To President Obama: Carpe Diem!

[earth mom]

This is your moment President Obama, seize the day and make a difference!

Kick BP the hell out of the gulf, seize control of the spill and do it for your daughters sake if nothing else!

:kick:

K & R this OP if you agree.

And to all who want to flame this OP and stir up shit: this is NOT a political issue, so don't bother spewing your bullshit here. I simply won't reply to it.

[tabatha]

1. Obama cannot do it.

The US government does not have the equipment to work at such depths.
Only BP has.

[xchrom]

3. Please provide links to prove that only BP

Has this equipment and please provide links
that the government cannot at least on a temporary
basis acquire the necessary tools and equipment and
personell needed to do the job.

I want to see absolute and definitive proof that only
BP can achieve this level of incompetance.
Cause that's what we are talking about.

[shireen]

6. these aren't cookie-cutter oil drilling parts ...

each company has their own methods and equipment configurations. It's a very specialized field so the government cannot easily get hold of other contractors at such short notice. They have no choice but deal with BP, I believe, because of they need the immediate access to specific types of equipment that BP has.

I can't find the definitive proof you need, I'm just aware of the complexities of these operations.

It would be nice if we had a sort of citizens' clearinghouse forum where these sorts of questions can be submitted, and answered by experts with better technical knowledge of what's going on.

[xchrom]

29. you understand -- that's not an answer -- even if it comes from obama

thats commomn understanding with no underlying proof.

im asking you to please provide proof -- links that the government, somebody else? couldnt achieve this level of competence?

i'm not the only one who wants this proof. pony up.

if you say it has to be X and it can only be X -- then i want to see why.from web site after website i see that it can inly be X but not substantiated proof -- lots of appeals to authority without evidence.stop assuming you
know something i dont without providing real evidence.

leaving the criminals in charge of doing a job THIS bad isn't a reason.

[tabatha]

42. There is specific information if you just look.

Deep water drilling is very new technology, and the only people who have developed it are the oil companies.
No entity in the government has ever done it and they cannot start doing it now. It takes years to develop.
Too bad you are not an engineer, otherwise you would understand it.

Think of aircraft manufacturing. Only private companies do it, and if there were a problem, only they could fix it. And not everyone in the company could fix it, just a few specialized individuals.

[sabrina 1]

46. Then it was extremely, to say the least, irresponsible of this

government to give permission to a foreign company, or an American one, knowing the risk involved and knowing they had no back-up system to deal with a catastrophe like this.

I do NOT believe that there are a finite number of human beings in the world capable of learning this system once it WAS developed.

We spend trillions on our military. They should have been assigned the task of learning all that the oil companies know, and then charged with the job of developing a back-up system should something go wrong. With all that available money they Navy could have hired the world's best engineers, just as the Oil Companies can.

And until this was done, NO offshore drilling should have been allowed. This was a National Security issue which should have been obvious from the start and should have been dealt with that way. It is laughable, that while this monster was waiting to strike, we were being inundated with nonsense about how much this government cares about our National Security. It should be clear now that they don't, they never did, and they have sold this country to Big Business over the years.

Even after other catastrophes, this Government continued to leave the security of this country in the hands of private corporations, like BP whose records on safety are abysmal.

It is NO defense to say 'they are the only ones with the knowledge'. Clearly they don't know what they are doing or with all that supposed knowledge this would be over by now. Nor did THEY, BP with all that knowledge, prepare for a disaster like this. And apparently our Government never pressured them to do so.

So, there is simply no acceptable excuse for what happened, for why our government finds itself in this position right now, impotent, with no defense you are claiming, against an environmental WMD which will probably affect more lives here than any terrorist attack. To say 'BP is the only one with the knowledge necessary to deal with us' is even more frightening than assuming that our government could take over.

All that knowledge isn't stopping the oil is it?

[shireen]

45. you sound hysterical

This is going to make you mad, but it has to be said:

This crisis is starting to generate hysteria. I'm seeing similar types of posts at the official response's facebook page. People are just demanding that the government take over everything without critically thinking through what it would take to do it, or blaming the government for everything that's gone wrong. We're all deeply frustrated but ... could ya inject a bit of rationality into your posts?


please think this through carefully ... the government does not have trained personnel or equipment to take over operations to stop the spill. Even if they commandeered BP's equipment, they don't have the training to operate it, and don't have time to get the training they need.

The president has said that BP is now operating under their direction. Decisions are being made as a team. That's the best anyone can do right now under these circumstances.

If you'd like to know more, the best source of information I've found so far is at this website:
http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/

Wikipedia has useful information and links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill

For a direct unfiltered source of environmental impact, check out one of the blogs being maintained by a scientist at the scene:
http://gulfblog.uga.edu/

[tabatha]

16. Obama said so himself.

[xchrom]

30. obama is a constitutional law professor, community organizer, senator

and now president -- not an expert in all kinds of arenas -- oil spills being just one.

your blind trust means nothing to me -- nor should it in a catastrophe like this.

[tabatha]

37. You certainly twist words.

I do not have blind trust in Obama.
No president ever could fix an oil spill because they are and never will be engineers.

Do you not understand the facts?

a) The govt is overseeing this problem with experts from around the world
b) BP has the physical equipment to attempt to fix the problem

If you respond, try addressing a) and b) instead of making generalization about me personally or Obama, and which are not germane to the discussion.

