What do *I* want Obama to do about the BP geyser in the Gulf?

[metapunditedgy]

I want Obama to PLACE FUCKING BLAME on the guilty parties. Point fingers. Call out names of executives. Real human beings. Corrupted government officials too, if warranted.

Show that this state of affairs is not just the cost of doing business but an unacceptable failure at multiple levels, and will be dealt with in the criminal justice system.

Then point out that the risks of these accidents are unacceptable going forward, and that America must move away from oil-dependence starting now.

Seriously, would this hurt the cleanup effort? How could it get worse?

Anyway, since you asked what I want from Obama... is this too much for me to ask?

[Autumn]

1. Sounds reasonable to me

K/R. It's not like those requests are impossible.

[HughMoran]

2. That'll keep everybody motivated to get the gusher capped ASAP

right?

[metapunditedgy]

3. If criminal charges are tied to the damages, you betcha.

But I don't know if the thing even *can* be capped in any reasonable time frame. And I don't know what Obama can do about capping the geyser. But what he certainly can do is make sure the damages are properly compensated, the guilty parties are properly punished, and this crap does not happen again.

[HughMoran]

4. Should he tell them they are going to jail before or after they cap it?

:shrug:

[metapunditedgy]

13. I don't understand your defense of the BP execs.

Tell them right now they'll be held liable for damages just like anyone else who committed such a crime would be.

You seem to be saying that we should bend over and let BP run the show because if we don't, then we'll somehow be worse off than we are. That makes no sense to me.

[HughMoran]

26. A = B, therefore B = C?

:rofl:

[metapunditedgy]

28. =arctan(7)! hahasmiley... n/t

[HughMoran]

30. sweet and sneaky kick methodology! n/t

[metapunditedgy]

34. Asking people to explain themselves? n/t

[johnaries]

5. You mean like a criminal probe?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x309992

Thank you, NJMaverick.

[NYC_SKP]

6. Yep. There's a process, an it usually doesn't involve calling out before thorough investigation.

It just doesn't work that way, and it shouldn't.

Would a public presser by the potus that he's outraged be a good thing?

Maybe, maybe not.

It wouldn't stop the leak any sooner.

:shrug:

[vaberella]

43. Is this even a criminal case in order to do that?

I don't think BP would intentionally spill oil.

[Political Tiger]

7. I'm sure if Obama wags his fingers at some BP executives

they are going break down and cry and confess to some crime and the oil slick spill will just magically disappear....

[niceypoo]

10. You are the poster child for inaction

[metapunditedgy]

14. You can't be serious. Why defend the execs? n/t

[Political Tiger]

16. Since I didn't "defend the execs" I think the question about being serious

should be directed to you.

[metapunditedgy]

17. ??? Do you want Obama to point fingers at the execs or not?

I never said the spill would disappear.

[Teaser]

8. I want Aquaman

.

[Number23]

31. Which one??

The old school one -- http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LukqMd5Fd9g/R4YKGWuq3tI/AAAAAAAAA98/nsNE85DdAwg/s320/aquaman+superfriends.JPG

The OLD old school one --

or the newfangled one -- ?????

[vaberella]

44. The first aquaman, although the orange and green costume is corny.

He was a real man, like Gary Cooper in orange and green.

[pscot]

9. Show that he understands what a big fucking deal

this is. I get absolutely no sense that he cares about this as much as I and a lot of other Americans do. He gave a commencement address at West Point yesterday. He's appointing a commission. Where's the sense of urgency? Where's the 24/7 commitment to finding a solution? Salazar is as big a hack as Brownie, and he's doing about as well at dealing with this mess. Where the hell is the leadership?

[Political Tiger]

11. That's right! Obama should skip giving commencement speeches

until all the oil is cleaned up and he should be on TV, radio and the internets 24/7 talking non-stop about this because otherwise we are to presume he doesn't give a shit and is just sitting in the Oval Office picking his nose doing absolutely nothing about this oil spill.

If this had happened during the presidential campaign I would have urged him to suspend his campaign because how dare he take on more than one task at a time!

[Divine Discontent]

15. VERY ACCURATE, thanks for your post.

[BlueIris]

20. Yeah.

This is the problem I'm having...I can't make myself believe he even cares. At all.

