not the know-how to stop a gushing well on the ocean floor? And if we didn't have the know-how, WHY were we drilling there to start with? Where's the damned fleet and the best-of-the-best minds?

Because of ocean currents, the effects of this spill could even reach the fragile ecosystem of our own North Carolina coastline:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/05/22/494596/oil-may-harm-sea-life-in-nc.html

But hey, defend your "new world order" man - no matter how useless, ineffectual or incompetant he's proven to be.

So call me "stupid" or "a booger-eating-moron", but you can take your attempted "gotcha" and stuff it. You got nothing but smug double-standards and tired ideology if you're defending the President now. May God help us all, your boy is a loser.

Trouble is, this time, we're all gonna feel it under our feet and eat it in our seafood.

[JC]

This administration has pointed the finger consistently at BP for this mess. Does BP deserve the lion's share of the blame? Yes. But the federal government is responsible for oversight and regulation of the oil industry. The lack of response has been pathetic, and the national media's "pass" they have given this administration screams their complacency.

The blame game is old and tired. What those folks need is a solution and some old fashioned leadership.

[Roch101]

"Roch, I finally learned a couple of weeks ago that your mind was poured from pure concrete, bless your heart." -- Dr. John Hayes

John, that's the kind of personal attack I would expect from a nine year-old. Good for you, man!

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

This from the king of personal attacks.

Well, unless you count Jeff Martin.

[Roch101]

"Actually Roch, you're off a bit on the "theme" you attribute to anyone who might question your superhero..." -- Dr. Mary Johnson

Mary, I did not attribute that theme to "anyone," I attributed it to Joe because he expressed it in the quote I cited and linked to. Joe confirms.

[Joe Guarino]

One of the interesting things about this episode is how valuable it is for a politician to have the media on his or her side. Obama is reasonably assured the media will not go after him voraciously as they did with Bush. And the vast majority of the media like his program, and voted for him.

We saw that locally in the case of Kay Hagan. She has had the media on her side in a big way; and it has been a tremendous asset for her.

It makes a big difference.

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

Roch, as usual, you're taking the thread off-course by arguing about semantics. Joe actually "confirmed" his opinion about the role of Federal government in natural disasters - an opinion I happen to share.

But we're not talking about a natural disaster. Nor are we really talking about ideology. We talking about a fundamental failure to lead.

Do you want to address any of the points Joe/I/others have made about the hypocrisy, incompetancy and double-standards we've come to expect from the administration of President Obama - and/or the MSM that has cut him so much slack?

You might want to catch the WRAL report I just got through watching on TV. An N.C. State researcher reports that portions of the oil spill are already caught up in loop currents which will bring oil to the N.C. Outer Banks.

And I'm wondering when Obama, Lord of Teflon, is going to STOP passing the buck to BP and start being the leader of a nation whose shores from the Gulf Coast to the Eastern seaboard may soon be covered in muck.

[cheripickr]

If it weren't for that wascally Fox News the media could all coexist in harmonious consensus and those few of us left in the brainwashed cult to whine about their double standards would quietly fade away..

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

"Brain-washed", CP? Why I thought we were just all "stupid" and "lunatics"!?!

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

From WRAL:

http://www.wral.com/weather/story/7659328/

[Marshall]

Katrina--- natural disaster

Oil spill(s) ---man/corp. made disaster

There is a difference or is there?

Does BP have the resources? According to their CEO a few days after the leak started--- does not think this will be much a problem...dude needs to be fired.

Joe, What part of our gov. should handle oil spills? FEMA? Does an oil spill qualify?

Me, I think we/our gov. should step in and do what it can and then charge BP for every penny spent. I wonder if a tactical nuclear device could seal this problem?...no idea.. just wondering.

[Bubba]

"Me, I think we/our gov. should step in and do what it can....."

Here's what Salazar said the other day:

"If we find that they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way appropriately,"

That would be an unmitigated disaster. They can't handle it:

" 'To push BP out of the way, it would raise the question, to replace them with what?' Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen, who is heading the federal response to the spill, said at a White House briefing."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100524/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_673

[Joe Guarino]

Mary, thanks for your posts.

Marshall, yes, they are different. But on the other hand, for those that bought into the line peddled during Katrina that the federal government should have had a huge immediate mobilization in response to that disaster, then the same case could be made for the Gulf oil spill. We knew the drilling activities were taking place, and should have known the potential for problems. And, so the thinking goes, if we knew the potential for problems, then we should have been prepared to react immediately. That is the logical conclusion of all the criticism of Bush in the aftermath of Katrina. Of course, there was a huge political motivation then. One could easily employ that type of thinking with the oil spill.

