The Leaders in the Oil Crisis have stepped forward. And they are not Obama

[saracat]

Pelosi, or Reid.They are not the EPA. Ironically, they are actor Kevin Costner, who purchased the technology necessary from the EPA in 1989 and invested $24n million developing what the government should have and Director James Cameron who has the subs our military doesn't!

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is possible the earth is about to be rescued by Hollywood as the most powerful nation on earth sits stymied with their hands thrown up in the air. There is something oddly fitting about the idea of this dynamic duo riding to the rescue of the media constructed President.

Apparently the only ones willing to lead on this are Kevin Costner and James Cameron!
Isn't that a kick in the head? And to think Costner "Bought " the technology from the Energy Dept and developed it on his own while we develped nothing but we greenlight new drilling? And the US Government doesn't have subs capable of going deep enough but a film director does? Thank God for Hollywood.
"
The "Kevin Costner Solution" to Oil Spill
LOS ANGELES — The "Kevin Costner solution" to the worsening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may work, and none too soon for the president of Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana.

Costner has invested 15 years and about $24 million in a novel way of sifting oil spills that he began working on while making his 1995 maritime film, "Waterworld," a post-apocalyptic epic that was plagued by problems and was a huge box-office flop.

<SNIP>

Meanwhile, "Avatar" Director James Cameron has said he would make his underwater vessels available.

<SNIP>

Houghtaling said Costner bought the technology, developed with help from the Department of Energy after the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, and turned it over to a team of scientists and engineers for fine-tuning.

"The machines are essentially like big vacuum cleaners, which sit on barges and suck up oily water and spin it around at high speed," Houghtaling said. "On one side, it spits out pure oil, which can be recovered. The other side spits out 99 percent pure water."

Talk about the machine has intrigued BP, the party responsible for the well blowout that caused an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, killing 11 workers and triggering one of the largest oil spills in U.S. history. "BP has agreed to test Mr. Costner's machines," BP spokesman Mark Proegler said. "Of course, they need to meet regulations with respect to discharge."

With oil washing up on a portion of southeastern Louisiana's swampy edges, word of Costner's devices and their potential capabilities triggered intense lobbying over where they should be stationed first.

High on the list of prospective sites is Plaquemines Parish, where "we've already lost 24 miles of marshland," Nungesser said. "Everything in it — frogs, crickets, fish and plant life — is dead and never coming back."

<SNIP>

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/20119...

[laughingliberal]

1. K & R for Costner and Cameron nt

[Lena inRI]

78. What sweet irony. . .

. .



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterworld

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[Better Today]

2. I'll believe it when I see it. Till then it's just more speculation like the tophat

the bigger containment box, and the little bitty pipe attachment.

So I'll give kudos for the offerings, but not anywhere near ready to suggest that they have or will solve the problem.

[saracat]

3. But at least they are doing something constructive. And leading.

They have actually stepped forward into a void of leadership. We ordered new drilling and said it was "safe" while knowing we had discarded technology that we "sold" to Costner and we substituted nothing for it. We haven't even developed submarines! What the heck is wrong with the US? Why would we allow so mething we KNEW was so dangerous to go forward knowing we had no safety precautions in place?

[Better Today]

5. You call that leading? We have different definitions. Sounds like offerings to me.

And we may find it was a good idea to offload a failing idea to Costner. Proof isn't there yet. As for submersibles, Cameron doesn't have those for any oil related reason, he just has them.

If you want to get all goofy, happy about 'em and give them credits where none are as yet due, go for it. I learned my lesson putting that kind of faith and hope into Obama's election. I'll opt out of being foolish enough to do it again with these two.

[saracat]

7. I guess you didn't get my point. .What the heck is wrong with us as a nation that

we made zero provisions for such an event and not only ordered more drilling but declared it safe? As far as "offloading a failing idea to Costner", what did they replace it with? And it wasn't apparently a "failing idea" so much as one that the government wasn't interested in putting the money in to develop. And why the hell should anyone care "WHY" Cameron has the subs? The question is with all our military budget is "WHY" we DON"T have them.

And I am not giving them credit where none is do.I credit them for trying and at least in Costners case for having foresight , which is something our government seriously lacked. Costner took the Exxon Valdez spill seriously .We did not. And we have had three presidencies to do so.

[truedelphi]

8. Why it can all be summed up in one of Obama's most concise and guiding

Philosophies - "We must move forward, and not look back."

This guiding principle has done more than allow Bush/Cheny, Rumsfeld et al escape from charges of war crimes. It means that this man who ran against having a Republican follow in Bush'
s footsteps surely must have understood on some damn level that eight long years of Bush left us in a huge mess with regards to all of the contingency plans for disasters.

I mean, Obama had heard of Katrina, hadn't he? Was he not around when the coal mine disasters hit during Bush's term?

