Reply #10: That may be true

[notesdev]

But the facts are:

1) It was Obama's MMS, not Bush's, which issued the permits for the BP rig.

2) It was Obama's MMS which gave the rig a safety award.

3) It was Obama's MMS (as well as Bush's) which was addicted to porn and who knows what else as failure in their regulatory mission foundered.

4) No amount of regulation could have prevented the deliberate, eyes-open negligence of BP in this case. This was a rogue operation.

It's all fine to blame Bush - Lord knows there is no lack of blame that can legitimately be tossed his way - but if this is some sort of excuse-making exercise for Obama, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.

It's Obama, not Bush, who put the Coast Guard under BP command.

It's Obama, not Bush, who is helping BP cover up the truth about this incident.

It's Obama, not Bush, who is doing nothing that can actually help stop the spill or mitigate its effects.

Quite frankly, Obama is coming off as so detached right now that it is fair to wonder whether he is deliberately letting this spill be as bad as possible in the flawed thinking that the devastation will boost his energy policy. He picked a committee of politicians - not engineers - to figure out ways to stop the spill. He appointed an overseer for coordinating spill remediation efforts - yet the job is only part-time. If this is not a deliberate choice by the Obama admin to - how shall I put it - "never waste a crisis", then I would very much appreciate someone pointing out what he has done to dispel that impression.