This Oil Spill Could Really Damage Obama's Public Image

[Bullet1987]

Every Presidency has that moment...that issue that changes their course. Clinton had Monica Lewinsky, Reagan/GHWB had Iran-Contra, Bush the Younger had a bunch of tiny scandals to built up over time. The Oil spill could be Obama's first. Is it true Obama has signaled that there will be more offshore drilling? Or did he pull back from that? All of the people that were vocal supporters of offshore drilling are dead silent right now. This has been a mega disaster that no one saw coming. How Obama handles this will determine the fate of his 1st term I believe...and it doesn't help that Democrats aren't as energetic to vote as they were in 2008. I personally want to see a criminal investigation opened up. But that isn't even on the table from what I can tell. Who runs this country again? The President right?

[LeftyAndProud60]

1. It seems like the media is really out to make sure it damages him. NT

[ruggerson]

10. the media is out to charge at any President when they smell blood

The OP's list is very accurate.

This is not a new dynamic. The press has been doing this to Presidents for many, many years.

[Captain Hilts]

13. Oh yes. They want a good story that increases ratings more than ANYthing. nt

[Rosa Luxemburg]

26. Did the media worry about President Bush sr over the Valdez spill

[Cha]

19. Yeah, only somehow they let bush slide on

TANG and the outing of Valerie Plame as a CIA agent.. to name two.

[mikita]

2. well actually,

I personally do not think the President runs the country, and hasn't for many years. But it's a nice thought.

[Jennicut]

3. There will be drilling of all kinds until we have some real alternative

energy sources that everyone can actually use and are not incredibly expensive. Don't kid yourself.

[Bullet1987]

4. Alternative energy is a political talking point...

There has never been any REAL attempt to find a solution outside of oil. It's like the cigarette smoker or addict who says he going to stop smoking or using the needle, but he's just procrastinating.

[Jennicut]

7. Oh, I agree. Therefore, we will never stop drilling.

Anyone who thinks any politician will promise that is crazy. We have procrastinated thirty something years since Carter was President and we will keep procrastinating though this may be the best moment in time to bring it up and actually do something about it.

[LeftyAndProud60]

5. I also think Obama probably shoulda stayed a few days in LA. Everyone knew this TOp Kill would fail.

It looks bad for him to be on vacation while this is happening. Obama has some of the worse political advisers ever.

[Bullet1987]

6. I think he needs to drop the nice guy act

It comes off as weak in situations like this when you should be pissed off.

[LeftyAndProud60]

17. It seems like the person behind the scenes is different from the person in front of the camera.

Yesterday when he said anyone can call him directly, u can tell he was a lil pissed w/ Jindal and the other guy down in LA. That was genuine anger. i don't want to see him pretend to be angry just because everyone else is.

[Captain Hilts]

12. He needs to put Biden on a navy ship on site in the Gulf. nt

[LeftyAndProud60]

18. Lisa Jackson should be more than capable of handling Clean up. Haven't seen much of her. nt

[ProSense]

8. "Clinton had Monica Lewinsky, Reagan/GHWB had Iran-Contra"

Those things aren't remotely similar to the oil spill.

"I personally want to see a criminal investigation opened up. But that isn't even on the table from what I can tell."

DOJ Preparing Criminal Investigation of BP

At the very least, BP is liable for the damages.

Beyond that, the notion that the oil spill will damage Obama is based on the premise that he will somehow mishandle the event. The media can spin all they want to, but if spin doesn't match reality in the long run, it's just spin.

The media tried to compare Obama's reponse to the events in Haiti to Katrina. That spin failed.

[Cha]

20. Too bad there's so many

suckers falling for corporatemediawhores frothing determination to blame BP's OIL spill on President Obama.

My money's on the President instead of the hypocrisy and idiocy of the whorepress.

[opihimoimoi]

9. Obama will turn it around and this spill crap solution will BOLSTER his image to that of hero status

[Captain Hilts]

11. I hope you're right. nt

[babylonsister]

15. I wouldn't be too sure about that; he is just one man, and this is a

severe mess no one seems to know how to cure, including the clowns that created it.

