There's Obama's Story, And There's History

John at Powerline debunks Obama's claim that the BP oil spill was a top priority from day one:

Obama's principal revisionism lay in his account of how his administration responded to the Deepwater Horizon explosion. To hear him tell it, the administration anticipated the worst from the beginning and reacted accordingly:

The day that the rig collapsed and fell to the bottom of the ocean, I had my team in the Oval Office that first day. Those who think that we were either slow on our response or lacked urgency don't know the facts. This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred. ...

Q. On April 21st, Admiral Allen tells us, the government started dispatching equipment rapidly to the gulf. And you just said, on day one you recognized the enormity of the situation. Yet, here we are 39, 40 days later, you're still having to rush more equipment, more boom, there are still areas of the coast unprotected.

Why is it taking so long? And did you really act from day one for a worst case scenario?

OBAMA: We did.

The rebuttal is provided by the NY Times:

The federal government also had opportunities to move more quickly, but did not do so while it waited for a resolution to the spreading spill from BP, which was leasing the drilling rig that exploded in flames on April 20 and sank two days later. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead.

The Department of Homeland Security waited until Thursday to declare that the incident was “a spill of national significance,” and then set up a second command center in Mobile. The actions came only after the estimate of the size of the spill was increased fivefold to 5,000 barrels a day.

The delay meant that the Homeland Security Department waited until late this week to formally request a more robust response from the Department of Defense, with Ms. Napolitano acknowledging even as late as Thursday afternoon that she did not know if the Defense Department even had equipment that might be helpful. 

Well, that was then - now the Times is more or less parroting uncritically Obama's resolute soundbite:

Mr. Obama brushed off the Katrina comparisons, arguing that the government has made “the largest effort of its kind in U.S. history” and was in charge of BP’s response. “Those who think we were either slow in our response or lacked urgency don’t know the facts,” he said. “This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred.”

...

Still, there were uncomfortable echoes of Katrina. Just as Mr. Bush cast aside Michael Brown, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Obama addressed reporters just hours after S. Elizabeth Birnbaum, his director of the Minerals Management Service, resigned under pressure.

Just as Mr. Bush was criticized for being on vacation in Texas when Katrina bore down on New Orleans, Mr. Obama has been criticized for golfing, fund-raising and, on Thursday night, heading to Chicago for a holiday weekend while oil laps up in the marshes and beaches of Louisiana.

Hmm, if they really want to make the Katrina comparison they could simply cite their own reporting - the spill was not declared an event of national significance for days.

Nor did the Times laugh out loud or provide appropriate context in their coverage of Obama's resolute Gulf visit:

At a news conference in Washington on Thursday, Mr. Obama said he was angry and frustrated about the catastrophe, and he shouldered much of the responsibility for the continuing crisis.

“Those who think we were either slow on the response or lacked urgency, don’t know the facts,” Mr. Obama said. “This has been our highest priority.” 

Comments

[Comanche Voter]

You know that Obama is lying whenever you see his lips are moving.

[clarice]

Highest priority right after jobs, comprehensive immigration reform, financial reform, leaving no fat ass kid behind and raising money for Barbara Boxer.

[BB Key]

Where Obama is trying to weasel on this is by pegging his actions to when the 'rig collapsed and fell to the bottom of the ocean'.
The sinking of the rig occured a day and a half after the explosion.
The coast guard does know how to properly fight a fire at sea.
If proper firefighting was done early on the rig would not have sunk and broken the pipe in three places.

[Rob Crawford]

Bush was held responsible for decades of corruption of the Louisiana levee boards.

Bush was held responsible for the failure of Nagin to follow years-old evacuation plans.

Bush was held responsible for the failure of Landrieu (? -- the LA governor) to ask for federal help, as the law requires.

Bammers can stand to be held responsible for his administration's screw-ups in this case.

[Frau Ernst]

Clarice, leaving no fat ass kid behind includes Baba Boxer.