So someone please explain why he could be jumping around saying "Clean Coal! Clean Nukes! And hey let's drill off the coasts!" without doing even minimal oversight on the provisions regarding the plans, equipment etc should a disaster occur.

The DJ in N.O.(Robinette? Something like that?) is saying people there are having a hard time just getting a hold of SAND, for Pete's sake. And with sand they could have sand bags and protect some areas of the coast. Not all but some.

[Better Today]

10. Ah, I see that now you actually post what you mean, whereas the other one

was related to leading.

Nonetheless, unless and until, the Costner thing works, we don't know if he was smart or simply gullible in buying the technology.

[saracat]

11. Really? So it is gullible to you to try to save the environment?

True leadership has both foresight and the ability to offer a solution.No administration has possessed either quality for a long time. The lack of gratitude expressed by some for the making of an effort is astounding, and contemptible.
No one elected Costner. He doesn't own any of us anything, yet he has had foresight and is making the attempt. He is doing what our leaders should have done, and he has paid for it out of his own pocket. Our leaders won't even use our tax money to fund research but they can use it to fund war. We owe him a debt of gratitude.

[debunkthelies]

49. K&R +1000

Indeed at least someone, that is two someones, have stepped up for the world of hurt we are in. Not one congress critter has even suggested a solution, an idea, or a helping hand, and definitely not their own money. Kudos to Costner and Cameron for their attempts to help, I personally feel gratitude to them for wanting to save what they can of our dying world.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

58. very true saracat and I'll speak up for appreciation along with you.

Wish I could do more.




Just to put it out there, the thought comes to mind also that the pessimistic response makes sense when you think of self-preservation. I can understand it, since I know that feeling. Kind of trying not to get your hopes up for fear of disappointment.

[wolfgangmo]

67. +1

And to anyone who is going to complain about how Costner and Cameron are just getting free publicity (or whatever other lame excuse you want to profer) then I would suggest that they don't exactly need any.

They don't have to offer this. But the DO offer it. And that deserves our thanks. It's more than our corporation riddled government has done since the Reagan (may he be roasting in hell on the same spit they shoved up Friedmans ass before the BBQ) came to office.

[tabasco]

72. If you pay a lot of money for some stupid shit that will never work,

yes, you are gullible.

[saracat]

101. Wow.There is a lot I could say to this but I won't. because your post speaks for itself

Nothing ever was successful without someone who first cared enough to TRY.

[BeFree]

14. But, you see

Costner just doesn't understand. Everybody else does, but Kevin just doesn't get it.

****

Thanks, saracat, for caring.

[defendandprotect]

79. There should be a ban on any further rigs in Gulf until we can separate oil from water . . .quickly!

And no one should say "no" to this until we find out the true dimensions of this

destruction in the Gulf -- the full repercussions.

[ChiciB1]

39. FWIW... I'm NO Obamabot & I'm So Over The HOPE & CHANGE Message

myself! If anyone has read any of my posts it would be very clear that I'm really pissed about the way things are getting or NOT getting done!

I have plenty to say about what is lacking in this country, but for now ANYTHING we can try should be tried!

Believe me, I'm ONE of the "dreaded" liberals around here and have taken my share of crap from many here because of it!

It's a SHAME that we're in this mess, but that's really the bottom line! A SHAMEFUL MESS!!

[MissDeeds]

56. +1000 n/t

[wolfgangmo]

66. Ain't no one so cynical as an idealist who first opens his eyes.

And that sound's like you brother.

Don't worry, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Just keep walking as stop paying attention to what can't happen and focus on what can.

[Mark D.]

97. The Solution

Is not required to get involved. What's lacking isn't a solution, it's the urgency that would find one faster. If it will take hundreds or thousands of these to stop it, as soon as a few are in the water and proven to work, more should be built asap. The company making them, and the fanciers of it can't keep up with the demand, should they work. But there are major engineering companies that could get involved. The US govt could pay with a later demand BP reimburse them. Other naval fleets from other nations can help deploy them. Other oil companies (Exxon/Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell) could have spare tankers with siphons adding tubes to the miserable tiny one BP has there. The corporations of the world, the nations of the world, need to see this as a world emergency now. Not waiting until Plan X,Y, and Z are being uselessly deployed by BP and the coast guard, which are acting pretty much alone now (well, with the help of two Hollywood guys). While no nation in the world knows how to stop this, if every nation that could DID get involved, the way to stop it would appear much more quickly, and be much easier to put in place. That cannot be disputed.

[stray cat]

4. Is the EPA only going to quote what they can't do or are they capable of fixing anything?

[phleshdef]

41. Wow, do you even understand what the EPA is?

Another person running their mouth and obviously not having any understanding of what certain government agencies even do.

[defendandprotect]

80. Given oil industry control over EPA, I'd say they're mainly in destruction business . . .

like all out other government agencies taken over by "too big to fail corporations" -- !!