[opihimoimoi]

30. Everyone looking searching, hoping, praying, for the magic Bullet to SOLVE, FIX, PREVENT, etc

All the PhD's, Hard Hats, Geek HardHats, pundits, commentators, etc seem close to addressing the mess with a degree of success....

but no cigars...not even a beer

Band aid Level Thinking will fail from time to time::: This is one of them:::

Solution in 3 stages

1. Clear wellhead of debris..250 to 300 feet radius...use heavy lift cranes plus floation systems to move/remove junk

2. Lower eight anchors to form circle around head...use GPS....each anchor has a pulley loaded w 3/4inch braided nylon rope to form loop to surface

3. Create a membraned chute/stack 10 feet in dia....1 mile plus...at top is over flow system into long channel leading to fleet of oil barges feeding at the oil trough....

4. Attach chute to a funnel shaped membrane 10 feet dia top, and 40 to 60 dia bottomwhich is attached to them 8 ropes...slowly lowered into place using ships/tugboats and gps

5. Stage 2::: Operate (5 HP) air lift near toop of chute to assist in higher flowrate to keep internal chute pressure negligible. Recover oil while stage 3 comes into play. Plan to recover 99% of the oil....

a. Biological solution can be used here for the marshes.... Secure massive amounts of oil eating bacteria by culturing in massive tanks

b. Disperse bacteria as directed by FEMA< EPA< DEPT ENERGY< VP JOE BIDEN< HLS< DEPT OF AG<

c.

Stage 3, Preventive Measures...of the obvious kind

hope this helps

[high density]

14. All the "drown the gubmint in the bathtub" people are now wondering "where's the gubmint?"

Give me a break.

[Durtrider]

16. This could be as big as and as damaging as Chernobyl

The soviet people felt betrayed when they were told there was no danger -- yet their children glowed in the dark.
President Obama should have been much more pro=active from the beginning instead of delegating tasks to others and having any confidence of things getting done correctly. He should of called in the Navy to send ships loaded to the rails with oil booms and the man power to deploy them instead of waiting for BP or volunteer forces to coalesce.
Frankly I feel betrayed that it is day 40 and the government is still acting as if they fear lawsuits more than the ecological destruction taking place.

[MadMaddie]

31. Look this man-made disaster is a direct result of 30 years

of "Free Market" corporations will always do the right thing such as buying the best safety equipment to prevent disasters even though it's expenseive.

De-regulation especially during the previous adminstration allowed this disaster to happen.

BP claimed (lied) that they could manage this disaster, it's clear they never had a plan and they didn't care about the results of a disaster of this magnitude.

The new government regulations must require oil companies like BP to have in place at least 70% of the supplies to respond to a disaster like this. The regulations must also require that they report the truth of a new disaster immedietly.

In 1973 there was a huge oil spill in the U.S do you know that the technology they used then is the same technology they are using now to try to stop the gush? That's right the oil industry did not think that it was worth spending Research and Development $$$ on new technology. It is clear where these companies priorities are.

Last thing, the government is not an oil company. The government has to rely on "expertise" in the field. It is obvious that something will have to change.

[Fire1]

21. Who runs this country? Corporations and the banks. n/t

[LeftyAndProud60]

22. He needs to just hire another company to fix it and make BP pay for it later. BP has made too many

mistakes. They really do seem to be clueless.

[ShortnFiery]

23. President Obama should INVITE all companies who have oil skimming equipment to be ...

coordinated and allowed in the Gulf Coast spill area. And tell them that, "Any oil recovered is YOURS!"

You better believe there would be an excellent response and if these efforts are properly orchestrated and coordinated so as to not get in each other's way, we'd have MUCH MORE of this spill recovered in record time.

But first, stop using those damn poison dispersants. Obama needs to get out an order to BP to cease and desist spraying poison into the gulf.

[ShortnFiery]

24. p.s. Keep BP in charge of stopping the leak and OPEN UP the oil recovery effort to

ALL (multinational) in the oil industry with the equipment and KNOW HOW clean up the existing OIL in the Gulf. :thumbsup:

[Captain Hilts]

28. I'm agreeing with you a lot lately....nt

[frazzled]

25. Right, like Exxon Valdez brought Poppy Bush down

Not.

And he never even went there. Just think of it.

[Durtrider]

27. The UK Newspapers are all over this

The UK Newspapers are all over this --> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7783408/Barack-Obamas-credibility-hits-rock-bottom-after-oil-spill-and-Sestak-scandal.html

[senseandsensibility]

29. * had "tiny" scandals?

I don't think so.