A View of the Spill -- and a Weak President -- From Across the Pond

[depakid]

The reputation of the American president has taken a terrible tumble in Britain. Barack Obama's stock may be falling in America, but his response to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster has seen it collapse on this side of the Atlantic, where until recently it was stratospheric.

The reason is his daily litany of abuse of BP for what is regarded as a tragic accident, of the sort that periodically afflicts America's once-favorite industry, oil. In the British press the accident is universally attributed to the actions of the American rig-contractor, Halliburton, if not the rig owner, Transocean. It apparently suits Obama never to mention this. His xenophobic blaming of BP as ultimate owner of the oil has left his fans shocked and deflated. The blame lies with America's thirst for oil and eagerness to find it wherever it can off its coast.

<snip>

As for the disaster itself, it is not the worst energy disaster in history. America's gluttony for gas has caused ecological catastrophe across the planet. It has wrecked the Nigerian delta. American forces failed to stop the sabotage of the Kuwaiti oil fields during the first Gulf war, or clear up the appalling pollution of the second. When these things happen, countries should collaborate the rectify them and prevent recurrence.

As it is, Obama has come across as a weak, complaining politician trying to blame a foreign bogeyman for a mishap which should be laid, if anywhere, at the door of his own oil industry and its regulators. It is not edifying. It reminds many Britons of another American president, Obama's predecessor.

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-jenkins/a-view-of-the-spill----an_b_607709.html

[Gman]

1. Screw 'em

they can't vote here anyway.

[Laelth]

52. You forgot the sarcasm tag.

One of the most important things that separates Democrats from Republicans is that we Democrats actually care how our country is perceived around the globe. We want to be good, global citizens (as opposed to our predecessors who could care less and regularly shot the bird to the global community).

I hope you still have time to edit your post.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Jennicut]

2. Hayward should not be criticized? Laughable. He is arrogant.

He is trying to stop the press from seeing what is going on. He "wants his life back". By the way, UK has the same freakin addiction to oil.

[Pirate Smile]

3. Gawd, what f#$king idiots.

[gateley]

4. I wonder if they are aware of the cut and paste jobs and the lies on their

submission form -- their assurance that they were prepared for such an occurrence.

If the situation were reversed and it was "American Petroleum" off of GB's shores, I might initially feel the same way, but as the real truth about American Petroleum was revealed, I'd feel their PM was justified in his criticism and anger. I think.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

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

[Mass]

6. Who is this idiot? So, BP has no responsibility? Really?

[Pirate Smile]

7. The British are apparently all pissed about Americans being mad at BP and they are especially

blaming Obama for saying "mean stuff" about them.

Unbelievable.

There are a lot of articles on this today. The backlash to their dumbass backlash is pretty strong. Assholes.

[Denzil_DC]

13. Don't believe everything you read in the papers

There's a coordinated push in the (especially RW) press right now to get this meme out there, partly to corner David Cameron into taking a less pro-US and more pro-BP line because of all the money tied up in pensions.

Jenkins' article's a POS. He's being wilfully ignorant to the point of outright lying--he's been in journalism long enough to be able to find out the specific allegations being made against BP, but he just doesn't want to go there.

This is all mirrored by Boehner and others' flailing, and this is probably going to get louder as they seek to deflect blame anywhere but where it belongs.

And yes, as a British person, it's lovely to see upthread exactly those sort of views expressed against the British as a whole that help to make Jenkins' case for him.

[Pirate Smile]

19. I've seen articles on this issue all over the place today. It is certainly a coordinated push.

The anger at BP has really been focused on BP the Company. It seems really odd to intentionally turn it toward the country because that really hasn't happened in the US. It certainly doesn't seem productive. I have thought about how different the reaction would have been if it was a Middle East country or Citgo.

[flamingdem]

29. +1 nt

[depakid]

9. Not the best vantage to make an argument from, is it?

On the other hand- he does make a good point about others who share responsibility.

If you take the view- as I do, that corporations are basically sociopaths (and often headed by sociopathic CEO's) then it's inevitable that they will behave irresponsibly in a weak or corrupted regulatory environment, particularly where there's been an environment where corporations haven't been held accountable for their actions.

In that sense, BP, Halliburton, Transocean- or any number of others can be expected to cause major problems or disasters- unless they're actively reigned in and deterred.