Monsanto's FDA, for another!

[xchrom]

6. Well you can't say this isn't amusing. Nt

[happygoluckytoyou]

61. ARNOLD says he donates his droid body to pilot the sub, DOWNEY JR offered up his IRONMAN SUIT ! ! !

[nilram]

9. link didn't work, try this one

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011925837_oilkevin22.html

[saracat]

12. Thank you. It was too late for me to edit it!

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. You are telling me that James Cameron has ROVs

capable of operating at that depth? Why am I skeptical?

[scarletwoman]

17. The Titanic is 2.5 miles deep. Cameron's ROVs have gone there.

http://www.deepimage.co.uk/wrecks/titanic/titanic%20pages/titanic-exploration.htm

15 years later James Cameron's ROV's in 2001 were so advanced and so sophisticated that they could be operated by careful hands to penetrate deeper and further inside the wreck (Titanic) than anyone had done before.

[saracat]

19. And we actually don't know what he has available now. But he is offering assistance

which is more than most. He may actually have newer ones that go deeper.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Remember watching that program

and the ROV clearly said Russian Institute of Science on the side.

There is more, the ROV did not have the toys to manipulate anything at that depth. Alvin can do that. That is go down to that depth and take a look

Oh and that woudl be a PRIVATE contractor anyway... isn't it?

[saracat]

18. Well his subs went down as far as the Titanic, so I really don't know.

They are superior to anything the Navy or the Maries have.

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. That they used RUSSIAN subs

from the Academy of sciences. They MIGHT have the outside toys to work things around... alas they are research vessels that belong to ANOTHER government. Alvin does not have the tools.

Facts are that we have to face facts... we have a faustian choice at this point... which PRIVATE contractor do you want to hire? We don't have the capacity.

Should the US Government have the capacity? YES... but we don't... and I blame Reagan on for this going down that rabbit hole. Yet I chose to live in reality and at this point... the only folks who have that capacity are PRIVATE contractors...

I cannot wait for the US Government to buy one of these things, train a crew and deploy it.

[saracat]

35. I dunno, Cameron has volunteered his subs.Where they come from I don't care

[nadinbrzezinski]

43. But YOUR government might, something 'bout territorial waters

and once again, he does have a Turtle... which is the predecessor to Alvin. The Turtle also does not have the capacity to do this.

Trust me, I WISH IT WAS DIFFERENT... but this is very specialized equipment, and we need to stop fantasizing and face facts. They are ugly, but they are facts.

[saracat]

70. But neverthe less, whatever he has , he is offering it , and all nations should be

contributing to help with this so I really don't think it matters a damn who made the subs.When our ships go to help in crisis, no one screams that they are American.

[ProSense]

92. "Why am I skeptical?"

Because this entire claim is bogus. BP has ROVs. That's not the problem.

[saracat]

100. What is wrong with you? What is bogus? Costner DID buy technology and develop it. Cameron does have

subs he offered. Why does that bother you? And why are you so diligent in defending BP?

[ProSense]

103. What the hell is wrong with you?

If you want to believe Costner is going to save the Gulf, go ahead.

[saracat]

104. All I have said is he is TRYING. And I used some irony in the description of his efforts. I laud him

for TRYING and making an effort unlike our government who is actually allowing further drilling to proceed! And lacks even the imagination to TRY. WE simply can't innovate without TRYING. Absolutely nothing happens without imagination and effort. ALL we get are statements just like Condi's:"WE could never have anticipated, blah . blah, blah." WE should have "anticipated" because any fool knew drilling wasn't safe. And it should never have been allowed to proceed without being safe.
No matter what Costner's machine ends up doing , you cannot deny he "anticipated" leaks and is "TRYING " to find a solution.

[undeterred]

15. James Cameron didn't come up with the technology on his own.

[saracat]

16. Where do i say he did? I said as did the article Costner "bought " the

oil clearing technology from the EPA in 1989. Cameron has volunteered his subs. I didn't say Cameron designed the subs. He owns several subs.

[amborin]

21. knr

[Divine Discontent]

23. that's what heroes do. very glad he has used his wealth to work on solutions for the world.

[ChiciB1]

24. Since Nothing Has Worked So Far, Why Is ANYONE Having A Problem

with Kostner & Cameron at least TRYING to do something positive?? And it seems they have plunked down a lot of money of their own to boot!! Now, one could say that they are being "opportunistic" or call this attempt many different things, but at least THEY are sticking their necks out trying to do something POSITIVE!

Seems like MOST influential important and/or political people are doing that "fiddling while burning thingey" at this point in time! ROME was a fascinating EMPIRE ONCE!!

I'm just now hearing about all of this so I don't claim to be all that educated or knowledgeable here, but I DO applaud the mere FACT that they are willing to DO SOMETHING!!

