White House slammed for oil spill -- Obama's Katrina?

This is Day 35.

For more than a month, oil has pulsed into the Gulf of Mexico at the rate that is pegged at anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 barrels a day. Scientists and engineers at BP have tried unsuccessfully to cap the gusher, with another rescue effort on tap for Wednesday. Oil is coating birds, fish and shores in a horrible preview of the ecological and economic disaster that is looming. Louisiana's frustrated Gov. Bobby Jindal has pointedly asked why the federal government has deserted the state -- again."We need more urgency, we need a plan," he said.

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Critics charge that the White House has been slow to act, creating its own crisis of denial a la Hurricane Katrina. As Clinton political strategist James Carville put it, "Obama's risking everything" by deferring to BP's clean-up strategy. A native of Louisiana, Carville said on CNN recently:

I'm as good a Democrat as most people, and I think this administration has done some good things. They are risking everything by this "go along with BP" strategy... they seem like they're inconvenienced by this, this is some giant thing getting in their way and somehow or another, if you let BP handle it, it'll all go away. It's not going away. It's growing out there. It is a disaster of the first magnitude, and they've got to go to Plan B.

Responding to the criticism, this week the White House will step up its rhetoric. Today, President Obama is calling governors of affected states. A delegation of senators led by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is heading to the Gulf Coast for a personal inspection. Salazar, who pledged to "keep the boot on the neck of BP," is now threatening to take over the recovery process if BP can't do the job.

But, like the oil heading for the shores, the criticisms are likely to grow even louder and could clog not only the shores but also Obama's presidency. And maybe they should.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Seawater covered with thick, black oil splashes off the coast of Louisiana on May 9, 2010. Credit: Gerald Herbert / Associated Press

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Comments

[harpotoo]

The FED is stalling LA protection plan by get this,,, ASKING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDIES and then demanding amendments after amendments of what they dont like!

Why does barak hussain obama hate American people?

[Beth]

In response to Carville's criticism, we're told, the WH has stepped up its rhetoric.

Rhetoric is not protecting the pelicans in their nesting sites. It's not protecting our oysters and shrimp, our wetlands.

I'm so sick of the main focus being on rhetoric and political gamesmanship.

We need tankers out there sucking this up. We need more boom. We need BP to be more concerned about stopping the leak than about re-tapping the well - which will take another month - to save their investment.

But all we are getting is Obama pronouncements, Palin digs at Obama, and lots of "We stand at the ready" crap.

[Liz]

Stepping up rhetoric.... Good God above, how about stepping up to the damn plate and actually DOING something about the problem? Oh, I know -- it won't make over the country into the vision O has, so, heck, why bother? And this weekend he'll be too busy in Chicago, where he hasn't bothered to visit in more than a year, to do too much about that pesky Gulf of Mexico. It's heartbreaking.

[Geena Rodriguez]

The emperor has no clothes.

[bob job]

Lots of blame going around.. it was only a matter of time before the heat was on the Gov't. I don't this they're intentionally delaying a solution. They have no perfect fix for this.. not yet anyway. I've been doing what everybody else is doing - watching and hoping they find some way to put aside blame and work together to solve this problem. You can catch a most of the video footage, all together on one site here: http://www.frequency.com/topic/bp-oil-spill - it's updated hourly and draws from multiple news sources.

[Chris]

How is it possible that people paid to be professional "political commentators" can be so ignorant? Perhaps I am naive as it appears their true role is simply to obfuscate reality.

The federal government does not have the ability to cap a pressurized well a mile below the ocean surface. Only private companies have that technological capability. As an advocate of limited government, I prefer this as it saves tax dollars. I don't want my government replicating all the capability of private industry. Perhaps the so-called small government advocates, such as the author of this post, would recognize this instead of calling on Obama to "fix it."

What we should all demand is that the government actually do its job of regulating effectively. Based on initial reports, it appears the appropriate regulatory body was corrupt and inept. Now that's a story that deserves comment!