Obama's speech: There's a pipe spewing a gazillion gobs of oil into the gulf, so let's build more windmills

Gov. Charlie Crist checks a Florida beach for signs of oil

For all his reputation as the nation's Top Talker, Barack Obama took his sweet time giving a maiden Oval Office address to the country. And waiting another nearly 60 days to speak nationally about the oil spill that’s become the worst environmental disaster in the nation’s history.

Obama, the first modern president to pass his first full year in office without addressing the country from his historic desk, had the setting right. Just back from a day-and-a-half on the gulf coast listening, reassuring, talking tourism, eating seafood. He wore the proper suit, had the requisite flags and family photos in the background.

For 18 minutes he delivered the words crisply and forthrightly, though too often distracting anxious viewers with his fidgeting hands like the lecturing professor he once was. Or wait! Was Mr. Cool nervous? (See video below.)

Obama had the firmness down OK: Make no mistake etc. We will hold BP accountable etc. He....

...had the God references. The talk of real live shrimpers devastated. An American way of life threatened. And though he likened the spill more to an epidemic, he also brought in the requisite battle metaphors. And, has Obama ever mentioned, there's another Nobel Prize winner in his cabinet, Stephen Chu, who hasn't been able to stop the oil leak either?

But there was something wrong. The first two-thirds of the president's remarks read just fine (Full text over here on The Ticket as usual). By golly, we’ll get the money, we’ll clean it up, no matter how long it takes.

But watching the president and hearing him was a little creepy; that early portion of the address was robotic, lacked real energy, enthusiasm. And worst of all specifics. He was virtually detail-less.

After almost two months of waiting through continuously contradictory reports, an anxious American public wanted to know, HOW are you going to accomplish all this?

Even Obama's cheerleaders over at MSNBC were complaining. "Where was the How in this speech?" demanded Keith Olbermann. Seriously.

Everyone's assumed that fixing the leak was a given since Day Four, which was still five days before the Democrat got his big plane and presidential entourage down there.

Local gulf coast officials are tearing out their hair trying to comprehend and comply with seventeen (as in seven more than 10) federal agencies falling all over themselves to do The Boss’ bidding and help and impose and superimpose their visions and regulations on what is a war zone with hundreds of ships and some 30,000 people involved, many of them frightened. And all of them inexperienced on a disaster of this scale.

Trust me, the president said, tomorrow I'm going to give those BP execs what-for. As CBS' Mark Knoller noted on his Twitter account, the president has allotted exactly 20 whole minutes this morning -- 1,200 fleeting seconds -- to his first-ever conversation with the corporation responsible for the disaster.

Then, he's got an important lunch with Joe "I Witnessed the World Cup's First Tie" Biden.

Well, just-believe-in-my-change-to-believe-in may have been good enough to win Obama's party primaries and the general election in 2008 and drag along into office enormous congressional majorities of fellow party travelers.

But after yelling "JOBS!" for a year and getting a protracted Democratic intra-party fight over Obama's beloved healthcare instead, Americans wanted some Oval Office specifics Tuesday evening on stopping the uncontrolled undersea oil escape.

Instead, Obama was like a Harvard-trained nurse talking vacation to a new patient bleeding all over the ER floor. Hello, could we please stop the blood flow here before we discuss the long-term recovery?

Obama’s delivery did not really come alive until the end when the ex-community organizer got into his favorite Big Picture stuff. Memo to American Homeowners: Do not call Obama over to fix your leaking roof – or pipe. Have him design a new house, no, better yet an entire neighborhood or city from scratch.

Following the advice of his chief of staff, Rahm "I Got a Rent-Free Apartment from a BP Adviser" Emanuel, Obama is determined to leave no crisis unused. When he got into the decades-long fossil fuel addiction rehab stuff, his eyes shone. His delivery punched up.

Now, that is an issue that requires greatness. Another galactic reform out of Hyde Park. It sounds swell unless mega-trillion-dollar federal deficits are on your mind, which voter polls now show ranks with terrorism as Americans' top fears.

Obama’s historic presidential campaign was not only big in terms of an unprecedented three-quarters of a billion dollars to win. It was about Big Promises. He was going to change America, radically reform the entire education system, healthcare, comb the entire federal budget line-by-line, oh, and change the 200-year-old partisan ways of the capitol. About the only big change the White Sox fan didn't promise was getting the Cubs a World Series ring.

It was all impractical, of course. But the country wanted to believe....