Bubba, it would not surprise me one iota if the federal government was unprepared to deal with this. If a Republican were President, the media's handling of this story would be much different. It would be bloodsport. And they would be undeterred by practical considerations.

[Brandon Burgess]

From NYT:

"“The administration has done everything we can possibly do to make sure that we push BP to stop the spill and to contain the impact,” Mr. Salazar said. “We have also been very clear that there are areas where BP and the private sector are the ones who must continue to lead the efforts with government oversight..."

--This is BS on so many levels. Where was the govt oversight one month ago?

"In recent days, BP attached a mile-long tube into the leaking well designed to divert oil to a drill ship before it leaked into the gulf. But the company said the rate it has been able to capture has varied from day to day, between 1,360 and 3,000 barrels, far below even the most conservative estimates of how much oil was leaking."

--At least they are still making money. That's a good thing, right?

[Bubba]

Bobby Jindal puts it in no uncertain terms: Obama's administration is screwing up the whole effort:

"Gov. Jindal was critical of the amount of boom his state received to ward off the oil seeping toward the coastline. But his major gripe comes at the expense of the Army Corps of Engineers, who have yet to give the go-ahead for the building of sand booms to protect the Louisiana wetlands. He used photographic evidence of oil breaking through hard booms, soft booms and another layer of protection, before being finally being corralled by a sand boom built by the National Guard.

'It is so much better for us. We don't want oil on one inch of Louisiana's coastline, but we'd much rather fight this oil off of a hard coast, off of an island, off of an island, off of a sandy beach on our coastal islands, rather than having to fight it inside in these wetlands,' Gov. Jindal said, making the case for sand booms.

The governor said he has been forced to protect Louisiana without the approval of the Army Corps of Engineers, which is weighing the ecological impact of the construction of more sand booms.

We are not waiting for them. We are going to build it,' Jindal said.

....'It is clear the resources needed to protect our coast are still not here,' Gov. Jindal said. 'Oil sits and waits for cleanup, and every day that it waits for cleanup more of our marsh dies.' "

Heckofajob, Barry!

[Bubba]

Link to Jindal video:

http://www.necn.com/05/23/10/Jindal-tired-of-waiting-for-approval-to-/landing.html?blockID=240006&feedID=4215

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

God help Bobby Jindal/Louisiana. Because Obama and the Feds won't.

Wait. Was that a public prayer?

The post that Joe beat me to:

http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/2010/05/gulf-oil-spill-thirty-five-days-and.html

[Joe Guarino]

Brandon, Bubba and Mary-- one of the remarkable things is the duration of the "grace period" the national media and the political left granted Obama before starting to raise questions. We are now beginning to see some criticism and some focus-- ever so begrudgingly, ever so deliberately, ever so obliquely.

But there has been a grace period of more than 30 days as those huge quantities of oil propelled out of the Gulf floor! Ordinarily, the prospect of environmental tragedy is held at an exalted level of concern in the media and among the political left, but in this case, curiously, there was amazing patience.

It is remarkable how that works. It really helps when they are on your side.

[Roch101]

"Do you want to address any of the points Joe/I/others have made about the hypocrisy, incompetancy and double-standards we've come to expect from the administration of President Obama - and/or the MSM that has cut him so much slack?" -- Dr. Mary Johnson

No. I'd rather discuss the inconsistencies and double-standards of this blog's author as I documented above. I don't think the MSM reads these comments.

[Bubba]

Ignore the troll, Dr. J.

[Bubba]

Getting back to the substantial issue of the Obamanation's failure in the Gulf crisis:

"Billy Nungesser, the president of Plaquemines Parish on the Louisiana Gulf Coast, has a blunt message for Barack Obama: Cut out the middleman, Mr. President.

'There's been a failure of leadership on all levels. Who in the hell is in charge?' said Nungesser, who is prodding the administration to back a controversial plan to build sand barriers to block the oil."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20100525/pl_politico/37725

Elections have consequences, don't they?

And trolls who are out to deflect attention away from the substantive issues we face nationally and locally need to find something else to talk about, don't they?

[Stormy]

You have to admire Roch's repeated attempts to ply his Saul Alinsky Radicals' tactics here. Personal attacks. Ridicule. Try to change the discussion away to one of his own choosing. But, personally, I find it to be getting pretty boring and stale. Rule 10: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Avoid being trapped by an opponent or an interviewer who says, “Okay, what would you do?”