[peter]

I love Drudge posting a picture of the First Lady with the word "vaca" under it. Spanish for cow.

[matt]

I'll just re-post my link on a brain dead gov't and the oil crisis.

The photo of that ass and his flunkies at the site today looked as if he hired extras to look serious. He is an evil man.LUN

[centralcal]

Frau! I was just about to get worried - where ya been?

[Thomas Collins]

Rob Crawford, I think the Louisiana gov at the time was Kathleen Blanco, but your main point (that if GWB could be held responsible for Katrina, ObamaLackofCare should be held responsible for SuperSpill) is right on.

[Constable Dogberry]

Bush was held responsible for the failure of Landrieu (? -- the LA governor) to ask for federal help, as the law requires.

Didn't Bush fly down to LA immediately following the flooding and meet with Gov. Blanco (Landrieu's a senator) on AF-1 where they discussed having the feds take over? As I recall, Blanco played Princess Hamlet for a few days and was loath to give up control.

[Janet]

Matt, He did "hire" extras! LUN Ace.

"A pretend army for a pretend president."

[Janet]

LUN Obama interested in tar balls in a NYT reporter's bathing suit!

"...a reporter from the New York Times saying, “Look, I've seen this tar before on normal beaches even when there's not an oil spill. How do we know this is from the oil spill and not just tar that's washed up? I've even seen it,” the reporter said, “it's even popped up in my bathing suit.”

And the President made a little joke, saying “I want to hear a little bit more about that tar in your bathing suit, maybe we'll hear about that sometime.”

[narciso]

Did you see the other link there ar ACe, 'heck of a job, there" in the LUN

[Janet]

Yeah, let's cut the Coast Guard. It weakens our nation...so why not.
Are we the first nation that has ever elected someone that HATES us?
My daughter watched Casa Blanca today, and I always cry at the dueling songs scene when La Marseillaise is sung so boldly with national pride. When we show national pride in America we are demonized by our President, our media, our culture....something is really wrong.

[centralcal]

Wow, Janet. I am constantly amazed by this celebrity we call President. It is kind of eerie, though, because you wonder when karma will finally kick in and catch up with this pretender.

[DebinNC]

That contrived beach pic of Obama instantly brings to mind Clinton's shameless photo op at Normandy (LUN). Deja vu all over again.

[narciso]

I know I get the same lump in my throat, when that part cones up, which as it turns Bogey did in one take, the nod to Paul Henreid. In the LUN, yet another lie by the press

[Janet]

Good Lord Deb..."But after looking soulfully out at the ocean for a moment, he seemed at a loss for what to do next, according to a photographer on the scene, who was scared that Clinton was about to mouth the words "What do I do now?" But then, spying the stones at his feet left by his advance staff to show him where his camera mark was, the President crouched down and began to arrange the stones into a cross. He gathered more stones to finish the cross, and then bent his head as though in silent prayer.

The White House aides were ecstatic. "Wasn't it great?" they asked reporters."

What does Ann say?...Everything is a Fraud.
BTW we better make sure Obama isn't etching a crescent or rhubarb into the sand!

[Janet]

Narciso the LUN says error 404.

[narciso]

Patterico's site, been dodgy today, it's further proof the vendetta against O'Keefe
was bupkis, that's the right word

[bunkerbuster]

``If GWB could be held responsible for Katrina, ObamaLackofCare should be held responsible for SuperSpill.''

I applaud the stunning, if unwitting, honesty of Thomas and others in confessing their utter lack of moral basis. Priceless. Says it all, really.

[boris]

as if

[Janet]

LUN video BP buses in 400 workers

[Soylent Obamacare]

Error 404. Missing content error. Should be Obama's nickname. President 404.

How does the Chief Executive, on the job from day one mind you, not know that the single person in his Administration responsible for offshore drilling has either quit or been fired. Shouldn't he, as a component of "being in control", have this woman in front of his desk several times a day?