....in his change to believe in. And it did, handing complete control of the federal government over to Obama and his Democratic party. And today, after 17 months of lop-sided Democratic majorities now nervously confronting midterm elections Nov. 2, about 60% of Americans would like the new healthcare bill repealed. And they're hinting they'd probably like some more Republicans in Congress too.

President Obama has said he doesn’t sense an appetite to address something as large as the illegal immigrant issue this year. But suddenly – watch the left hand over here because he wants you to not focus on how long it’s taken him to take charge of the spill – he thinks there’s a compelling need to spend a motorcade full of moola that the federal government doesn’t have in order to change the country’s energy habits.

And we've gotta start that right now because of an underwater leaking pipe 40 miles off Louisiana that we haven't plugged and don't really understand how it broke in the first place. So let's do the electric car thing and build more windmills now.

And if, by chance, the nation’s politicians end up fighting over an energy plan during the next five months until the voting, maybe the politically damaging healthcare regrets and hidden costs will drown in all the words like so many thousands of seabirds in all the gulf’s still-surging oil.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images; Rod Lamkey / AFP / Getty Images; Getty Images (pool).

Comments

[steamboat]

Tommy boy:

Pathetic twits like you, voting for BO with other the main stream media lemmings are why we're in the mess we're in. Tell your spin to the bartender, cause we're not buying your BS anymore. LOL ! The other lemmings are slowly starting to jump ship. Show some integrity, admit you made a mistake, and start using your brains.

Now go have an intelligent day !

[myyouth]

when are all the dems going to wise up and admit that this gut is just not making it,give him his walking papers and lets end this farce.

[Adgirl]

Finger Pointer in Chief. Incompetent. Massive failure and a huge disappointment to us all.
Never thought I would have said this - I wish Hillary would have won.

[Friedman's Ghost]

Obama, Bush, Clinton, et al. The best money can buy. All bought and paid for by the oligarchy actually running the world. Be glad you are allowed to enjoy their table scraps here in America. You could be in one of those 3rd World places and not have 500+ TV channels of crap.

They have gotten what they need from this guy (Obama). One termer...

[Big Jim Slade]

I'm so confused. Has the staff at Times Mirror Square finally awakened from their self-imposed fog of stupidity?

You fell hook, line, and sinker for the kid running for class president that promised ice cream for everyone.

Not one of you were smart enough to figure out he was going to steal your lunch money to get it. Now that your money's gone you're acting as if you didn't have a part in the theft.

Your contrition should start with the obvious- like how Obama got Ryan's divorced papers unsealed by a Los Angeles court.

Do some damn reporting for a change!

[zina]

I’d like to see that people who are angry at the oil and oil companies would give up all products they have that are made out of oil and try to live without them.

That is of course includes Obama’s teleprompter(that is made out of oil) and his favorite cell-berry.

Also it would be nice to see few dozen windmill images on the first pictures.

[Lilly]

Obama knows it's going to get plugged up soon. Just trying
to scam us into more windmills, and democrats want their
hand on the 20 billion and more. They may even have their
eye on all the real estate down in the Gulf, and are trying to
get the people. who have been there for decades, to get out so they
will own it.

[Bruce]

Can we get something straight, Andrew? Obama was NOT a "professor". The President of the college stated for the record that he had no such title and was only given the status of "lecturer."

Calling him a professor is as ridiculous as calling him a Nobel Laureate, and just as undeserved..

[c-t-m]

We have finally seen Obama's leadership for what it is. This is the first event that is truly his. He can't blame someone else or issue an apology. He has failed and fails a little more every day. There is no leadership, there is only critique. He cannot provide, he can only whine about what is in front of him and dream about something else.

For those in LA who need an entertainment reference to understand... Obama is an Ebert, not a Spielberg.

[bruce]

want to stop the leak then call the air force and get a couple of their 15,000lb daisey cutters lower it over the well head and detonate.it will collapse the well.

[Doug W.]

Okay, I like a joke as well as the next guy. Now when does the real president show up?

[fdminfla]

OK. Let's cit all power to LA that comes from oil/coal. Seems fair to me.

Dumb asses.

[jdub]

TOM@....you are the reason this country is collapsing.

Still stuck on nonsense from the past.

It is not Left vs Right anymore....

IT IS STATE vs YOU!!!

Wake up man! and if someone "hurt" you years ago, grow up, move on, and produce!

[Steve Adams]

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE L.A. TIMES?

Seriously, welcome to reality. This president is an incompetent loser leading armies of incompetent losers into battle against Islamic terrorism, and... no, wait, he's going to war against OIL. The economy is hurting so badly that we are now going to stop drilling for oil offshore and build windmills instead. THAT makes sense! What we do NOT need right now are higher taxes and more government spending. Like it or not, oil is the fuel that drives the economy. When someone invents a windmill that will power a Peterbilt cross-country with a load of timber, or a solar panel that will carry an airliner from Los Angeles to New York, THEN let's stop looking for oil. But not now!