So, Roch allow me trap you by saying “Okay, what would you do?”. But, I know that you do not use your intelligence to a positive outcome, so don't bother.

On a different note, with the incompetence shown by Obama and his cohorts, Jason Killian Meath at Big Government has stated:

"Environmental activist Robert Redford is demanding action from the administration. When Barack Obama starts losing the Robert Redfords of the world — something is terribly wrong. Redford has even taken to the airwaves with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a liberal special interest group, to call the President out on the lackluster response to the spill and feet-dragging on energy legislation. Robert Redford has every right to be angry, along with boaters, fishermen, Governors, Mayors and the millions who live, vacation and work on the Gulf. I suspect there will be more than a few NRA members who will dearly miss duck hunting along Lousiana’s once-pristine marshlands."

"The White House answer to the disaster in the Gulf: ‘let BP handle it.’ Put the oil company in charge of the epic disaster they created. Every day, the tendrils of the slick reach further into currents that will carry the sludge to new shores, killing everything in its path. To disperse the oil, BP is dumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemicals into the Gulf — to the alarm of the EPA. Increasingly, independent scientific estimates place the amount of oil at 14 times the amount stated by BP. So, what is President Obama’s position on all this? He doesn’t have one. What is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) official assessment of the magnitude of this mess? There isn’t one. And that’s the problem."

"There is no one manning this ship. As Redford said recently in an interview “In this case, we don’t need a disaster manager, we need a leader.” If that sounds like a sound bite you might hear on Fox News, think again — he said it on MSNBC’s Keith Olberman program. The Obama administration seems content to allow BP to stick tubes in the toxic gusher, poke and prod it while the President finger-points. President Obama has so far tried blaming it all on President Bush, President Clinton, the Minerals Management Service, BP, Halliburton — anyone but himself. Redford points out, “the Gulf disaster is more than just a terrible oil spill, it’s the product of a failed energy policy.” What do you think a national energy policy should or shouldn’t be? We may as well start figuring this mess out, it’s clear our leaders need some serious help."

It is very clear that we have elected as President a man who had no relevant experience or competence for the job. He is not a leader. And, with all of the crisis happening at home and and around the world, he takes his family for a long weekend in Chicago, because he "promised" it to his family, and they deserve it. Well, the American people deserve a President that is a leader and that can at least attempt to solve some of their problems. Obama's only response to this disaster is to create a commission to study it. Okay, that's fine..after the leak is stopped, but not okay while the greatest ecological disaster in the history of this country is growing.

Obama is the most incompetent and most radical person ever elected to the highest office in the land.

[Bubba]

"Obama is the most incompetent and most radical person ever elected to the highest office in the land."

Obviously, we're all just racists, Stormy. Didn't you know that?

[Stormy]

Yes, I've been called that before, Bubba, for my political speech against socialists and Marxists. Oh, I forgot to add "corrupt" as well to the Obama's description.

I see where Obama is making a trip to the Bay Area to support Boxer's campaign (a sure kiss of death for her; he has a perfect record of backing losers) and to make a pitch for green jobs. Can someone tell me what a green job is, other than an overpaid government employee shuffling carbon credits from one place to the other?

Meanwhile, the Dems in Congress are preparing to increase the federal gas tax from $.08 to $.32 per gallon, to finance oil spill cleanups. But, weren't we told by Obama that BP would foot the bill for the Gulf cleanup? so, what will happen to the $11 billions over the next decade? This smells like another income redistribution scam to me. And, that $.32 per gallon tax will live forever. As Rahm would say, an emergency is an opportunity to do things you could never do before. It just seems that the Obama Regime has been living on emergencies for the past 1 1/2 years. Can we survive another 2 1/2 years of emergencies?

From Breitbart:

BP executives told Congress last week they would pay "all legitimate claims" for damages. But the government needs upfront money to respond to spills, as well as money to pay for cleanups when the responsible party is unable to pay, or is unknown. Money spent from the fund can later be recovered from the company responsible for the spill.

The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund has about $1.5 billion available. Under current law, only $1 billion can be spent from the fund on a single incident. The bill would increase the spending limit to $5 billion.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the tax increase was hastily put together, without adequate study, to help pay for an unrelated bill. The tax increase was unveiled Thursday, without any congressional hearings to study its impact.

Even with the tax increases, the bill is projected to add $134 billion to the federal budget deficit.

"I have seen no analysis on how this would impact energy security, how this would impact domestic production, how this would impact the overall economics in the country," said Christopher Guith, vice president of the chamber's energy institute. "There hasn't been any sort of deliberation on this."

