Carvile: Obama played his cards right on BP

[DCBob]

Any fair assessment would have to conclude that in spite of some people's criticism of the early response, (and by "some people" I mean Ms. Nippy's firstborn son James), one also must give credit to a much improved and vigorous response to the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf. So, let's review the bidding:

First, the decision to keep the unflappable retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen in place as national incident commander, in spite of considerable opposition from some local politicians, has proven to be wise.

Second, when Attorney General Eric Holder announced a criminal investigation into the BP disaster, it was a demonstration that the Obama administration meant business in dealing with this catastrophe.

Third, the establishment of the $20 billion restitution fund administered by Ken Feinberg was the ultimate statement of the seriousness with which this situation was being addressed by the administration.

Fourth, people who have deep knowledge of the events in the Gulf give substantial credit to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and other experts from government labs who were brought in to assist with the successful capping of the well.

more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/08/05/carville.obama.bp/index.html?hpt=T2

The President handled this crisis correctly in spite of the intense and relentless critcism from both sides.

[Aramchek]

1. James is eating his crow like a man.

as should many others who attacked Obama incessantly on this issue

[DCBob]

4. Quite a few DUers should also be dining on crow today..

but somehow I doubt we will hear anything from them other than more of their fantasy conspiracy theories.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

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

[impik]

36. I remember the front page headline back then, with hundreds recs

I guess we're not going to have it this time around, ah?

F******g hippocrates and teabaggers to boot.

[grantcart]

5. Before the President leaves office we may face one of the most critical

shortages of edible crow in history.

[DCBob]

6. LOL!

no doubt! ;)

[polmaven]

15. Then tell me WHY

he isn't taking steps RIGHT NOW to see to it that won't happen.....Sheesh! I mean REALLY!!! this could be a disaster! What could be more important than making sure edible crow is ALWAYS plentiful enough?

He has nothing else to do, does he?


Now....do I really need this? - Yeah, probably do! :sarcasm:

[Champion Jack]

17. +1,000,000,000

[rocktivity]

81. But will there be enough whine

to wash it down with?

:headbang:
rocktivity

[Number23]

19. I will never understand the immediate jump to criticize him on this issue

I chalk this one up (down) there with the idiots who criticized him for the Haiti earthquake response and for NYC giving the H1N1 vaccine to investment bankers before anyone else (yes, there were imbeciles who criticized him for these things).

Oh, and the folks who criticized him for not responding to some frat boys calling black students ni**ers on some college campus in California. That was the face-palmiest of all...

[zulchzulu]

32. Good for Jimmy n/t

[Yavin4]

2. Hmmmm Let's See. Calm. Focused. Determined Leadership Worked?

Really? Obama should have ripped off his shoe and pounded it on the table and yelled at BP. It would have made the lefty blogospher happy, but it would not have been effective.

[Inuca]

3. Eventually people will learn

I hope.

[GentryDixon]

9. That's not what Sister Sarah says.

According to the mouth from Wasilla he is "in over his head".

I wonder who knows more, the Harvard scholar or the quitter half term Gov? The MSM thinks the quitter is important enough to follow around like she is giving milk and giving anything she has to regurgitate credence. Yipes.

[Flying Dream Blues]

54. My God, what a projection.

It makes me angry that the insane and inane, the hateful and ignorant are being given front and center stage, 24-7, and she is the ringleader. Everything bad about America, our ugly underbelly, is personified in her. Her craven, smirking image is almost too much to bear. Oh, and she is a Christian, too. Rigggggggggggggght.

[DCBob]

10. Yep.. he did not under-react nor over-react.

he did it just right. I suspect a President McCain would have discontiued all his other functions as President and moved to New Orleans and managed the crisis directly from an underwater command center.

[treestar]

55. Now you're just being pragmatic!

Drama is so much more satisfying! :sarcasm:

[impik]

7. Oooops.

[zipplewrath]

8. Well, let's not over state things

I tended to agree with most of what Obama was doing through all of this. It was a bad situation and it wasn't going to get better any time soon no matter what anyone did. And there are lingering issues that still need to be understood, like the extensive use of disperants.

However, let us remember that part of the problem here was that MMS was a mess. It was a mess left over from the Bush Administration and Obama has chosen to "look forward not backward" and just accept that the various departments are fine the way they are, unless something specific comes up. He has been asked to be more assertive and proactive about rooting out the mess left behind in many departments, from the CIA to the FCC and he has slow rolled all of it. The end result is that these kinds of messes are going to pop up. He's kept Gates on. He has done nothing to identify the "leave behinds" of Cheney. he has acceptedd the SOFA in Iraq as the appropriate time table. He has stood pat on DADT and allowed the military to futz around for what will be 2 years. And he came out with his own version of "drill baby drill" in the gulf because of how "safe" he told us it was.