Seems that being dismissive of what they are trying is also being a little trite! If I'm drowning and someone extends me a hand, I don't think I would have to mull over what my response would be! Calling out ulterior motives would have to come AFTER THE FACT, IMHO!!

[saracat]

25. Honest to God, it is unbelievable that folks aren't grateful.

But what can one expect when one sees posts like some are making "hoping Jindal will fail". Seriously. I don't give a damn who is helping and what their politcal affiliation or occupation is. I am grateful.

[emilyg]

30. I am grateful, too. K/R

[Jakes Progress]

31. They would rather the whole gulf be clogged with oil

than have someone suggest that Obama isn't the greatest hero ever. Any suggestion that someone is doing more must be trashed and pooped on.

[William Z. Foster]

45. it has gone too far

We have sunk into some horrible pit of moral depravity. The privatization doctrine is being applied - and applauded and defended by many Democrats - to the response to this catastrophe, and we have people more concerned about how this will play in the partisan political arena then they are about the unfolding disaster.

At what point will we say that the privatization of all things - including our very survival it seems - and the ascendancy of petty partisan politics - to the point that nothing can be seen outside of those parameters, even when the public welfare is at great risk - have just simply gone too far and that they now imperil all of us?

[wolfgangmo]

69. A cynical reply would be.

That you should drop you drawers, bend over, and look and see just how truly fucked we are.

Having said that the US will continue to go down this road. American's are too myopic to do anything but wander in a fog until there is an emergency they can't ignore. In this case that means that they will wander about in a daze, bumping into each other and using their credit cards until another country (or corporation likely) invades. And even then as long as the TV and internet keep going they will still continue to bend over and spread their cheeks.

[Lorien]

90. If any good can come out of this I hope that it serves as a wake up call

to partisans on both sides. Reaganism has failed. We all need to accept that fact once and for all and move forward in a new direction-as a SOCIETY, not as a loose affiliation of corporate enterprises.

[Jakes Progress]

106. To do that we must be able to point at reaganism

where ever it comes from. If members of our party are pushing a reagan agenda, we have to see it for what it is.

[Overseas]

107. I thought we would have seen that after all the Bush Cheney war profiteering

but we got a crop of New Democrats pretending that "the private sector can do things better"-- for whom?

During Bush Cheney Gang Rule we hired companies that could not even provide armor for our troops--companies that electrocuted our soldiers in their showers and served moldy food -- a disgraceful record that was just glossed over. We should have held extensive hearings on how Republican privatization had weakened our national security. Even as they created great wealth for their private shareholders.

And here we are with BP given control, when there are many others with expertise. We are letting the foxes clean up the blood in the hen house.

As you have noted, the government taking charge does not mean that they have to dive down there themselves, but they could review and utilize more options in this emergency, with the national interest as their only concern-- not BP's bottom line.

[dbmk]

98. Maybe they fail to see the connection

..between someone offering help - and that offer meaning that Obama is failing.

If someone came forward with a cure for cancer tomorrow - would that illustrate lack of leadership from Obama as well?

I think there is fantastic potential in the help and machinery developed and offered by Kevin Costner. Don't see how that means Obama has not done what needed to be done on his part though.

[William Z. Foster]

99. yes

Use what Costner is offering, and everything else - under government management for the protection of the public welfare, and not under private management for the protection of BP's investors.

Such a simple idea. So in alignment with all post-Enlightenment thinking about the role of government, let alone consistent with the traditional liberal and Democratic party position.

Yet we have ferocious opposition right here to this idea even being heard or considered, and a flurry of distracting and inflammatory posts to prevent people from hearing and considering this idea.

[Lorien]

88. Because they desperately want to believe that the official line is gospel

"BP are the only ones who can solve this mess. The ONLY ONES ON EARTH with the expertise-and it's doubtful that it ever can be solved." That seems to be the official DLC position, and political points, to them, matter far more than the Gulf. To be proven wrong by anyone would be quite a blow to a months worth of talking points.

The Gulf is not the sole property of BP. Let's get Costner's machines in there NOW!

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BrklynLiberal]

27. K&R. Nothing else is working and no one else is coming forward with ideas...so we should

try whatever we can to keep the situation from getting worse.

[ChiciB1]

37. To Me This Isn't Really About "Who" Is Doing Something, It's About

"what" is being done! My previous comments had no subliminal message or alternative intent!

It doesn't ALWAYS have to be an either/or situation or which side is winning or losing! From my vantage point I would say it's All HANDS ON DECK, the DAM broke now let's plug the holes and stop the FLOOD!!

Right now it doesn't matter if it's the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus. If it makes certain people look bad in the end then so be it. This isn't THE TIME TO BE PLAYING "Ego" games!

Seems ENOUGH time has been wasted and I'm sick of hearing nothing more than rhetoric! I have my personal thoughts that may not sit well with many, but for now I just want this thing cleaned up! I live in Florida and not so far from the Gulf either... so this IS A VERY BIG THING!