The American Petroleum Institute has not taken a position on the tax increase, though a spokeswoman said Congress should study the ramifications before acting.

"We understand we need to have an insurance policy in order to cover people in the event of a spill," said the spokeswoman, Cathy Landry. "At the same time we need to have a vital oil and gas industry."

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

"I don't think the MSM reads these comments."

Yeah, Roch, I know. But we are talking about the same MSM that has done NOTHING but slurp the blue Koolaid - and fawn and drool and swoon as they gazed through rose-colored-glasses at BHO (not to mention Sleazely and Edwards before him). We're paying for it now. Bigtime.

No worries, Bubba. A few weeks ago, in the wake of the cyber-stalking case, I was being given grief at Ed Cone's by a guy-who-blogs-about-his-high-school-hard-ons (I didn't know anything about the jerk except that he was slurring my character and/or mental acuity - which, as we all know, is standard procedure when Cone & company want to shut someone down).

When another blogger pointed out my tormenter's blogging "credentials", I realized that I really needed to consider the source in these threads . . .

. . . much as I was forced to do with the "child-of-a-borderline" with "sociopathic tendencies" who played the victim and coward in Court . . .

. . . and as I always do now with our Roch.

[Stormy]

Obama had an interesting insight into solving the gulf leak problem:

But to those tasked with keeping the president apprised of the disaster, Obama's clenched jaw is becoming an increasingly familiar sight. During one of those sessions in the Oval Office the first week after the spill, a president who rarely vents his frustration cut his aides short, according to one who was there.

"Plug the damn hole," Obama told them.

Yeah, just plug the damn hole on with it and don't bother me with trivialities!

Does anyone else suspect this man's demeanor is not what he projects publicly? I suspect there is a man with a mean attitude and disposition in the White House.

[cheripickr]

Joe,
Just curious, why do you "really try to avoid blogging on national or international issues except in limited circumstances?"

[Joe Guarino]

There were probably two reasons, Cheri. First, when Obama was elected, I realized that there would be so much stuff about which to write on the national level that it would completely overwhelm anything I could do on the local and state level. And that has certainly turned out to be the case. With the Obama administration, there has been a new thrill nearly every minute.

The second reason is that the blog can have more impact locally than on the national scene.

(And of course, there are many other bloggers handling the national and international issues who do a good job).

Having said all the above, health care policy is an interest of mine, and I will certainly continue to be talking about that. The pro-life/pro-family perspective will continue to be reflected here. And for some issues, like the Gulf oil spill, it will be very difficult to resist posting occasionally.:)

[cheripickr]

Understood. An incidental side benefit is that it keeps my logorrhea here to a minimum ;)

[Stormy]

From Kelcy Allen:

My therapist says my anger issues are revealing, but it's not a personality disorder that's got me. It's not an addictive disorder because I'm still meeting society's expectations and functioning effectively. And it wasn't what I originally feared -- schizophrenia -- because I show no signs of a psychotic disorder.

It's much worse than that, she said -- she suspects I'm turning into a liberal.

I was displaying three common symptoms, she explained, which confirmed her diagnosis. First, I become agitated and angry when confronted about opinions or facts that differ from my own. Second, I get defensive and deflect uncomfortable questions during conversation -- a technique not commonly found in healthy dialogue. And last, I'm showing aggressiveness by resorting to ad hominem attacks when someone doesn't understand that my point of view is always the correct one.

I'm beginning to call people names when they don't agree with me -- similar to what a third-grader does when she doesn't get her way, my psychoanalyst admonished.

So, tell me, who locally does this describe?

[Brenda Bowers]

The EPA( read that Obamanation) stopped Jindal from dredging and building sand bars to stop the oil from reaching the wet lands. That was the ONLY solution. The EPA said they had to study the action and what effect it would have on the ecology of the area. Dear Lord save us from fools? traitors to our country who want as much chaos as possible? Incompetence? Greedy bureaucrats? or all of the above.

As for our traitor in the White House he has used this opportunity to tie up some strings and further consolidate his agenda. Pay close attention to his West Point speech. He laid out his plan and he has almost accomplished it. Obama's Katrina? No, Obama's final smoke screen "good" crisis. He isn't concerned about the damage to the gulf and gulf coast area because in the overall plan the Gulf Coast is unimportant. He doesn't concern himself with a second term as President because he knows he won't need one. BB

[Joe Guarino]

Brenda, it certainly gives him the cover to try to stop additional drilling. Is there not some kind of announcement regarding a moratorium?

For those that never wanted drilling, and had a different view of energy policy, this tragedy occurred at a politically opportune time.