But our "leader" cannot comprehend the fact that the country only has money right now because we are printing it 24/7. He just wants to use this economic disaster to put into existence an even larger disaster.

[lee]

Too early to judge his administration?

BPs run out of ideas and Obama shows up with a plunger behind his back because he just realized the pipe is bigger than your average PVC.

You know what...
... this guy can't organize anything outside of a class action lawsuit against BP, which he hasn't really done either.

You wanted a slim-shady lobbyist community organizer and you got one.

Congrats America, you just proved you're about as educated as the American Idol voters.

Hey can we vote for Simon for the next election; at least he knows when people are screwing up.

Want to work on a disaster you caused Biden? How about the soaring deficit. I'm sure you had nothing to do with Clinton's house market crisis, or was that Bush's fault when he double-teamed with McCain to lynch the oversight committee with warnings of Fannie Freddie collapse.

[rvans]

So if there is no one in the Federal Government comptent enough to offer a solution what do we need them for?
Close the EPA, shut down the Department of Energy,and send Big Sis packing. This is what is wrong with this country. It's not "to big to fail" its to big to manage.Cut it all by 50-75 %.

[treebros racing]

Did the president lie when he said" our reserves of oil are small" I thought our reserves are much larger than Saudi Arabia.

[Laura F.]

The best bet at preventing these same kinds of tragedies is to put the same money, time, and effort into wind energy that we did into petroleum. Obama knows what's up.

[Maritxu]

Is Tom Degan supposed to be someone important whose opinion matters? He sounds like just another "progressive" who continues clinging to the myth they created called "Barack Obama." Only the progressives could be so arrogant and condescending as to actually believe that some egotistical neophite with a Harvard law degree pinned to his shirt and completely lacking in any real world business or leadership experience could successfully take on the job of Chief Executive of the United States. Guess what, guys, being President is a REAL JOB! "Too early to judge his administration"? Now that we are all dog-tired of watching Obama read fancy speeches from his teleprompter, is there anything else this guy has to offer in the way of job performance? Our progressive friends can wish if they want that all that is missing is some more "courage," but the rest of know that what is really missing is "leadership" and the Cowardly Lion is not going to show up and pin a button on Obama's chest to take care of that.

[rvans]

No seriously who is he listening to, Jimmy Carter?

[Gasem]

OBAMA IS A FRIGGIN BOOB! BOOB I TELL YA

The one that kills me is: "we never lifted the Jones act because no one asked us for that". Why does anyone HAVE to ask? If you're blowing the equivalent of the Exon Vladez every 2 days and you are in "charge", to paraphrase the mighty O "just lift the damn thing" and get as many boats in there as you can to suck up the goo. Any third grader has that much sense.

Windmills?? The guy is a propeller head I tell ya, a genuine Poindexter

And another thing why does this guy keep telling us he's the president? Like we don't know he's the president? Why does he keep telling us he can't go down there and plug the hole? Like we don't know that?

Gold tooth in his mouth.... hat to the side.... Lookin like a fool....

[Midwest Jim]

What this crisis has exposed is Obama's complete lack of executive leadership qualities - especially his ability to lead - not just throw out words - during a crisis.

Should we be surprised? What was the biggest crisis he faced as a "community organizer"? Maybe when some of his door to door canvassers got bused selling crack? Was THAT preparation to be President?

Contrast that with the crisis decision making skills required of a Navy Fighter pilot - one who has faced combat, and has been shot down over enemy territory. Who who kept his sanity through years of torture, and was a leader who helped other prisoners do the same.

Those who voted for Obama WERE smoking the crack pipe - now unfortunately the rest of the country has to deal with this pathetic excuse for a President for another 2 years. At least after November, Obama will be the first one term "lame duck" President in history.

[Carmen]

Well, thank god. I don't know if I could handle another "bail out" for corporate monsters sucking our economy dry.

[TJA]

AM, thanks!!!

Great article concise analysis; and with just the right amount of humor added!

I was drawn to your post yesterday via another blog. I am definitely going to look for your posts regularly! Keep it up, LA needs another viewpoint.