Shit! If this is an example of the Administration at full tilt engagement with an emergency we truly are f*cked. What happens when the stakes are more than some wetlands and oil-covered pelicans?

[btraven]

In the press conference Obama seemed to indicate that BP had cameras on the spill from day one. Those cameras allowed an estimate of the size of the spill.

Presumably the WH had access to those cameras from Day One - or could have.

Ergo, the WH knew - or could have easily determined - the size of the spill.

My guess? They knew but felt it politically inconvenient to take charge hoping instead they could dump it all on BP.

[matt]

how about Afghanistan, Soylent. We are so screwed over there....it is taking Brigade level authorization to use mortars or rockets against Taliban in the open. Air support is extremely limited, and the Taliban are always behind the scenes intimidating the people. The government is the second most corrupt in the world, with not an iota of change, and it exports 90% of the world's heroin; up less than 50% in 1990.

And Dear Leader wants most of our troops home by the end of next year. The supposed surge is hanging fire after we telegraphed our intentions, and the last of those troops will arrive in country in September, just in time for winter. It has become the Mother of All Messes. And my understanding is that said same Dear Leader spends about an hour per week on our two front war.

The American people were screwed the day he was elected.Now we are finding out that we are metaphorically pregnant and have a social disease.

[Janet]

President 404.
Another perfect statement.

[Threadkiller]

Tony Hayward: Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Of BP
Compensation: $1,600,000

Barack Obama: POTUS
Compensation: $400,000

He has trouble with all things above his
paygrade

[matt]

up from less than 50%

[narciso]

Here's another example, that Tea Party candidate that Sarah supported former Marine
and CIA officer Vaughan WArd, was done in by
a fraudulent tape, in the LUN, that Politico
glommed on to

[Janet]

the last of those troops will arrive in country in September,
I'm a total novice, so I don't really know anything...
but I worry about our guys being trapped over there. The logistics of Afghanistan seem so complicated and dangerous.

[narciso]

That insane, they have to reach a colonel or a brigadier general to make a decision, that's
no way to fight a war

[Threadkiller]

Bunker once said:

"">http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2010/02/more-catnip-for-libs.html?cid=6a00d83451b2aa69e20120a8e09e55970b#comment-6a00d83451b2aa69e20120a8e09e55970b"> As for verifying my moral code: I consider it self-evident, even mathematical. Reflexivity, reciprocity. It's simple and underlies all morality.

The math he used here was to justify sleeping with a friend’s girlfriend, if circumstances allowed it.

Nice morals.

Any answer on your Martian POTUS yet?

[narciso]

Turnabout is fairplay, in Iowahawk's mind in the LUN

[daddy]

OT, but on the energy front, ">http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/05/china-adding-twelve-more-ap1000-nuclear.html"> this story says China has decided to add 12 more reactors to its current Nuclear Construction Power plans, and is moving on into Fourth Generation type plants and doing huge research into "commercial Fast Reactor Technology."

I don't know the above publication, but on Coal Fired PowerPlants, this ">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/world/asia/11coal.html"> NYTimes story from last month says:

"China has emerged in the past two years as the world’s leading builder of more efficient, less polluting coal power plants, mastering the technology and driving down the cost. While the United States is still debating whether to build a more efficient kind of coal-fired power plant that uses extremely hot steam, China has begun building such plants at a rate of one a month."

On the plus side we are thinking of building 20 windmills on an island off Anchorage

[Janet]

On the plus side we are thinking of building 20 windmills on an island off Anchorage

It is so sad daddy. We are marching backwards in time because the environmental nuts. Why does the green lobby get to trump every other citizen in the US?
I don't want to ride a bike everywhere, or live in a tree. I want light bulbs and toilet paper. I don't want dengue fever and malaria, or tooth decay because fluoride is now determined to be evil.

[daddy]

Narciso,

That IowaHawk link is wonderful, so here it is again. ">http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2010/05/hi-there-neighbor.html"> Hi Neighbor!