[ProSense]

25. " BP, Halliburton, Transocean...can be expected to cause major problems or disasters"

And they can expect to be criticized and held civilly or criminally liable.

[depakid]

38. "And they can expect to be.... held civilly or criminally liable."

:rofl:

Just as others have by administration- which has taken great pains to avoid criminal prosecutions or civil actions to enforce accountability and create a deterrent effect against everyone from banksters, fraudsters, torturers, spying telecoms, coal mining corp's, and even food poisoners like Peanut Corporation of America- despite mountains of evidence.

That interestingly enough dovetails with the oil spill- and will be as much a part of their legacy as fouled beaches and the destruction of fisheries throughout the Gulf coast.

[Laelth]

55. Agreed.

Our own regulatory failures are the main problem. Other countries require two blowout-preventers (just in case of an accident like this) whereas we only require one. Our government supposedly reviewed and approved the drill plan (the one that was cut-and-paste nonsense). Our own government's failure is more than half the problem.

:dem:

-Laelth


Edit:Laelth--sloppy proofreading.

[pnwmom]

8. Xenophobic? BP ordered the subcontractors to cut corners. BP is responsible. n/t

[Clio the Leo]

10. I suppose it's also OUR fault that the White House nearly burned to the ground in 1812?

... if ONLY the thing had been made of fire-retardant wood!

[depakid]

12. America's a nation that allows corporations to knowingly poison its own citizens' food

and then use bankruptcy laws to shield their executives and managers assets- all the while free as birds, hiding in their mansions behind the corporate veil.

So I wouldn't be too quick to toss snark at the Brits- because you may end up the next victim of some corporation right here at home.

[Clio the Leo]

16. oh! they INVENTED snark! .... to THEM it's a compliment! nt

[tsuki]

11. He is right about one thing, the regulators seem to have gotten off

scot free.

I want to see that snorting, whoring, corrupt greedy bunch doing a perp walk.

[JTFrog]

14. Wow, that's alot of fail in a few paragraphs.

What a fucking pathetic point of view. Take a big dump in OUR pond and then talk all this shit. I hope they nail the fuckers to the wall.

[depakid]

17. One point that's irrefutable though is that you set your pond up to be dumped in...

It's not like BP's sorry history and the continuing incompetence and corruption at the regulatory agencies wasn't already well known.

The popular environmental blog Grist breaks it down like this:



We all know there's a lot of blame to go around for the ongoing disaster in the gulf. In the weeks since the Horizon rig first came unglued, all the principals in this mess have taken turns pointing fingers at one another. Now, it's our turn. We applied Grist's scientific, who's-fault-is-it-really, assessment method. The results are now in. And the proud winners are . . .

BP, 37 percent
Topped the chain of command on the Deepwater Horizon rig. Took risks to lower costs. Cut corners on testing cement. Failed to implement safety measures like an acoustic switch. Misled about its ability to prevent spills in deep water. Overruled crew objections on day of explosion. Grossly underestimated the rate of the spill.

Minerals Management Service, 11 percent
Long history of cozy relationship with oil and gas industry, including a busy revolving door. A "culture of ethical failure," according to the Interior Department's inspector general, including scandals involving sex, drugs, and gifts from regulated corporations. Allowed oil and gas companies to set safety standards and procedures. Cut back number of safety inspections. Regularly granted oil companies exemptions from environmental studies. Top management overruled objections from staff biologists and engineers about safety and environmental impact. Let oil companies evaluate own performance, and even turn in reports written in pencil that MMS staffers would then trace over in pen. Failure to collect billions in royalties from oil companies -- "a jaw-dropping example of bureaucratic bungling," the inspector general says. Read more about MMS corruption and incompetence.

Barack Obama, 9 percent
Failed to make sweeping changes across the Interior Department and at the Minerals Management Service specifically, though it was clear from that start of his tenure that the agencies badly needed reform. (He's finally acting now.) Too deferential to BP on estimates of the disaster's scale, on cleanup, and on use of dispersants. Too slow in projecting a "take charge" image and getting cleanup moving. Too slow in using the disaster to call for real reform of our energy system (though he is now finally doing so).