[Paul Slater]

The really big opportunity is being overlooked in the midst of all this BP, Big Oil bashing.
What BP hit was the beginning of the Motherload of oil and gas that lies under the Gulf of Mexico. This well alone when it is brought under control will produce 50,000 +barrels of oil per day plus large quantities of natural gas. The oil alone is worth $1.25billion per annum.
There are 4 other BP rigs drilling(until Obama stopped them) nearby and another 25 within 200 miles.Properly regulated and controlled we can halve our intake of foreign(except Canada) oil within ten years or if we ban further drilling increase it by 50% in the same period.
And the royalties that the Gulf States and the Govt will earn will more than pay to prevent further damage and repair the current situation.

[Harvey Lipshitz]

The synopsis of the Obama speech from Tuesday nite in the Oval Office...."I have a solution ......more Taxes"...

[Reba]

The overuse of the word fascist is becoming tedious. It is impossible for people to talk about politics in the US without it being used. I suggest everyone look up explanations for the different forms government. Preferably from a book that's over 30 years old. It lacks a depth of understanding for TRUE suffering that is experianced by those living or have lived under a fascist leader.

[Jerry]

Looks like Crist is really looking for baby oil... Oh, lost track on that tight apricot, wind turbines. Wind turbines are only capable of thirty-percent of rated capacity 42% of the time in North America. Not to mention the environmental impact its three times the cost of conventional and will always have to be subsidized by the American taxpayer. In other words wind energy is incapable of ever paying for itself. A endless wind sucking money hole. Oh, butt were back at the beach...

[Ben]

Mr. Malcolm,

Thanks for an enlightening piece, written with style and prose familiar to long-time readers of the LA Times--very enjoyable.

If this sort of objectivity is an indication of what may occasionally be in store, it may well be time to add the Times to my bookmarks as a regular source of news and commentary.

(AM responds: Well, Ben, it's good to see you here today. And I hope to see you back here tomorrow and beyond. We do try to tell it like it is--to us anyway.)

[Jackson]

brilliant. That photo and caption are just too good. Golf clap... nice work :)

[Bill Hart]

It's not even necessary to go beyond this speech to see the shallowness here. The first part of the speech, ostensibly devoted to staunching the flow and clean-up, was entirely unconvincing, delivered without any of Obama's normal oratorical gifts. Aside from being vague, it seemed to contradict known facts- the spill is apparently worse, not better based on estimated flow rates made public hours before the speech, and the chaos in recovery efforts (not sure how you can really start to clean up until you have stopped the flow, but at least erecting sand barriers, more booms, skimmers, whatever other preventative measures can be taken to keep the oil from shore and wetlands) was largely ignored. If the President wanted to have any credibility after coming to the party so late to begin with, I'm not sure he should have tried to feed us the "we've been on top of this from the get-go" and then just glossed over the issues most people seem to be most concerned about- stopping the flow and preventing more damage to land, sea and wildlife. The statement about capturing 90% of the flow is something out of left field. Is there any support for that?
The rest of it, the pie in the sky, let's change America, is, as the article points out, great big picture stuff that comes nowhere close to addressing the real tragedy that is still ongoing. The speech, to me, was an entirely self-contained demonstration of failed leadership. I don't have to look at Obama's failings in any other respect to reach this conclusion.

[Carmen]

Well, thank god. I don't know if I could handle another "bail out" for corporate monsters sucking our economy dry.

[sub]

Tom Degan -

voters like you are what's wrong with this country. it's more about "your decision" than taking stock of the self-truths that BHO has evidenced. plus a little bogey man scare tactic thrown in about john mccain, of all people, and the evil
"right wing." face it, pal, your choice was a poor one, and YOUR president is not even slightly up to the job. chances of you admitting that: zero.

[elaine]

Andrew, never read one of your columns before and after this one, I think I love you. Loved the snark-tinged insight and that last paragraph is lyrical and frightening at the same time.

Living in FL, I think the only "signs of oil" Charlie is looking for are of the suntan variety and as a relative newlywed he better leave those "beaches" alone.

(AM responds: Oh, Elaine, you've made my day. Thank you for coming and reading and taking the time to comment. Love it. Hope you'll spread the word to your friends too that we are here. Thanks again. P.S. Talk about snark-tinged, you're pretty good too!)

[Austin]

I'm glad to see this old man still has some mojo!

[jimmy]

My god, Dan Quayle would have been a better president than this dope!

[jeff irgens]

Excellent article, Andrew Malcolm.
But I fear for the author's job. Is this truly the LATimes? Did they REALLY publish this?

(AM responds: Don't be worried. They asked me to design this blog. Click on Andrew Malcolm in word cloud on the right and read the Q&A we had on our 3rd birthday last week on The Ticket's origin. That explains it all. We are delighted you found us and hope you will not only return but spread the word to all of your friends that we are here. Thanks again.)