[daddy]

Well Janet,

The first story I linked says China just agreed to build 2 nuke power plants in Pakistan and is in discussions to build them in Belarus and in various African States.

Perhaps if we're lucky and Hillary gave out enough Teddy Bears last week in Shanghai, maybe they'll come over here and build a couple for us. I try to keep smiling.

[narciso]

Pakistan and Belarus, what could possibli go wrong there, remember that Simpson's take on
Jurassic Park

[Janet]

I guess I really will have to rent Frontier House and find out how to make candles and churn butter. I am so lazy...this is really gonna be hard. Anyway, the #1 priority will be to learn how to grow tobacco. If Obama takes that away I might as well get on my bike and peddle straight to the nuthouse.

[narciso]

Speaking of what could possibly go wrong, there's this hilarious enterprise, 'from a
certain point of view, in the LUN

[Barbara]

"Didn't Bush fly down to LA immediately following the flooding and meet with Gov. Blanco (Landrieu's a senator) on AF-1 where they discussed having the feds take over? As I recall, Blanco played Princess Hamlet for a few days and was loath to give up control."

If I recall correctly, President Bush in AF-1 was on the ground in Louisiana on the Saturday before the worst happened in New Orleans. By Naggin's own account, Bush was trying to persuade a reluctant Gov. Blanco to allow the federal government in to provide assistance and to get the governor to issue a mandatory evacuation order for New Orleans. Blanco refused.

It angers me that Bush gets the blame for the failures in Louisiana. It infuriates me that the tremendous rescue and relief efforts of the Coast Guard shortly after the flooding continue to be completely ignored.

As General Honore said at the time, the politically driven media are intentionally "stuck on stupid."

[susanne]

< "You need to have people in the top jobs who can actually do them," Obama told Salazar, according to one senior administration official who attended the meeting.>>

LUN for the rest of the article. (All about how Birnbaum got thrown under the bus).

Obama thinks people in top jobs (apparently, excluding himself) need to know how to do them. And his administration prides itself on competence...we are so screwed....

Anyone want to take bets on how long it will be before the wheels go thumpty-thump over Salazar?

[Frau Nudelgericht]

Bravo, IowaHawk!
ccal - thanks for noting my absence. I was in the Seattle WA area for 3 weeks and only got to post once about correcting the granddaughters' misinformation on Sarah Palin. Our daughter-in-law is seriously ill and there was barely enough time to read JOM. (Flossing and JOM were not forgotten!)We returned home yesterday evening after driving through a large storm front that lasted from the Seattle area to outside Stockton, CA.
We stopped at a great Walmart Supercenter in Grant's Pass, OR. The good folks in King County WA do not want the stores in their area and write the most insulting online reviews about Walmart and the people who shop in them. The intolerance of the the diversity crowd is getting so hard to bear.

Following Clarice's endorsement, I ordered the Fasta Pasta box and tried it out tonight. It was just the simple thing for a tired traveler.

[Ignatz]

Howdy Frau, says Iggy from 50 miles east of Stockton.
Hope your DIL is OK.

[daddy]

Hi Frau,

Glad you're back safe, and hope you didn't have to watch too many Mariner's games. Ughh. Best wishes for the DIL also.

That Iowahawk piece is a thing of beauty ain't it?

[narciso]

It is daddy, you know they are going to start
demanding rent from her soon, although his
noir parody, some months back was the classic
of the genre

[Frau Nudelgericht]

Charles Krauthammer asked why we are even drilling so deep in the sea when we have oil on land.

"What happens when the stakes are more than some wetlands and oil-covered pelicans?"
Soylent, we're on our own.

[bunkerbuster]

Thanks Killer! I'm glad you liked my moral math enough to give it a reprise. As for your question:
``Any answer on your Martian POTUS yet?''
Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Thomas Esmond Knox]

Superdome cleared 5 days after Katrina passes coast.