I am VERY, VERY ANGRY about so much, but for now... just get this thing plugged!

Thanks Sara!!
:hug:

[William Z. Foster]

42. I think it is about "who"

Only the federal government can manage a project this big. Command and direct, assemble and allocate whatever ideas, expertise, equipment are out there for the benefit of the public.

Leaving management of this to a corporation, responsible to shareholders and Wall Street rather than to the general public, in negligence of the highest order. It is the extreme right wing doctrine of privatization taken to some absurd, and perhaps fatal degree.

[ChiciB1]

46. Sure It's About WHO... I'm Just Responding Now About GETTING SOMETHING

done!! I'm sure I'll have PLENTY to say for a long time to come because I'm very, very UGLY PISSED!!

That it should have happened is just the TIP of my ANGER!!

[William Z. Foster]

47. (ducking)

I know, I know. I wasn't disagreeing with you.

I am talking about moving forward and getting something done. The barrier is that the response is in private hands. We need the federal government to take over all phases of the response.

[Overseas]

108. I strongly agree. //nt

[William Z. Foster]

44. it is not so much ideas that are lacking

It is leadership.

Clearly BP has other concerns besides the public welfare - their image, their legal liabilities, their shareholders, the future careers of the executives running the corporation. No surprise there, as that is the nature of corporations.

Only the federal government has the power to tackle this immense catastrophe.

"The American citizen could appeal only to the organized power of government."

An old English judge once said: "Necessitous men are not free men." Liberty requires opportunity to make a living - a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives man not only enough to live by, but something to live for.

For too many of us the political equality we once had won was meaningless in the face of economic inequality. A small group had concentrated into their own hands an almost complete control over other people's property, other people's money, other people's labor - other people's lives. For too many of us life was no longer free; liberty no longer real; men could no longer follow the pursuit of happiness.

Against economic tyranny such as this, the American citizen could appeal only to the organized power of government. The collapse of 1929 showed up the despotism for what it was. The election of 1932 was the people's mandate to end it. Under that mandate it is being ended.

The brave and clear platform adopted by this convention, to which I heartily subscribe, sets forth that government in a modern civilization has certain inescapable obligations to its citizens, among which are protection of the family and the home, the establishment of a democracy of opportunity, and aid to those overtaken by disaster.

Governments can err, presidents do make mistakes, but the immortal Dante tells us that Divine justice weighs the sins of the cold-blooded and the sins of the warm-hearted on different scales.

Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.

FDR
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 27, 1936

http://www.austincc.edu/lpatrick/his2341/fdr36acceptancespeech.htm

[ChiciB1]

59. AWWWW, You Had To Go And Get All "FDR" On Me!! I Can't Tell You How

MUCH I feel a need to LASH out. My despair, disappointment and complete feeling that "we the people" have been put out to pasture. To wander aimlessly WITHOUT leadership that has abaondoned OUR needs at the core of their agenda!

The WORST realization is how very HELPLESS I really feel! I've mentioned this so many times it's a broken record by now, but I stopped using the word HOPE for most of the the BFEE Era, and even held back early on with Obama! STILL to this day, HOPE is not in my vocabulary!

So this morning I come here after a restless night and what do I see... PERMITS STILL BEING ISSUED!! All I have are words, I DON'T KNOW where to turn or what to do!

As a BOOMER who has lived through a lot of disruptive/heartbreaking times of past history, I will now use the word HOPELESS! I'm depressed to the point of thinking selfish thoughts that at least I may not live another 25 years, or at least am willing to be THANKFUL that I probably won't!

AND THAT is supposed to be a silver lining??? I look forward to NOT being here as a GOOD thing? What is worse?? I DON'T think how I'm feeling is one that others my age aren't beginning to voice themselves!!

And I have kids and grandkids who I KNOW may not fully grasp as yet the CLEAR & PRESENT danger looming in their future! My youngest grandson is now 17 months old and I can't begin to fathom what is in store for him! People tell me I'm to "obsessed" ALL THE TIME and I walk away and shake my head, while my hands shake and my stomach churns!

It MUST STOP, this negligent attitude of the masses is driving me batty! How do I FIGHT BACK when I've been in the trenches for more years than the age of some fellow DU'er's and they think I'm too negative??

Okay, now you've gotten a glimpse of my angst and anger. I'm flying by the seat of my pants, no rudder to guide me, all the while spewing treasonous thoughts about what has happened to THIS COUNTRY called AMERICA!!

Forgive the late response, I was responding to other threads and didn't get back here again last night!

I'm going to the BEACH today!! The Gulf Of Mexico to be exact... right up the road and I don't know HOW it's going to make me feel! I feel a NEED to do this, but I'm not sure I will be in the best of moods when I return!