George Bush & Dick Cheney, 9 percent
Pushed more, more, more drilling -- offshore, onshore, everywhere. Staffed MMS with industry-friendly cronies and allowed it to become a "candy store" for oil and gas companies. Failed to reform MMS even when corruption scandals erupted. Hacked away at regulatory structure across the board, clearing the way for industry to do what it pleases.

Congress, 5 percent
Weak oversight of regulatory agencies like MMS. Failure to require cutting-edge safety measures, such as acoustic switches. Ongoing support, including tax breaks and incentives, for offshore drilling. Insufficient support for alternative sources of energy. Failure to pass effective and meaningful legislation to reform energy system.

Transocean, 2 percent
In charge of operation of rig, meaning that failure of any equipment, including blowout prevents, was its responsibility. Rig crew may have missed warning signals before explosion. Has vague emergency procedures.

Halliburton, 3 percent
Possible contamination of cement used to seal well at Deepwater Horizon rig. Possible leak of natural gas through cement seal.

The Rest of Us, 22 percent
We drive. We fly. We buy gizmos and food shipped long distances. We consume petrochemicals via our clothes, furniture, gadgets, painkillers, cosmetics, magazines, meals. And we don't fight hard enough to change the system.

More, with tons if links in situ: http://www.grist.org/article/2010-06-03-whos-to-blame-for-the-gulf-oil-gusher-we-break-it-down/

[ProSense]

24. Grist is out of their minds on this

Barack Obama, 9 percent
Failed to make sweeping changes across the Interior Department and at the Minerals Management Service specifically, though it was clear from that start of his tenure that the agencies badly needed reform. (He's finally acting now.) Too deferential to BP on estimates of the disaster's scale, on cleanup, and on use of dispersants. Too slow in projecting a "take charge" image and getting cleanup moving. Too slow in using the disaster to call for real reform of our energy system (though he is now finally doing so).

George Bush & Dick Cheney, 9 percent
Pushed more, more, more drilling -- offshore, onshore, everywhere. Staffed MMS with industry-friendly cronies and allowed it to become a "candy store" for oil and gas companies. Failed to reform MMS even when corruption scandals erupted. Hacked away at regulatory structure across the board, clearing the way for industry to do what it pleases.

<...>

The Rest of Us, 22 percent
We drive. We fly. We buy gizmos and food shipped long distances. We consume petrochemicals via our clothes, furniture, gadgets, painkillers, cosmetics, magazines, meals. And we don't fight hard enough to change the system.

How the hell is "failed to make sweeping changes" the same as institutionalizing the corruption and hacking away the regulatory structure?

And if Grist thinks the rest of us deserve more blame than Bush and Cheney, they're being disingenuous.

[depakid]

26. Actually looking at the facts and public statements on the record- they're being VERY generous

[Jennicut]

27. LOL. Obama is Bush, remember?!

Bush spent 8 years making govt. not work, on purpose. Obama failed to clean it all up in one and a half years. Yet, the bare the same amount of blame. Hilarious.
Where do people get this point of view from? And Halliburton and Transocean are only at 3 and 4%? At least there was the admittance that we bare some responsibly for our way of life.

[depakid]

30. "Where do people get this point of view from? "

Simple.

Obama's the Commander in Chief and is responsible for the administrative agencies- but more than that, he ratified Republican offshore drilling policies knowing or having every reason to know that the agencies were in the same condition and acting just as irresponsibly as they were in during Bush & Cheney's reign.

He also knew or has every reason to know that offshore drilling wasn't safe- as he asserted, and that the consequences could be catastrophic, based on a very similar incident less than a year ago off West Australia.

And finally, it was his administration that approved this particular operation.

IMO, that makes him equally, if not more culpable than the previous administration.

[flamingdem]

34. It's INSANE to blame Obama the same as BOOSH for this debacle INSAAANNNE nt

[depakid]

35. I'm assuming that's sarcasm

As the facts here speak for themselves.

[flamingdem]

36. Obama is not a psychotic oilman. He bought into the myth of safety but is taking remedial action nt

[depakid]

39. According to those familiar with the MMS, he bought into a lot more than that:

...instead of putting the brakes on new offshore drilling, Salazar immediately throttled it up to record levels. Even though he had scrapped the Bush plan, Salazar put 53 million offshore acres up for lease in the Gulf in his first year alone – an all-time high. The aggressive leasing came as no surprise, given Salazar's track record. "This guy has a long, long history of promoting offshore oil drilling – that's his thing," says Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. "He's got a highly specific soft spot for offshore oil drilling." As a senator, Salazar not only steered passage of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which opened 8 million acres in the Gulf to drilling, he even criticized President Bush for not forcing oil companies to develop existing leases faster.

