I did not and do not expect anybody in the administration to

[Are_grits_groceries]

go to the Gulf and plug the gusher.

I did expect that they would draw on all available resources and ask for possible solutions. BP isn't the end all, be all in knowledge about deep water drilling. Other individuals, companies, and countries have some expertise in this area. They probably don't have a solution that is guaranteed to work. However, they have the knowledge and possible ideas to try.

I also expected that the same approach would be taken to cleaning up the Gusher. Why does BP have the ultimate say in that? Just because they are responsible for this catastrophe doesn't mean they have the best ideas to use for cleaning up an 'oil spill.' It may be stated somewhere that this problem is theirs to fix. Paying for it should be, and they should be involved. However, they don't have all the possible ways to clean up this problem in their plan.

It was apparent very early that BP was shoddy and derelict in drilling the well. Why should they be trusted to solve the problem alone? It may be to their great advantage to handle it as quickly and as correctly as they can. However, they don't have all the possible answers.

I don't think that is expecting too much. It also doesn't let BP off the hook. That hook is barbed and sunken quite deeply in them.

[BzaDem]

1. Have you considered that maybe Obama has thought about this?

I certainly don't believe that a company who caused a mess is the only one qualified to fix it, per se. But it is certainly possible that in a specific case, the company who caused a mess IS the only one that has the capability to fix it.

I don't personally know that to be true or false in this case. But I certainly believe that the Obama administration has thought about this, did a lot of research, and came to the conclusion that their approach (making heavy use of BP with some outside help where needed) is the optimal approach.

[Hannah Bell]

2. seems to be working well so far.

[BzaDem]

6. How do you define "working well"?

My guess is that you define "working well" to be what you WANT to happen (stopping the leak) as opposed to the optimal solution in REALITY (which might be FAR FROM being able to stop the leak tomorrow or even the next few weeks).

While we certainly are not "working well" under your land-of-unicorns definition of the term, we might or might not be "working well" under the reality-based one. I really don't know. I'm simply saying that Obama MIGHT have considered other options and dismissed them after careful analysis. (Or maybe he didn't.) But it is stupid to draw the conclusion that the Obama admin is not doing their best just because the outcome doesn't match your imaginary outcome (as opposed to the optimal outcome in reality).

[Hannah Bell]

7. obligatory unicorn reference.

[BzaDem]

8. You talk as if that is somehow a bad thing. n/t

[Ex Lurker]

3. Carville on the Campbell Brown show yesterday said

he thinks Obama cares, but is getting some really bad advice. BTW, I recommend Campbell Brown for however long her show remains on the air. She's from Louisiana, and has done a better job covering this than most.

[babylonsister]

4. I heard yesterday that every major oil company has sent experts

down to give their 2 cents on fixes, so bp is not the only company trying to figure out how to stop this. There are tons of resources doing that; I think unfortunately, no one has a solution yet.

[tavalon]

5. Except the one they never considered implementing

The one where they never do deep water drilling for oil.

My kingdom for a time machine.

[babylonsister]

9. Hopefully this travesty will change the lax rules; I don't know of

anyone who wants to see a repeat of this anywhere.

And you're right about the time machine. :(

[tavalon]

10. If that happens, it will be a silver lining

And I guess that will have to be enough. It doesn't particularly feel like enough, though.

Edited to add: We have to leave oil behind. It is killing us in small and big ways. I know we can't end the relationship immediately, but the sooner, the better. It's killing us.

[jeanpalmer]

11. They ought to talk to Iran

Iran has experience in this sort of thing from the Iran-Iraq War. They're also not a principal like BP and could give unbiased advice. They have offered to assist and would be worth listening to. I would trust Iran to get this right before BP. BP is covering its tracks, like the Government.

[yowzayowzayowza]

15. Wow. Just, wow. n/t

[Are_grits_groceries]

12. I have considered that the administration is doing that.

However, BP is the one out front and apparently in control. If their are a lot of others involved, it hasn't been publicized enough to the general public. That information regarding who is involved should have been immediately released. What people have heard are that commissions and groups have been started. That is vague and not reassuring.

I also don't believe that exactly who is involved and how is readily apparent to a lot of people who have expertise in these areas.

Another argument is that a relief well has been the only solution so far. Just because it has been the only solution up until now, doesn't mean that there aren't other methods evolving now in other places. The technology that could be used if put together is light years from what it once was. BP doesn't seem to have used much advanced technology in their drilling.

Trying to safely accomplish deep water drilling has been compared to the Apollo moonshot in difficulty. NASA didn't just modify what they had learned up until then. They had to also develop entirely new systems and components to use.

The technology witnessed so far has been a big 'box' being lowered over the well. That was developed a long time ago. The technology used in cleaning the spill has been seen as booms and shovels. Those may be necessary, but the technology used overall dates back to the 1060's.

None of the new technology or ideas may work. That is no reason not to consider them and to use them.

You can also argue the case that they have taken these steps all day long. If it isn't readily apparent to the American people, the default images are BP, boxes, and booms.

[On the Road]

17. Meet the Team of All Star Scientists Obama Assembled To Fix the Oil Spill

After BP's many failures, Obama and his Energy Secretary Steven Chu have assembled a team of five "extraordinarily intelligent" scientists, whose specialties range from bomb design to Martian mining, to clean up the Gulf spill. Here's the all star team:

---snip

George Cooper, former professor of civil engineering at Berkeley. Cooper, the team's most mysterious member, helped NASA refine techniques for mining Mars' surface, and lists his specialties as "Novel drilling methods, Drill bit design, Borehole stability."

Richard L. Garwin is also a physicist and consults the U.S. government on military technologies. He, too, is a JASON member and assisted in developing the first Hydrogen bomb in 1951. In 1991, Garwin organized a conference of various experts to discuss solutions for containing Kuwaiti oil leaks during the Gulf War. Garwin brings experience to the team.

---snip

http://gizmodo.com/5539842/meet-the-team-of-all-star-scientists-obama-assembled-to-fix-the-oil-spill

This was reported by Josh Marshall on May 14. Somehow it hasn't percolated very well within the media.

[elocs]

13. In this day and age perception is everything and many Americans perceive that Obama is not doing

all he could do, that he is good at being pissed off and outraged at BP, but they want to see him do something tangible.

People want to see Obama actually kick BP in the ass if he cannot do anything else rather than {i]appearing to just let BP try one thing after another and then being outraged again when it does not work.

Payback will be a bitch as Republicans make political hay out of this and this disaster just might revive the national political ambitions of Bobby Jindal.

The sad thing is that it is moments like this that give great leaders an opportunity to prove themselves, to show people that they are in charge and in control and to inspire confidence even in some who are not ordinarily supporters.

[Are_grits_groceries]

14. And I do fervently hope that the 'top kill' works.

I don't care if BP gets good publicity if it does. Some people seem to think that those that are critical of any part this mishegas hope that anything that they will try will fail. I don't care if Glen Beck has a solution that would work and he would get some credit.

[PufPuf23]

16. The disaster should have long ago been federalized and never politicized

Corrupt government is using BP et al for cover and vice versa while the environment and people are getting fucked.

[HughMoran]

18. Read some articles - there are many consutlants and experts helping out

Along with the Coast Guard and state and local governments. This is a far-reaching operation - don't be lulled into the media talking points.