I'm just PLEADING to get this thing STOPPED anyway it can be! ONE MORE THING!! I'm so pathetically cynical these days that EVEN if or when it may get capped, I almost think it's NOT going to be done PROPERLY! I have lost THAT MUCH FAITH in what I believe those in POWER really feel they should be doing for this country!! They WORK for us is such a LIE!!

Okay, I'm done for now!!
:nuke: :grr: :scared:

[William Z. Foster]

75. lash out

Get angry. I am with you.

On feeling helpless - we are going to fight back, and it is going to happen soon.

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[davidthegnome]

29. So, here's what I would do

Just kidding.

If these machines can be of any assistance at all in helping to contain the spill, excellent. Even if they can't, at least people are making an effort. Are they experienced experts in the field? Well, no. The "experienced experts" gave us this damn spill in the first place.

[Jakes Progress]

32. Here's what I would do.

I would punch smarmy dolts who call other more informed and caring du'ers an idiot in the face. Now go keep your promise. Hope the water isn't too cold.

[Bluebear]

33. Run a warm bath.

[juajen]

34. I absolutely love this! What a hoot, and a great post. NT

[cliffordu]

36. He is fail!!

Vote him OUT~!!!!!!

:sarcasm:

[earth mom]

38. Fingers crossed on this one and if it works, thank the Universe for Hollywood!

:kick:

[lunasun]

40. Talk about the machine has intrigued BP,....

It's been a month!!! wtf?

[William Z. Foster]

48. nationalize the emergency response

The federal government needs to be in complete control and command over all phases and aspects of the response to this immense catastrophe. In the past, going way,m way back in history, this has been done for catastrophes of a much smaller scale. Only the federal government has the power and the authority to coordinate and direct all of the players and resources and get the job done. Only the federal government is charged with the responsibility to protect public welfare.

BP wants this to stay privatized, naturally enough, because that suite their needs and helps them discharge their responsibilities - to shareholders, to Wall Street. Many here are arguing on favor of privatization - I don't know why. All of their excuses and rationales have collapsed upon the slightest inspection and questioning. Yes, there are many barriers and many challenges and many problems. Smashing through those is the very reason we have a federal government in the first place. Only the federal government can overcome those problems.

This would be a bold and politically risky move for any politician. The way to have the president's back is to demand complete federal takeover of the relief effort. That gives the president the "cover" he needs - if he is in fact willing to go to bat for the public at the expense of the corporations. We can only hope that he will change, that he will do that. He will not and cannot without public pressure, without our demand for action. No politician can act without that.

We are way past the point of petty bickering about Obama - love him or hate him. We are way past the point of worrying about partisan political advantage. I don't care who gets blamed for this from the past, nor what commissions are being formed or legislation is being planned for the future. The emergency is happening right now.

It is the federal government that must take complete charge of this, and it is the president - no matter who it happens to be - who must take the leadership role. Our job - our patriotic duty and moral obligation - is to demand this particular action - that federal government, the White House and the President must take total command an control over this project. Not to "get the leak plugged and BP knows how to do that and this is not simple and what is your plan and blah blah blah" but rather to have centralized, forceful and robust command and control of the entire situation from the federal government, directed right out of the White House.

We have witnessed outrageous abuse of executive authority over the last few years. We have seen executive authority extended into all aspects of our lives, and the Bill of Rights routinely ignored. Now, when we desperately need executive action, when it is in the public benefit rather than being directed at the public, when it is legal and appropriate, it is shockingly missing and people are arguing against it.

Responding to emergencies like this and protecting the public welfare is the very reason we have government. It is the reason we grant executive authority, it is why we have a president.

[onpatrol98]

63. The Federal Government Is In Charge

The federal government is in charge. Private interests haven't picked up the President's toy ball and run away.

I'm from Mississippi and this spill on top of an already struggling economy is horrible. The gulf coast ecosystem is unlikely to recover in my lifetime as this spill continues to spread.

At the moment, I don't give a rat's behind about covering the President's back. I want this fixed. I'm assuming he turned it over to BP because he doesn't know what to do and thinks BP should.

So, to me, he's handed this ball over to someone else...heck, anyone else. Thinking BP could handle it is kind of like Bush's fly over for Katrina to me. And a heck of a lot more people are going to be affected for years to come.

Well, whatever. I just want it fixed. I don't care who fixes it. I just hope it gets fixed soon. And, anyone who can lend a hand is just fine with me.

Like every president, President Obama is a politician, and a darn good one. He doesn't need me to watch his back. I guarantee no expense will be spared in preparing for his next election run. I leave political ramifications to him. For all I care, he can blame the oil cleanup mess on George Bush.

Right now, I want everyone with a willing heart and mind to lend a hand with this spill. So, I thank the poster for this article. It was just what I needed. It's good to see people from all sorts of backgrounds get together to fix a problem. To me, that's what being an American means.