[treestar]

21. Oh for god's sake

So if he shows he "cares" that is going to cap the well sooner?

[metapunditedgy]

23. The well is fucked anyway. There's a lot more at stake than capping the well. n/t

[Itchinjim]

12. Well aren't you special!

[otohara]

18. Hey, Hey, That's Un-American

Mr. Rand Jr. says leave BP alone, shit happens.

[tranche]

19. he's doing what i'd expect the president to do

[treestar]

22. Why do people think a President should be their personal puppet?

Obama is doing what he thinks he should do. I for one do not care if he does not jump to every demand by every DUer.

[metapunditedgy]

24. Yeah, I guess it's just me that cares about seeing justice done, preventing

this crap from happening again, and all that silly stuff.

[gravity]

25. Obama has to cooperate with BP to fix the oil leak

Placing blame, especially in the absence of due process, is counter productive in fixing the immediate problem.

There will be plenty of time for the criminal justice system to deal with the guilty parties, AFTER they plug the well.

[metapunditedgy]

29. Shouldn't that be, "*BP* has to cooperate, to fix the leak?"

Seems like part of the problem is that BP is being allowed to call the shots. Obviously, that's going to have to change soon.

[depakid]

27. Eventually, we will see the blame placed- and there will be a sacrificial lamb or two

May well go as high as Salazar.

Tell you what, I sure wouldn't want to be one of the advisers who urged him to pander to the right on offshore drilling.

[boppers]

32. "How could it get worse?"? Seriously?

BP, and TransOcean, from top to bottom, could pull the plug on everything they're doing, give us the finger, and move responsible parties (and everybody working on fixing it) to countries with non-extradition treaties.

Never, NEVER, ask how it could get worse.

[metapunditedgy]

33. So you think we are beholden to BP and must bend over to keep them happy?

Because they are our only hope for solving this problem they created.

And that's just fine and Obama shouldn't even stand up to say that situation is problematic???

[boppers]

42. Well, Obama (and his team) have stood up.

My point is that you shouldn't ever assume that things couldn't be worse.

Here, have an amusing link from a site that can suck media junkies in for days, weeks, years....
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TemptingFate

[Karenina]

35. Duh! He's ALREADY, with the help of Congress, gotten BP ON THE RECORD

saying THEY WILL PAY! :eyes:

[metapunditedgy]

36. Money is nothing to BP. Well almost nothing.

Do you favor A) a mild slap on the wrist, B) a weak slap, or C) a small slap on the wrist?

Nothing will change until the greedy and negligent human beings (executives) in charge of these corporations have their ill-gotten gains taken away, and they spend years in prison.

[Karenina]

37. If the American people can summon up the sense

that G_d gave a billygoat (a reference my dear departed Mom often used) HEADS WILL FINALLY NOW ROLL. If not, then not.

[metapunditedgy]

38. Well, we summoned the good sense to elect Obama. May heads commence rolling? n/t

[Karenina]

39. :SIGH:

[vaberella]

45. How can the President of the United States fire people from a private enterprise? n/t

[marshall]

40. Maybe he doesn't call anyone out because that would be counter-effective

It would negate the guilty party's power to help clean up the mess.

What happened to the notion that Obama knew what he was doing, and was three steps ahead of everyone else? I'm sure he knows what he is doing, and it doesn't make any difference whether we understand it or not. He'll get it done one way or another anyway.

[ima_sinnic]

41. so sorry your thread was overrun by the usual shills

who apparently will accept anything from this administration and defend it to the death.

I am waiting for him to fire Salazar and show he meant it about a "moratorium"--until he does that, his words are nothing but sound and fury, signifying NOTHING.

I'll bet my last dollar and everything I have that Salazar will never be fired or even face an investigation. Even now, Obama is "deciding" whether he'll "allow" permits to be issued again--he's waiting until Thursday for a report from BP before he "makes up his mind."
The fact that he would even think about such a thing at this point is totally incomprehensible to me.

The "fierce urgency of now" is like "fierce advocacy" of gay rights -- it's something he gets around to, sometime.

[ShortnFiery]

46. Nope, instead Congress is going to raise our Gas Tax ... it's in the mix ...

for a vote as early as today.

Oh yeah, both sides of the aisle serve their Corporate Masters: Socialize the risk and privatize the profits.