[tabatha]

22. Obama's words

"Obama said federal authorities had been in charge of the response to the disaster since day one, but had been forced to rely on BP's superior underwater technology."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6430AR20100527?type=domesticNews

[xchrom]

31. so obama can fail this badly without leaving the criminals in charge? nt

[tabatha]

36. What exactly did you mean?

The government is in charge.
BP has the technology; but they have better drilling technology than they have "fix it" technology.

Take Toyota. They have engineers that know the engineering of their cars. A problem occurs with their cars. The engineers who know the cars thoroughly, study all possible ways of fixing the problem. There would be nothing that Obama could say other than try everything until you have found the fix.

How difficult is that to understand?

Being in charge does not mean that one can get into an engineer's mind and show them the technology to fix the problem.

[shireen]

4. it's a complex situation

You're right; BP cannot be kicked out because they have the equipment. But I believe they're following orders from the Executive Office via govt. experts -- I'd like to know who those people are, and their qualifications to make decisions!

What a mess .... :(

[metapunditedgy]

5. Why can't Obama talk tough?

This is his golden opportunity to stop "business as usual" and start America seriously down a path of energy independence. I've noticed a lot of people on DU seem pretty unhappy with that.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8442032

Prepare for the BP-sympathizers to take down this thread, too.

[tabatha]

19. Obama talking tough

"Mud, do you hear me now, fill the hole!!!"

[volvoblue]

25. how the hell is that going to fix the problem?

[volvoblue]

26. In people's frustration, many seem to think that if only

Obama can go to the gulf and be ala Rambo and kick some butts and beat his chest and demand Dead or Alive, all will be okay.
Alot of good that did the last president!
Exactly how is 'seizing the moment' going to fix the problem and by the way, what is seizing the moment?
What do you think that is about? Let's swing from a helicopter and drop into the gulf as Rendell fantasized ol Bubba would do.

[metapunditedgy]

34. Why do people keep pretending that only the "disaster of the moment" is at stake here.

Let's get past the talking points... this disaster is a result of corporate greed, negligence, and corruption, and also America's tragic dependence on oil companies.

Until that is stopped, we will keep seeing this crap. Why pretend that Obama's only job is to "plug the damn hole"?

[metapunditedgy]

33. If someone had done it five or ten years ago, we wouldn't be in this mess today. n/t

[readmoreoften]

7. Then have the US military commandeer BP's assets and keep paying their workers with BP's assets.

In Hurricane Ike they confiscated personal property left behind if they needed it. Time to do the same with private (corporate) property.

[Go2Peace]

9. Explain to me why we have government if not to deal with Crisis'?

I don't get this whole meme? In DEMOCRACY we elect people for just such situations like this. Why would we not expect them to be at the head. That is OUR Gult, not BPs?

Sometimes I have to wonder what kind of Democracy people want to build? Sounds more like the libertarian version around here at times?

[tabatha]

20. This is about technology.

Have you seen any government-run oil wells?

[Control-Z]

43. Do you own stock

in BP or something?

There are a lot of other oil companies, some American ones even, who have the expertise and equipment, and whose interests in fixing the problem would be far less suspect than BP's.

I just bet the US government is capable of hiring some of these other people. I believe they could force BP to foot the bill as well.

(Oh, and you know damned well that no one is suggesting the government has oil wells and equipment or should take over and do the necessary work.)

[Bluebear]

11. So our government is useless in this catastrophe. Only BP can save us. Wow.

[metapunditedgy]

12. I've heard that sentiment a lot on DU lately. n/t

[inna]

13. what a stupid, idiotic comment.

Government should be *in charge*, not *physically* doing the work, obviously.

arrgh.

[tabatha]

18. Obama said the following in his speech

a) The government is in charge - everything that BP is doing has been cleared by the government first.
b) The government does not have the equipment, but BP does.

If you think the above is idiotic, then you think Obama is idiotic.

Did you not listen to his speech?
If not, go listen.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6430AR20100527?type=domesticNews

[Bluebear]

40. Ooh blue links.... just like someone else on the team. /ignore

[Captain Hilts]

41. At least this person lets you see where the link is from - unlike the "Pro" here. nt

[Bluebear]

39. See her reply to you. Another one for the ignore pile. Message discipline over anything else.

Enough.

[laughingliberal]

2. K & R nt

[Smarmie Doofus]

8. K and R nt

[inna]

10. K&R

:kick:

[Inspired]

14. It's hard to believe that a country who can put a man on the moon can't fix this.

[tabatha]

23. It took ten years to develop the technology

that was developed and paid for by the government, to go to the moon.

I have not seen a single government oil well.

[Inspired]

28. Yep and that was a half century ago. We should be able to do better than this.

[tabatha]

35. IF .... you are in the business.

The government is not in oil technology.
The government was in space technology, and still is.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

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

[leftstreet]

17. K&R

[Starry Messenger]

21. K & R

[Kablooie]

24. And use this to kickstart a Manhattan Project for alternative energy!!

[Angry Dragon]

27. K&R

[Rockholm]

32. He can seize the message, but not the spill.

It would seem that if the government kicks BP out, then the government will be responsible for the clean up.

[GeorgeGist]

38. This isn't make believe ...

carpe diem is gone.

[pecwae]

44. K&R