Sean Penn, where are you?

[daddy]

In this wonderful paragraph, BBC Reporter Mark Mardel is trying 'oh so gently' to let Brit readers know that Louisianans aren't wonderfully impressed with Obama's efforts concerning the Oil Spill.

BBC: ">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10179369.stm"> At the Scene

"This is the first major crisis that has happened on Mr Obama's watch and his handling of it has not increased his reputation for competence, leadership or, strangely, empathy."

Love, love, love that Brit ability at understatement.

[bunkerbuster]

``The intolerance of the the diversity crowd is getting so hard to bear.''

Classic. Why do wingnuts have such a hard time understanding the difference between disagreement and tolerance?

[30 day timelinE]

Obama on it from day 1. Well maybe not. Snort.
http://tinyurl.com/392jqch

April 20

In the Gulf: An offshore oil drilling rig owned by Transocean and operated by BP explodes in the Gulf of Mexico nearly 50 miles of the Louisiana coast.

At the White House: The president returns to Washington from Los Angeles, where he was attending a set of Democratic fundraisers the night before.

April 21

In the Gulf: Coast Guard helicopters search for 11 missing oil rig workers.

At the White House: Obama meets with Senate Judiciary Committee members at the White House to discuss the Supreme Court vacancy. He later hosts a reception for G20 labor officials.

April 22

In the Gulf: The Deepwater Horizon rig sinks, while search-and-rescue efforts continue.

At the White House: Representatives from 16 federal agencies collaborate as part of a national response team to the Gulf disaster. Obama travels to New York City to discuss his financial regulatory bill. The president later holds a meeting in the Oval Office about the response to the oil rig tragedy. The White House releases a statement saying Obama is ensuring the government is offering "all assistance needed" in the rescue effort and in responding to the environmental impact.

April 23

In the Gulf: The Coast Guard ends the search for the missing 11 workers, who are presumed dead, at the end of the day. The Coast Guard reports that oil does not appear to be leaking from the well head, though they are trying to contain what spilled in the explosion.

At the White House: Obama and the first family travel to Asheville, N.C., for vacation.

[bunkerbuster]

So now the same people whose favorite campaign chant was "drill baby drill,'' and who're convinced government screws up everything it touches now tell us they're outraged that the president took a whole day to sic the government on cleaning up an oil spill...
I can't wait to see how pissed off they get when the government doesn't do enough to prevent manmade climate change...

[Jane says obamasucks]

I'm bummed out that no one is talking about Sestak here this morning.

[narciso]

I had forgotten that part of the Coast Guard report, just two days out. And there was the
big TV Correspondents Dinner, and the Times
Square plot that caught them off guard, some
days later

[Melinda Romanoff]

Jane-

I feel more comfortable now knowing that Harry Reid has pre-emptively denied any involvement in the "Sestack Deal".

[centralcal]

Frau: Glad you're home and welcome back. Sorry to hear your DIL is so ill, I hope she is doing better?

[Pagar]

Jane, IMO, there is only so much that can be said about one particular thread of corruption from the leftists when every thing they say or do reeks of corruption from top to bottom.

[Threadkiller]

``Any answer on your Martian POTUS yet?'' Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about.

It started here, and has not been answered.
Do you care about any type of dual citizen president?

This is not an attack on Obama. It is just a question.

I don't want to stray from this current topic but I now see the comment section is closed on the relevant one.

[Jane says obamasucks]

I actually hadn't read the other thread when I said thst - silly me. I am just not ready to let go of this story.

[bunkerbuster]

Threadkiller, as I have said before, the president has been in the public eye for decades. His ancestry is therefore unimportant in establishig his suitability in office.

[Threadkiller]

His ancestry is therefore unimportant in establishing his suitability in office.

You miss my point. I said this is NOT an Obama question.

Can the ancestry/allegiance of any presidential candidate be unimportant?

Arnold has been in the “public eye.”