He's relying upon Bush era information and policies without any critical review or correction. THAT is a big mistake.

[Arkana]

11. How is any of the rest of that germane to this one situation?

Just accept that the people who were demanding Obama turn into Khrushchev Jr. were wrong.

[zipplewrath]

25. We're 18 months in

He was the one pushing the "drilling is safe" schtick. He's relying upon basically Cheney policy. He's gotta stop doing that. I realize he wants to "look forward" but it's a real mess in there and the longer he waits, the longer he's gonna inherit this crap.

[Beetwasher]

13. You Want A Dictator, Not A President

Obama's not slow rolling anything. You can't just get in and purge everyone from every agency. Not only would that be stupid, it would probably be unlawful and additionally it would be a poltical nightmare. There are processes that need to be followed.

[QC]

24. (Psssst. You forgot the bit about the magic wand.) n/t

[girl gone mad]

31. And a pony!

[Beetwasher]

41. QC's Posts, NOW Content Free!

n/t

[treestar]

57. So now you are complaining that the poster makes a point without

they pony remark you find so painful?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

68. or Superman

[zipplewrath]

27. And they are called overhauls

And we're 18 months in and we don't have the first torture trial, or major energy policy shift, DoD reorg. We've still got the whole Gates team in place.

[Beetwasher]

42. What You Want Is Not An "Overhaul", You Want A Purge And You Want It NOW

Regardless of process and legality.

[zipplewrath]

50. 18 months is hardly "now"

Cheney ran an entire Energy task force in that time.

[Beetwasher]

52. And There You Go, You Want Obama To Be Like Cheney

Nice! Exactly they type of role model we should want our President to emulate. :eyes:

[zipplewrath]

63. It is an example

of how quickly goals can be achieved, if one actually wants to.

I realize it isn't consistent with "looking forward not backwards", nor the "No Drama" philosophy, but one might kinda notice that the spill was fairly "dramatic".

[Beetwasher]

69. I is an example of an unscrupulous lawless cocksucker whom you apparently admire

[zipplewrath]

71. Yeah that's the LOGICAL conclusion

His methodology demonstrates that CHANGE can happen in less than 18 months. But your excuse Obama's lack of progress regardless.

[Beetwasher]

72. Yes, It Is, Since His "Methodology" Is Lawlessness And Secrecy And You Want Obama To "Accomplish"

Things in the same fashion, apparently. Because THAT is HOW he got things done and done quickly. He lied, cheated and broke the law. And you apparently appreciate that. Interesting.

[zipplewrath]

73. He moved fast

He accomplished things quickly (if 18 months can be considered fast). If they were so lawless, Obama should be able to undo them quickly. I'll expect the DoJ to be handing down charges soon. Oh, what's that? He can't find anything illegal?

[Beetwasher]

74. Yes, We All Get It, You Admire Lawlessness

Its perfectly clear, but if u feel as if u need to continue proving that point please do continue.

[zipplewrath]

75. Yeah, that's the logical conclusion

Obviously the answer to all criticism is stupid conclusions. Stick with that, I'm sure it will let you sleep at night.

[Beetwasher]

77. Yes, It Is, Since You Keep Saying Over and Over How Cheney Was "Able To Ge Stuff Done Quickly"

There's a reason why he was able to get stuff done. He ignored laws, trampled over anyone who got in his way and shot people in the face.

And you want Obama to be like that. That's YOUR problem that you admire Cheney's "efficiency".

[Arkana]

80. I should also add it helps when you act like a unitary executive

and treat Congress as a rubber stamp.

Blame gutless leadership in the Senate for our problems, not President Obama.

[treestar]

59. LOL, Cheney is your hero!

:rofl:

[zipplewrath]

62. Right, that's the logical conclusion

Try critical thinking, it might help.

[treestar]

58. You must never have dealt with government in your life

Or any large government agency. Things go on for years. It is the nature of the beast.

[zipplewrath]

64. Only for 30 years

It goes fast when the incentives are put in place, like presidential attention for example.

[DCBob]

14. So what exactly was "overstated"?

its hard to tell from your rambling post.

[zipplewrath]

28. He wasn't responsible

And he wasn't blameless either.

[DCBob]

34. that isnt what was claimed.

what Carville is saying is that Obama reacted appropriately and made the correct decisions.

[zipplewrath]

51. After the fact

Yes, once the blow out started, he has done fairly well. It remains to be seen the long term effects of one or two of the decisions, but the ones we can evaluate have turned out favorably.

[WonderGrunion]

76. How the fuck could he react before the fact???

There was no major red lights of a problem in MMS in regards to the gulf coast before the fact. Certainly nothing that was more important than trying to rescue this economy from Armageddon.