...Salazar was far less aggressive, however, when it came to making good on his promise to fix MMS. Though he criticized the actions of "a few rotten apples" at the agency, he left long-serving lackeys of the oil industry in charge. "The people that are ethically challenged are the career managers, the people who come up through the ranks," says a marine biologist who left the agency over the way science was tampered with by top officials. "In order to get promoted at MMS, you better get invested in this pro-development oil culture." One of the Bush-era managers whom Salazar left in place was John Goll, the agency's director for Alaska. Shortly after, the Interior secretary announced a reorganization of MMS in the wake of the Gulf disaster, Goll called a staff meeting and served cake decorated with the words "Drill, baby, drill."

Salazar also failed to remove Chris Oynes, a top MMS official who had been a central figure in a multibillion-dollar scandal that Interior's inspector general called "a jaw-dropping example of bureaucratic bungling." In the 1990s, industry lobbyists secured a sweetheart subsidy from Congress: Drillers would pay no royalties on oil extracted in deep water until prices rose above $28 a barrel. But this tripwire was conveniently omitted in Gulf leases overseen by Oynes – a mistake that will let the oil giants pocket as much as $53 billion. Instead of being fired for this fuckup, however, Oynes was promoted by Bush to become associate director for offshore drilling – a position he kept under Salazar until the Gulf disaster hit.

"Employees describe being in Interior – not just MMS, but the other agencies – as the third Bush term," says Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which represents federal whistle-blowers. "They're working for the same managers who are implementing the same policies. Why would you expect a different result?"

More: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/111965?RS_show_page=1#userComments

[flamingdem]

33. I agree nt

[Mass]

46. No. For years we could have asked our govt to do something about using less oil.

and BTW, we elected Bush and Cheney knowing perfectly where they stood on these issues. So, we deserve a large part of the blame. Hell, public officials in LA want to continue drilling. What do you think this is?

As for Obama, he did not act fast enough when the report MMS was corrupted were known since 2008 at least. I would not put Bush and Obama's responsibility at the same level, but he deserves his part of responsibility. A few weeks before this catastrophy, he was claiming that offshore rigs were sure and blaming those who were saying it was a bad idea.

[Mass]

47. I have no basic problem with this chart, but I think that the OP is not a good lead for what you

mean.

He is not making the case for corporate malfeasance. He is making the case for absolving BP. In this sense, it is meaningless. My immediate reaction was to ignore it because somebody with as much bad faith as that has noting good to say, even when they inadvertently stumble on some thruth in their flawed argument.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

53. I think that chart is fair but it flies in the face of the article you posted

[amborin]

15. "at the door of his own oil industry and its regulators"

they have a point

while no one should condone the evil BP---and it is truly evil---the Interior Dept's failure to enforce its own regulations, and to clean house in MMS is a big causal factor in this

[RoyGBiv]

18. Notice how he says this ...

...and then offers absolutely nothing in the way of empirical evidence to back it up.

I'll consider this opinion worth the paper it's printed on.

[Hosnon]

20. Damn...the love of money sure works its magic quickly. nt.

[niceypoo]

21. Would they feel the same way if Exxon was spewing oil in the English Channel?

Dare I say no

[Rosa Luxemburg]

22. Conservative newspeak (UK version)

it's just spoilt the Tories' fun

[ProSense]

23. "As it is, Obama has come across as a weak" A letter

from some asshole in Britain basically saying "leave BP alone" means the President weak?

Fuck BP and the guy who wrote this letter.

[scheming daemons]

28. With as much proper british manners as I can muster.... Fuck you, limeys!

And take your evil corporation with you.

[TheKentuckian]

31. Fuck the Brits. They'd lke me much less, instead of weak i'd be an ogre at least.

They can shove our "special relationship" up their tight asses.

