Obama should announce take over on Thurday if/when Top Kill fails

[Cetacea]

Announce it on Thursday and proceed with Friday's schedule visit to the area. Democratic senators are increasingly calling for more action.
Polls are not looking to good either.

[stray cat]

1. And he can guard the oil well while it continues to spew forth oil!

[Gman]

2. The government's expertise is not in running an oil company

this needs to be left to people that know what they're doing. Furthermore, just what due process would be used to take over BP and why? You don't just seize private property without cause that allows the taking of property of this magnitude.

[Oregone]

3. "this needs to be left to people that know what they're doing"

So that means leave it to no one?

[Cleita]

8. Catch the Chris Matthew's show rerun in 15 minutes.

At the end of his show he gives a clear solution to this. He states all resources need to be brought together both private and public and focused on the problem. We can't just rely on BP and their resources. He cites an example in WWII of all ships civilian and navy being brought together to rescue the troops at Dunkirk. Here is the story.

http://ww2history.suite101.com/article.cfm/70th_anniversary_of_the_evacuation_from_dunkirk

WW II was less than a year old in 1940. The British Expeditionary Force and French armies, who had been fighting against Hitler’s troops in Belgium and France, were forced to retreat to the French port of Dunkirk. Hailed as “the greatest rescue operation in history”, Operation Dynamo saw hundreds of civilian sailors, along with the Navy and the RAF selflessly risk their lives to evacuate around 350,000 troops from the beaches of France.

Government Calls for Volunteers and Boats
In May 1940, British and French troops fighting in Northern France found themselves being attacked from both the east and the west by the advancing German army. The Allies managed a counter attack of sorts on May 21st 1940 which stalled the German advance but also caused them to retreat to the harbour and beaches of Dunkirk.

In anticipation of some sort of evacuation of troops from France becoming a reality, the British Admiralty, a few weeks earlier, had carefully taken a census of all available small boats in the UK. The census included river boats, yachts, motor cruisers, dinghies and drifters. Adverts were also posted asking for volunteers.

An article in The Times newspaper of June 6th 1940, reporting after the evacuation, said: “At one employment exchange, in a small town, volunteers were invited for a job about which no particulars were published except that it would be very dangerous but would only last a few days”. It went on to report that 150 men volunteered within six hours.

More at link.

Also, we need the Norwegian oil men in here as consultants. It's time for all our politicians to get off their collective asses and do something.

[mzteris]

9. wait - is this a

"like Chris Matthews day"? Damn. I thought that was Monday, wednesday, fridays . . .

[Cleita]

11. I'm not a fan of Chris usually but in this he's right. n/t

[Cetacea]

34. He's been very good on the oil volcano, imo. eom

[Arkana]

35. I agree--to a point.

While I think a total government takeover would cause more problems than it would solve, I think we've got to leash BP a lot tighter and jam microscopes into their every orifice right goddamn now. Stop letting them ban the media from the beaches.

However, I don't think that there's some magical solution that the experts working on this are holding back on. The continuation of this is in NO ONE's best interest. Even if BP disregards the fact that they've probably permanently damaged the Gulf waters, they have to contend with something that is kryptonite to any oil company--bad PR. People are gonna drive past BP stations for YEARS for this one.

[spooked911]

44. goddamn I am sick of people spouting this line

are you freaking serious? This is a national calamity. Fuck BP. Know what they are doing, riiight.

[jtrockville]

4. This is about 35 days overdue.

How many crimes would the government allow to go on for 30+ days without stopping it?
Why is this crime any different?

[Webster Green]

5. Nothing can be done. BP is in charge of everything forever.

The toxic dispersant has to be used to hide the oil and poison the sea because BP insists upon it. We can't legally do anything about it because we have made agreements with BP that they can destroy whatever they want with no recourse at all. We're just fucked, and that's it.

Oh, and the big supertanker/skimmer configurations that would actually work to clean up the mess (if we weren't using dispersant), well they're far too mysterious to even consider. They have really futuristic stuff like pumps and separators. Nobody could possibly figure out how to use such incredibly complex equipment. (well, except for the dudes who have done it before). We better just do as BP says and spray the poisonous dispersant so we can't see the oil anymore. It will conveniently sink to the bottom of the sea, or get caught up in currents, so no problem.

BP is running the country now, so just get used to it. Whatever you do, don't be fussing about it on the DU. That will "out" you as an Obama hater.

[donco6]

37. +1

[QC]

45. +2

[Warpy]

6. The best bet is the relief well

What he has to do is get tough about ending their use of that toxic chemical dispersant. People are starting to get sick from it and what it's doing to sea life must be horrific.

[Forkboy]

7. The people who say he can't do much are essentially correct.

But what they ignore is human nature. People want to see SOMEONE saying something. It really doesn't even matter much what he says, just that he's seen as being in front of the story, not behind it as he does to many right now. Sometimes perception is fair and sometimes it isn't, but like it or not it's a major political factor, which is why I'm surprised that so many who stress facts seem to be whistling past the graveyard. If anyone should get the political reality of public perceptions, good or bad, it's them.