In a sense, that's what happened with Katrina. People from around the US and beyond felt the leadership vacuum and did what they could to lend a hand. Where the federal government was big and slow (and clueless) to respond, private citizens, companies, organizations, and churches were more nimble and in tune with what people needed on the ground.

The federal government spent its time trying to figure out how to start and what to do next. It was one big, bureaucratic mess.

[William Z. Foster]

74. no it isn't

Salazar himself said that if BP keeps screwing up that then they may have to "push them out of the way and take over."

The "big bureaucratic mess" is not, as the right wingers will say and as you imply, because the government can't do anything right, but rather because deferring to private interests - privatizing the emergency response in essence - has caused chaos and confusion.

[onpatrol98]

76. big bureaucratic mess

I believe at this very moment, the federal government is looking for an effective way to cover its rear end. I believe it does that regardless of who is in the White House. And, I believe this happens consistently from one president to the next. I do not believe our president, President Obama, has done or could have done anything about this in his limited time in office.

I am sorry, but our federal government from time to time screws up. It happens.

I meant merely to imply that the federal government by virtue of being the federal government IS in charge regardless of the words that continue to pour out of the hapless political mouths of ANY politician at a press conference.

This is simply an attempt to make sure that we (the voting population) hang this catastrophe around the necks of BP and not around their own. We already blame BP.

[William Z. Foster]

93. thanks

The libertarian propagandists have done their work, and done it well.

I will let FDR respond to those arguing against government intervention, control and command over the response to this emergency.

For too many of us the political equality we once had won was meaningless in the face of economic inequality. A small group had concentrated into their own hands an almost complete control over other people's property, other people's money, other people's labor - other people's lives. For too many of us life was no longer free; liberty no longer real; men could no longer follow the pursuit of happiness.

Against economic tyranny such as this, the American citizen could appeal only to the organized power of government. The collapse of 1929 showed up the despotism for what it was. The election of 1932 was the people's mandate to end it. Under that mandate it is being ended.

The royalists of the economic order have conceded that political freedom was the business of the government, but they have maintained that economic slavery was nobody's business. They granted that the government could protect the citizen in his right to vote, but they denied that the government could do anything to protect the citizen in his right to work and his right to live.

The brave and clear platform adopted by this convention, to which I heartily subscribe, sets forth that government in a modern civilization has certain inescapable obligations to its citizens, among which are protection of the family and the home, the establishment of a democracy of opportunity, and aid to those overtaken by disaster.

Governments can err, presidents do make mistakes, but the immortal Dante tells us that Divine justice weighs the sins of the cold-blooded and the sins of the warm-hearted on different scales.

Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.

http://www.austincc.edu/lpatrick/his2341/fdr36acceptancespeech.htm

[Lorien]

91. Spot on. nt

[defendandprotect]

82. Agree . . . and obama/Salazar are quite uncertain about BP's performance ...

if you read latest articles --

Obvious a long time ago -- two weeks -- that BP was a dishonest and inept company --

their record shows that.

Great post!

[pundaint]

50. What a neat idea - if it works, let's make sure we build 'em in America - we'll need lots of them.

[Kolesar]

51. I didn't know that clerks who worked for the EPA were certified for deep sea diving

sarcasm

[howard112211]

52. LoL. Tell me again the "noble savage" doesn't get shit done.

[pecwae]

53. The more involved

with the deep pockets to back any device that might help the better AFAIC. One doesn't examine the teeth of gift horse.


The bitching and questioning would be nil if the money was, instead, going to a political campaign; you know, a 'worthy' cause. Sheesh!

[Technodaoist]

54. "Of course, they need to meet regulations with respect to discharge."

Of course, Mr. BP Executive... We'd hate to think if something went wrong and oil were released into the environemnt...

[caraher]

68. Exactly what I was thinking!

As if Costner's machines could possibly WORSEN the water quality...

[Autumn Colors]

55. article not at link

I get this when I click:

"Seattle Times - You have tried to access a page that does not exist or has been disabled. You will be automatically redirected to seattletimes.com in ten seconds"

[saracat]

102. See post 9! Corrected link!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

57. "Of course, they need to meet regulations..."--BP spokesprig Proegler

Sniffing immaculately, spokesprig Proegler's wagging finger took the foreground as he imperiously (and ass-coveringly) reproved waiting reporters for their eternally naive hope for some spark of humanity to well forth from those responsible for the well.

[valerief]

60. Costner needs to meet regulations but apparently BP is virtually exempt from all regulations.

Whore pols who allowed this to happen suck big time.

[davidwparker]

62. Interesting.

A caller to Randi made it really clear: Powers don't want anything in the Gulf except for oil rigs.

Makes sense. If everything is dead, then put up more rigs. Easier than having war made against us for our resources.

[Love Bug]

64. What does it say about our government that private individuals

whose day jobs are ENTERTAINMENT have to come up with solutions and offer help? 30 years of anti-science Jesus-is-coming-so-why-bother policy-making has had it's toll.