[flamingdem]

32. Bloody limey wankers! (definitions supplied)

limey
Semi-derogatory word directed towards people of british origin. Used the same way yankee or yank is used to insult americans. Does not always imply a specific political view, as most americans find the british annoying anyway.
limey: LOL amerikans r t3h stoopid!!!1

wanker - definition of wanker by the Free Online Dictionary ...
wank·er (w ng k r). n. Chiefly British Vulgar Slang. 1. A person who masturbates. 2. A detestable person. wanker <ˈwæŋkə>. n Slang. 1. a person who wanks

[boppers]

37. Rapist to victim: "You dressed too pretty!"

Sorry, not going to fly.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

40. Xenophobic? This is one of the stupidest pieces of shit I have ever read.

Congrats for dragging it in here.

[depakid]

41. Look at the comments on this very thread!

Fact is that about 40% of BP shareholders are American- and they employ twice as many Americans as Briton's so in many ways, the anger at the British is misplaced.

It's also interesting to not that 1£ out of ever 6£'s of dividends paid out to British pensioners comes from BP (pretty astonishing, when you think about it). They're going to take a massive financial hit- and rightly so.

One that the facts demonstrate could have and should have been prevented by the Obama administration....

[SemiCharmedQuark]

42. This is after the British media has decided that BP means "British people"

Not until I heard this ridiculous and pathetic line of reasoning on the Colbert Report did I ever hear anyone blame Britain for this disaster.

Just like when he advised his readers to "take an aspirin" for swine flu and when he defended the Catholic Church's right to discriminate in hiring practices, Simon Jenkins has his head firmly up has ass.

[Denzil_DC]

44. Jenkins is scattershot, and an opportunistic asshole

He was originally with the Times, writes for the Guardian as well nowadays. Last I looked, this badly researched wrongheaded piece that reads like it was knocked up in five minutes was carried on HuffPo and a few obscure "news" aggregators, not in any of his usual newspaper outlets, and not even as a blog on the Guardian's Comment is Free site where rubbish like this can usually be found.

I do suspect one reason it was posted here was because its title slags off the president. So convenient!

And to those on this thread going down the "Fuck the British" route, your anger's understandable, but this is a case of "let's you and him fight." Rightwingers like Boris Johnson and Tebbitt pushing it should ring alarm bells for any self-described progressives.

Don't fall for it. There are hotheads and idiots on both sides of the Atlantic. Imagining slights and attibuting motives which aren't there isn't helping anyone with the current mess, and it's bad preparation to cope with the crap coming down the line.

[LaydeeBug]

43. "for what is regarded as a tragic accident" my Royal Irish Laydee ASS

this was an utter collapse in business acumen. bp is criminally negligent for what they did.

what is regarded as a fucking *accident*? Oh bullshit.

[flpoljunkie]

Dupe!

[flpoljunkie]

45. Well, they're wrong. BP was rushing to cap this well to go drill another one. Pure greed.

BP cut corners, and we are all having to pay for it--from the workers who died and injured in the original explosion to all the people who work in and live along the gulf of Mexico. It is a monumental disaster.

[lunatica]

48. As much as I'd like to point my middle finger at the UK

Why indeed do we not hear anything about Halliburton's and Transoceanic's roles anymore? I've been wondering the same thing myself. It's as if Congress questioned them one time just to say they did and then let them go merrily on their way. It seems like they're mostly just covering their Congressional asses.

The British people probably feel about the way we do. As usual the media is most likely making up their stories.

But then again, we are the Ugly Americans in the world, which at times is true. We certainly were during the Bush Era.

[davidpdx]

49. An ugly piece of crap article....

[dionysus]

50. your agenda couldn't be any more transparent, could it?

:rofl:

[vaberella]

56. That crossed my mind.

I never understand posts like this.

[Teaser]

51. huffailingtonpost

.

[VMI Dem]

54. I like to think of it more as strong centrist appeaser than weak President.

[vaberella]

57. IBTL: This is FLAMEBAIT. And definitely pushing a few right wing memes. n/t

[killbotfactory]

58. I'm sure BP had nothing to do with the corruption of our regulatory agencies over the past decade

Poor defenseless BP.

[Phx_Dem]

59. The writer conveniently ignores the fact that BP had far more

safety violations than all the other oil companies combined. Poor widdle put-upon BP. They're just trying to do the right thing and Americans are being so mean to them.

[treestar]

60. He has to be elected here, where people want him to be "angry" at BP

:rofl: He's supposed to worry about Britain? what for?