The evidence mounts of bungled permitting, delays in response, and understating the impact:
- U.S. Said to Allow Drilling Without Needed Permits – “Those approvals, federal records show, include one for the well drilled by the Deepwater Horizon rig, which exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and resulting in thousands of barrels of oil spilling into the gulf each day.”
- Gulf Spill May Far Exceed Official Estimates – “The amount of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico may be at least 10 times the size of official estimates, according to an exclusive analysis conducted for NPR.”
- Size of Oil Spill Underestimated, Scientists Say – “The figure of 5,000 barrels a day was hastily produced by government scientists in Seattle. It appears to have been calculated using a method that is specifically not recommended for major oil spills.”
- Giant Plumes of Oil Found Forming Under Gulf of Mexico – “The discovery is fresh evidence that the leak from the broken undersea well could be substantially worse than estimates that the government and BP have given.”
What will it take for it to be His Katrina? Waddaya think, Brownie?
Verdict. Not His Katrina yet, because there was no cover-up:
- White House Allowed BP to Keep Video of Gushing Pipe from Public for Three Weeks – “The White House allowed BP to hide its video feed of a gushing oil pipe in the Gulf of Mexico from the public for three weeks, all the while that same video played live in the White House Situation Room, ABC reports. This startling revelation comes just as Obama prepares to get really angry in public about the spill – just in time to cover up his administration’s collusion with BP to hide the true extent of the massive disaster in the Gulf.”
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Related Post:
“Eight Days In April,” by Paul Krugman
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Comments
It will never be Obama's Katrina. Why? Because the liberal media will never blame him like they did Bush. Just last week the AP wrote an article basically saying how great Obama's response has been.
These people have so much invested in his success that they will never blame him for anything. Hence, it will never be his Katrina.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-05-14/its-bushs-oil-spill/
I blame Le Georges Boosh … and of course, Les Juice.
You forgot to mention the campaign donations from BP to Obama.
Of course by now it's clear that this media will never allow Obama to face any music save their chords of rapture.
Milcus is right, the lapdog media will go to hell and back to cover for Obama.
I will check out the Homeland Security and other gov. agency websites for specific actions they are taking but why the heck isn't the Army Corps of Engineers doing something? Where is help from other countries if this is such a massive thing?
The aforementioned MIA elements makes me think Obama has not marshaled all the forces to help that he could or that he has not kept the public generally informed about the forces he has brought to bear on the situation – literally manpower. I don't think we can leave it up to BP to come up with the best solution to plugging up the leak – is Obama working with some other agency behind the scenes to come up with alternatives? And will he cut BP a break when it comes time to fine them?
I think it is more than his Katrina. It's the mark he will leave on America for decades. It happened on his watch. The buck stopped with him. It took WEEKS for the media to uncover the fact that the safety equipment requirements were waived in addition to release of the video.
If the information in the attached link is credible, it will make your stomach turn inside out.
The story isn't dated, but the first comment to the story is dated May 7. I'm pretty sure that's when I read it and when it first hit the net. The author's allegations about a huge cover-up is starting to look more credible as time goes by:
http://oilprice.com/Environment/Oil-Spills/The-Cover-up-BP-s-Crude-Politics-and-the-Looming-Environmental-Mega-Disaster.html
What's weird to me is that there were a few Lib.s actually starting to call Obama out on this early Saturday last week (Bill Maher wondering why the POTUS hadn't gotten any "s—" about it, the NYT, etc.), and then the story completely fizzled out in part… because of the administration's incompetence in handling the Times Square terrorist attack that Saturday night.
Only Mr. Obama (with help from the fawning MSM, of course) could take what will probably be the worst environmental disaster of our time off the front page… by bumbling his way into another potentially horrific disaster. And then his poll numbers allegedly went up (???!!!- Do people out there enjoy stuff like this?)
The guy's like some kind of bow-happy, political Inspector Clouseau when it comes to news events.
What is the MSM waiting for? The second coming?
While the oil spill has the potential of reaching Katrina-like disaster levels, I don't think it has reached the kind of epic failure that involved 1800 lives lost and $90 Billion damage.
Obama's reaction is the reflex of the narcissist: blame everyone but me. Remember: "what's clear here is that the police acted stupidly."