It sounds like you're pissed off that President Obama isn't Nostradamus.

[sandnsea]

18. People had been fired from MMS

And the restructuring that was always intended to take place, was put on a faster pace. Do you just want massive soviet purges, out goes everybody with no fair hearing at all? That's what was done to Shirley Sherrod and it wasn't such a bright idea.

Most of you complainers couldn't run a pre-school class, let alone any responsible government agency.

[Number23]

20. + like 2 billion sandnsea

Do you just want massive soviet purges, out goes everybody with no fair hearing at all? That's what was done to Shirley Sherrod and it wasn't such a bright idea. :thumbsup:

Most of you complainers couldn't run a pre-school class, let alone any responsible government agency. :thumbsup: :rofl: :thumbsup:

[zipplewrath]

26. So a thorough review of Cheney based energy policy

would be a "soviet purge"? Wow. So we have to keep Gates and his staff or it's a "purge"?

[treestar]

56. There are zillions of departments and agencies

the permanent bureaucracy would take time to fix. In the meantime, shit happens.

[zipplewrath]

65. And every one has political appointees

It is as case of letting them know they have the White House backing for major reviews and overhauls. It is a case of demanding that they have reviews and overhauls.

[BeyondGeography]

12. Haley Barbour also says Obama has done more right than wrong, what say you Mary Matalin?

:shrug:

[Phx_Dem]

16. Go fuck youself, James. Still.

[Pisces]

22. I second that

[impik]

40. Yep. Twice.

[DFLforever]

21. I'm not buying it.

He's merely trying to disguise the fact that he, via his wife, was on the payroll of the Cheney administration.

Imo, those are the interests that propelled his "indignation" over the President's handling of the BP crisis.

[MH1]

29. impossible. what are you thinking?!

Obama couldn't possibly have done anything right. Or even half-right.

:sarcasm:

[cornermouse]

30. Does this mean that people are allowed to like him this week?

:sarcasm:

[Lorien]

33. If they "meant business", then why didn't they make some arrests when BP continued

to spray and pump the toxic Corexit into our air and ocean after being ordered by the EPA to stop? If a citizen had done the same they'd be in prison. Those of us with chemical sensitivities and all marine life are now paying the price for the lack of law enforcement.

[flyarm]

35. within days of the explosion Scientists and media in Fla predicted it wouldn't be capped till August

Carville knew that...then and now! So did Obama, and BP

the rest has been Kabuki Theater to keep the people under control while destroying the Gulf!

Cover up from the get go

[stevenleser]

37. You forgot the sarcasm tag, I hope... n/t

[flyarm]

43. nope..eom

[stevenleser]

44. Ok, in that case...

Here ya go... :tinfoilhat:

[stevenleser]

38. K&R - Calm determined leadership gets it done every time.

Like other responders have said, hopefully people will start to get that.

[backscatter712]

39. Respect++ for James Carville.

The early days of the spill were a clusterfuck - nobody was prepared, but Obama, to his credit, kept his cool, kept his administration grinding at the problem, and now we're at the point where things certainly have improved. The well's capped, pumped full of mud, about to be killed permanently, now the thing to do is to keep grinding on the cleanup effort, and keep grinding on BP to hold them fully accountable.

[Whisp]

45. shut up, Gollum.

you and your wife had a fine time dissing Obama, now you are regretful? Fuck off.

[Fire1]

67. He wasn't saying anymore than the DUers on this board but with

alot more tact.

[Whisp]

70. difference is i can't tell people on this board to fuck off.

not out loud anyway.

[mkultra]

46. Carvile is a douche no matter what he says.

[Scurrilous]

47. K & R

:thumbsup:

[David Zephyr]

48. James Carville is no progressive and is no friend to the Democratic Party.

What he is, without a doubt, is an asshole.

[Lilyeye]

49. Agreed!

[SpartanDem]

53. What an ass

[Fire1]

66. Hardly. n/t

[stevietheman]

60. And Carville's assessment should be our general assessment of Obama...

He's done a lot more right than wrong.

Let's remember this in November and get our arses out to the polls, not to mention working on independents to bring them back to our side.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

61. Thank goodness he's not screaming for his daddy no more. He's a good guy but what was that about??

If he had, had that convo on the phone in private to Pres. Obama cool but wasn't his best political strategist moment. Glad he's back in the game now.

[jillan]

78. What an asshole! Carville was the Repug poster boy for his Obama bashing.

It's a little late Jimmy.

[rocktivity]

79. Well, surprise surprise surprise!

I told you Carville was actually job hunting -- he wants some midterm election consulting fees!

:evilgrin:
rocktivity