President Obama on BP,Transocean and Halliburton "finger pointing"

[ProSense]

OBAMA 'WILL NOT TOLERATE MORE FINGER-POINTING'....

<...>

President Obama spoke in the Rose Garden this afternoon, and in addition to updating the public on the status of the response, he sounded pretty annoyed about the buck-passing.

"Let me also say, by the way, a word here about BP and the other companies involved in this mess," the president said. "I know BP has committed to pay for the response effort, and we will hold them to their obligation. I have to say, though, I did not appreciate what I considered to be a ridiculous spectacle during the congressional hearings into this matter. You had executives of BP and Transocean and Halliburton falling over each other to point the finger of blame at somebody else. The American people could not have been impressed with that display, and I certainly wasn't.

"I understand that there are legal and financial issues involved, and a full investigation will tell us exactly what happened. But it is pretty clear that the system failed, and it failed badly. And for that, there is enough responsibility to go around. And all parties should be willing to accept it.

That includes, by the way, the federal government. For too long, for a decade or more, there has been a cozy relationship between the oil companies and the federal agency that permits them to drill. It seems as if permits were too often issued based on little more than assurances of safety from the oil companies. That cannot and will not happen anymore. To borrow an old phrase, we will trust but we will verify.... I will not tolerate more finger pointing or irresponsibility."

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[polichick]

1. Does that include finger-pointing at everyone except his own MMS...

...the agency within the Dept of Interior that was supposed to prevent such a disaster?

[ProSense]

3. Maybe you should

concentrate on pushing for the President's impeachment. You seem to believe him absolutely incapable of sound judgment.

[polichick]

7. He chooses industry people for a reason. You choose to look the other way...

...even though Salazar was in charge of MMS since Jan. 2009

The prez can't complain about finger-pointing when he's doing the same thing as long as he's not willing to own up to the lack of proper oversight in the Dept. of Interior that allowed this to happen.

[ProSense]

9. What the hell are you talking about?

Salazar is not "industry people."

[polichick]

10. I know it's wasted on you, but wake up (for once)...

"Mr. Salazar has consistently supported the interests of the oil and gas industry above the need for conservation and alternative energy sources. He maintains very strong industry ties. He voted (like Obama) for the appalling 2005 energy bill. He voted to end the offshore drilling moratorium; he voted against the repeal of tax breaks for Exxon-Mobil and voted against increasing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards."

http://newmexicoindependent.com/13472/nine-reasons-not-to-trust-ken-salazar

[ProSense]

11. I know guilt by association is strong in your view, but

that doesn't make Salazar "industry people."

Offshore Drilling in Virginia

ANWR Amendment

[polichick]

18. That doesn't begin to undo what's happened on Salazar's watch...

...in the Gulf of Mexico.

Also doesn't undo the recent approval Shell got to drill in Alaska, which is on temporary hold due to this disaster.

If you think it's a coincidence that the president chose cabinet members cozy with Goldman Sachs and Monsanto and big oil, your world must just be hopping with unicorns!

[AllentownJake]

27. I missed the blue links

People on here were up in arms over Salazar back in 2009. We all knew that Salazar would hardly be an enviromental watchdog and the benefit of the doubt thing got us all, as with Geithner, Summers, Rahm etc.

That being said, his authorization of leases without impacts prior to the spill and after the spill are troubling. Are they better than the Bush record, probably. However I don't think anyone can beat the Bush record, even Jeb or Sara.

[Clio the Leo]

4. Read this ....

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/05/obama_smacks_minerals_manageme.html">Obama smacks Minerals Management Service

... and read his statement...

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-ongoing-oil-spill-response

... and then let us know if you have any more questions.

[polichick]

8. I have no questions - we know that this happened while Salazar was in charge. nt

[phleshdef]

6. "That includes, by the way, the federal government"

Which also includes a lot more than just his own MMS.

[polichick]

15. Van Jones is booted for nothing, but Salazar stays on when due diligence...

...on his part could have prevented this massive disaster?

[Ruby the Liberal]

12. They already announced that they are splitting MMS in 2

One agency to collect lease fees and another to regulate.

[polichick]

16. That should've been done long ago, like Feb. 2009. Why boot Van Jones...

...for nothing but keep Salazar on after this?

[Ruby the Liberal]

19. I don't disagree. Sad it had to come to this. nt

[polichick]

20. It is sad - heartbreaking. I just hope voters are heartsick enough...

...to put a stop to the insanity.

[jberryhill]

13. "That includes, by the way, the federal government"

That line just sort of flew right past you didn't it?

[Igel]

29. But notice his shift in terminology.

No more the federal administration as the incarnation of his will. No more the expression of the will of the American people. (Which, oddly, leads to the assertion that Obama is the expression of the will of the American people, something he's as much as said on numerous occasions. I find such language scary, to be honest, because I've read far, far too much of it.)

Note, however, that he was also fingerpointing.

In this, he's like the kid who wants to get in the last word and make sure that everybody after him shuts up.

He pointed his finger at all sorts of people. Before saying that for all the uncertainty, all the things we don't know, wherever ultimate blame will lie, we know who the main culprit is and we have to stay focused on that culprit.

But then it came to his administration, even after pointing out the real responsibile person, and what does he do?

He pointed at the enemy of the tea partiers, the administrative apparatus that is variously either his domain or the American citizenry made bureaucracy, but according to them is big, bloated, and stupid. He pointed at the federal government, not his administration; one makes mistakes, the other has the answers. And having pointed at that, he says he'll be the authoritative father so that his administration wouldn't repeat the mistakes the federal government made in 2009.

The mass of rhetorical contradictions and odd implications is simply amazing. But then again, even a master of political speech has his off days. He's only human.

[Lerkfish]

2. well and good.

[The Wielding Truth]

5. Good policy."we will trust but we will verify"

[jeanpalmer]

21. Seems like a better policy would be

"We don't trust them, and we will verify." If there's one thing apparent, it's that they can't be trusted.

[The Wielding Truth]

23. The, speak softly, principle seems to apply here.

[ShortnFiery]

24. It was Ronald Reagan's signature phrase:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify

What's OLD is NEW again? :crazy:

[Control-Z]

14. Did you so

adamantly refuse to believe Bush when he admitted to the federal government's part in the catastrophes that happened during his administration?

'But it is pretty clear that the system failed, and it failed badly. And for that, there is enough responsibility to go around. And all parties should be willing to accept it.'

'That includes, by the way, the federal government.'

Oh, wait. IIRC, Bush never, ever, not even once, did that.

Never mind.

[Cha]

17. Thanks for this, PS.

[jeanpalmer]

22. Why the concern about finger pointing?

I think it's great. It conveys information and helps in the process of exposing the culpable. It's like listening to criminal suspects try to blame their crimes on someone else. They always end up incriminating themselves. The last thing I want these rogue oil drillers to do is to clam up. Let them spill their guts and point their fingers. In fact, encourage it. There's nothing more fun than watching a spectacle.

[HughMoran]

25. It was a ridiculous spectacle

...that's why you need to bang some heads together Mr. President.

[AtomicKitten]

26. Deja vu.

TransOcean, BP, and Halliburton:

[amborin]

28. this "angry" rhetoric is all for public consumption; Obama chose someone

cozy with big oil for int dept secy

salazar vowed to clean up mms but did zip

salazar's int dept exempted this bp project from review that would have banned it