40 years after the first Earth Day and we're right back where we started. No wonder the older members on DU are so depressed about this disaster. We remember the pollution and marches and stiving to get Congress to pass environmental protection laws but who was watching the watchers?

[Lorien]

86. Plus 30 years of repeating Reagan's mantra that government can do nothing

and private business is the only answer. It became a sick self fulfilling prophecy by design.

[NorthCarolina]

65. Damn that hotbed of evil Liberalism called Hollywood.

:sarcasm: Once again, Liberals ride to the rescue of dumbass Conservatives.

[liberation]

73. Hollywood is libertine, not liberal ;-)

A common mistake.

[Shining Jack]

71. K&R

That's really depressing.

[ProSense]

77. "Talk about the machine has intrigued BP"

What a joke.

There is absolutely nothing new about this technology so why is BP intrigued?

The other thing is given the magnitude of the catastrohpe what exactly is 200 gallons per minute going to do? Why isn't BP trying to rent a submersible to try to stop the gusher?

With oil washing up on a portion of southeastern Louisiana's swampy edges, word of Costner's devices and their potential capabilities triggered intense lobbying over where they should be stationed first.

High on the list of prospective sites is Plaquemines Parish, where "we've already lost 24 miles of marshland," Nungesser said. "Everything in it — frogs, crickets, fish and plant life — is dead and never coming back."

Costner's infomericial aside, the cleanup is underway.

Oil Cleanup Efforts Continue to Build in Louisiana

Response personnel and Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Teams, along with hundreds of volunteers, continue to clean the Louisiana coastal areas impacted by the Deepwater BP oil spill. Approximately 400 people, more than 300 vessels and 45 aircraft are on-scene in Iberia, Jefferson, Lafourche, Plaquemines, and Terrebonne Parishes investigating reports of oil, cleaning impacted areas and evaluating response efforts to ensure the oil is removed with the most environmentally responsible methods.

link

[Desertrose]

81. Good for him. At this point getting help is more important than who is

giving it or claiming the credit.

Thank you Kevin Costner...and everyone else out there working so hard on this mess.

[defendandprotect]

83. Kevin Costner is to be hugely credited . . . we need more thinking like that in govenrment ....

[Lorien]

85. +1. I never much cared for his work as an actor, but this is far more imporatant

than any film. Kudos to Costner for leading on this issue!

[defendandprotect]

94. Know what you mean . . .

but he's kind of snuck up on me . . .

Liked his role as Jim Garrison in JFK -- but evidently, he believes Oswald acted alone!

Nonetheless, think he did a good job.

Bull Durham, also ridiculous, but amusing -- sensitive role - but don't know if he had

anything to do with production of it.

Dances With Wolves . . . ridiculous in many ways . . . but anytime anyone is showing the

humanity of the Native American and cruelty of the invaders/destroyers, I'm for it!

And compassion for animal-life.

But, for the main point, someone who looked ahead as government and oil industry should

have been doing!



:)

[Lorien]

84. Is anyone taking Cameron up on his offer?

Have the submersibles been shipped to the site?

[ProSense]

89. Facts:

Presently, a total of nine ROVs are deployed for various purposes in addressing the spill in the Gulf. Some are engaged in monitoring the well. Others are supporting attempts to activate the blowout preventer. An ROV is presently being used to hold a wand to spray dispersant into oil at the seabed.

link

VIDEO RELEASE: ROVs make preparations for top kill procedure

[izzybeans]

95. opps wrong place

[greencharlie]

87. but I read that it only processes like 200 gph... that's literally nothing. nt

[saracat]

105. Yeah, like "some say" WHY BOTHER?

:sarcasm: You have to begin somewhere.

[izzybeans]

96. It seems to me that the media are failing to report a number of things

unlike Katrina, they aren't deploying media resources to the sites to tell the story, and second they clearly are not reporting what exactly the federal and state government response has really been.

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/543103/

[bertman]

109. Those of us who think there should be a concerted effort by our government and lots

of other experts and individuals/companies who have ideas and/or equipment to offer just do not understand how bureaucracy works. Unless the person at the top of the power pyramid (President Obama???) gives the order for everyone to stop covering their own asses and expedite the work toward a solution it's one big CYA exercise with every level making sure they are not going to take the blame. EVEN when the head honcho gives the order to expedite for an emergency there are STILL going to be huge bottlenecks just due to the size of the bureaucracy.

I think that's a big part of what we are facing now. And it won't get resolved until the President shows the leadership to kick ass and take names. My personal opinion is that he doesn't have it in him to do that.

We needed leadership, and I mean inspired leadership, on this from Day One of the crisis. It seems that the leadership is all coming from BP and it's not the kind of leadership we need.

Thank goodness there are individuals like Costner and Cameron who give a damn and are willing to try to do something.

Kick.