[Webster Green]

10. Indeed.

I though his staff was supposed to be really politically astute.

Hello, mutherfuckers? :wtf:

[mzteris]

12. MAYBE -

he's more concerned about actually ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING than the political appearances and ramifications. . .

[Webster Green]

13. See post 7..

Are you stalking me? :hi:

[mzteris]

17. can't. . .

no big loss, I'm sure. :D

and no - you just happen to go all the same places I do!

[Webster Green]

20. Dammit!

:smoke:

[Cleita]

16. Unfortunately, part of his job description includes the

political appearances and ramifications. Clinton always held a presser for sticky problems, like going to war in Kosovo and the Elian Gonzalez situation where he made his case for his actions and explained where he was going and what he was going to do. Here is where President Obama shows his inexperience for the nation's top job.

[mzteris]

19. by all means let's get him in a flightsuit

stuff his jock and send him down to an AC in the gulf. That's the ticket.

Sorry.

I prefer real leadership instead of the appearances of pretending to leadership.,

And yeah, I think he's doing everything in his power that CAN be done. It may not "be enough" - but if it's all you can do, it's all you can do. ya know?

[Cleita]

21. What does Bush have to do with Clinton? n/t

[mzteris]

23. Just talking about the "pretty" part...

Makes us "feel good" but accomplishes nothing in the end. It's hard to judge Clinton now. I was a different person then. After having lived through 8 years of some ijit strutting around like a banty rooster whose balls are shooting blanks - I'd much rather have someone who says little but does much instead of the other way around.

[Arkana]

39. I agree, but keep in mind that people have blasted Obama for "pretty speeches".

Maybe he's making a tactical error here by not making a Presidential address, I don't know. But just because we haven't had a bullhorn moment atop the rubble does not mean the administration isn't engaged. It just doesn't. It doesn't mean they're disengaged, it doesn't mean they're "dithering", and it doesn't mean they're not interested.

I guess if I had the ear of the President right now, I'd tell him to go on TV. Go over the government action plan step by step. Tell people exactly what's being done and what will be done in the future. Yes, right-wing talking heads (and the left-wing blogosphere) will sniff at you and bleat "TOO LITTLE TOO LATE, MISTAR PREZIDENT", but I think that if he spoke to us directly it would do a world of good.

[Forkboy]

40. I agree entirely.

[Arkana]

41. The administration is NOT "doing nothing"

but by not putting Obama out front on their efforts, they're allowing the MSM to craft a narrative that the administration is "doing nothing". Personally, I can understand WHY he's not playing the reassuring father on TV (because the whole fucking world is going to hell in a handbasket around him), but I think it might be time to schedule about 30 minutes on all the major networks and just speak to us.

A Presidential address would do a great deal to help that.

[lamp_shade]

14. Takeover? And then what? Pull rabbits out of a hat? Jeezus.

[ShamelessHussy]

29. see post #15

[Jamastiene]

33. Well, politicians pulling their heads out of their asses would be a similar move.

Both would me downright magical.

[ShamelessHussy]

15. they should have took over oversight, containment and cleanup from day 1

it is shocking how BP's interests are being protected by the so called gov of, we the people :shakes-head:

[mzteris]

18. talk about shaking heads

do you even begin to try and understand the laws in this country?

[alfredo]

22. Something just happened at the well head. Look at the video at cnn.

It was normal, and then just erupted.

It seems to be calming down a bit, but there for a while it was huge.

http://www.cnn.com/

[mzteris]

24. I'm thinking things are going to get

a whole lot worse before they get better.

[slackmaster]

26. I think the camera moved into the path of the plume

It's happened before.

[alfredo]

27. The camera hadn't moved. The volume of the plume increased dramatically.

[ShamelessHussy]

31. yikes, something is definitely happening with the gusher, the sub seems stationary

but a lot more plume than before

[alfredo]

42. Could the current shifted the plume toward the camera?

[slackmaster]

25. What do you mean by "take over"?

Take over precisely what?

Democratic senators are increasingly calling for more action.

They're just flapping their gums for attention. They don't have a clue what should be done, that isn't already being done or planned.

Polls are not looking to good either.

That's even less important to the situation than a bunch of hot air spewing from the mouths of politicians.

[ShamelessHussy]

30. I think they should takeover oversight, and containment, skimming, and cleanup

obviously this catastrophe is bigger than any 1 company can handle by its self.

not to mention that is the gov job, representing the peoples interest, not BP's

[slackmaster]

32. I agree the federal government should oversee cleanup and damage mitigation

As for plugging the leak, there would be no point because the people who have the expertise are on task right now.

They need to have access to any resources government can provide, but they need to be allowed to complete their work.

[Individualist]

28. K&R

[donco6]

36. There'll be no other choice.

To do anything else is political suicide. Surely he sees that now.

[amborin]

38. K&R

[Ruby the Liberal]

43. K&R