[Joe Carson]

Obama has no experience in managing anything. His only experience is as a rabble-rouser (Community Organizer for all the progressive liberals). He can deliver a speech on sticking it to "the Man" who is BP Oil in his mind in this case. But he has no other capabilities other than to get a lot of disaffected people together and fire them up over why they should have more than they do and that the place to get it is from "the Man". This man is unfit for the Presidency.

[jkeyes]

Obama is all talk. He thinks he is Hugo Chavez..

[Paula]

why hasnt Obama already done this? I mean, Bush automatically sent troops after not very long after 9/11 hit and how long has this oil thing been going on? He says "BP will pay" but when will they pay? How much of our oceans will fill up with oil and how many animals and fish have to be hurt until it gets nipped in the bud? I just hope and pray that it is not too late. And thank God I didn't vote for Obama...I hope all who did are happy now.

[Sarge]

His teleprompter tirade was merely a thinly-veiled pitch for an energy tax and cap and trade. It's obvious from his non-plan that the only way the problem will get fixed is if he and the rest of his thugocracy get out of it and let the Gulf residents run the show.

[George]

"Local gulf coast officials are tearing out their hair trying to comprehend and comply with seventeen (as in seven more than 10) federal agencies..."

This whole response to the oil spill is a preview of Obamacare. A bunch of federal bureaucrats running around in circles, thinking they are the smartest people on the planet when in reality they don't even know how badly they are screwing up everything they touch.

The whole thesis of the Obama Presidency is that government (or at least Obama) is perfect and all-knowing. There is no problem in the US of A that can't be fixed with more government spending, more government control, more government rules, more government power. If that's true, then let's get BP out of the gulf and Obama can stop the leak and clean up the spill. If it's not true, then let's repeal Obamacare right now and admit that Obama isn't omnipotent and that more government control over health care isn't the answer. The fact that Obama hasn't taken over the spill stoppage and clean-up efforts should answer that question for everyone. Not even Obama belives in his omnipotence anymore.

Great column, Mr Malcolm . Well-written, informative, analytical, and even sprinked with humor. One correction, though: Obama was never a professor, he was a lecturer. A lecturer is no more a professor than the 17 year-old kid who runs the projector down at the Cineplex is a film's director.

And a tip of the hat to whoever chose that picture of Crist. Any oil in that chick's a$$crack, Charlie? Better check her cleavage too. Next week, we'll get a shot of Crist whipping out his Official Bikini Inspector card.

[mar]

"that early portion of the address was robotic, lacked real energy, enthusiasm. And worst of all specifics. He was virtually detail-less."

hello, where have you been? You just described every speach Oboma ever made. Nothing changed except he was sitting down this time.

[FullMetalScientist]

Andrew, amazingly summed up. I'm extremely impressed with both your humor and ability to perfectly state the sad, sad truth.

[ThanksMrMalcolm]

Nice article, Mr Malcolm. This is the first time I've actually agreed with one of your articles.

Obama is being exposed as the dangerous, ideological nutjob that he is. Totally incapable of handling this crisis and only using it to push his carbon taxes to impose more control over society.

[Slinger]

I am dismayed that President Obama felt as though last night was the opportune moment to push his cap and trade agenda item. Can't he devote 18 minutes to feign concern for the ABSOLUTE DEVASTATION which has befallen the Gulf Coast? I was in Destin Florida last week, and I heard on the news tonight that the oil has arrived. When the leak first occurred we were expecting oil to arrive in two weeks. By the grace of God we had two months, and we squandered the time we were given.

Call the Dutch and tell them you were wrong, we would love to have their skimmers. I can forgive an early mistake, but I cannot tolerate maintaining a flawed position out of political expediency.

I am beginning to believe that the President doesn't really care about the environment. Take "global warming" for instance. If he truly believes that carbon emissions are going to kill the planet, then why is his priority raising taxes on carbon emissions. He just wants the money and power that money will bring to the government to control industries. Otherwise, the message is "you want to destroy the planet? Ok fine but you have to pay higher taxes."

Maybe that is the message, with BP the president is obsessed with them "paying for the damage." I have news for you Mr. President all of BP's money cannot pay for the destruction of a single estuary, much less the Gulf Coast.

[ditchdigger2]

It is easy to pick up 100s of bird parts under wind generators, dont need all those degreasers. Cant nurse them back to health anyway. Just dig a hole and bury em. Some day, we will know witch childhood vaccine attacked the human brain like this.

[pothole]

Love him or hate him (Obama), but he's right when he says that we need to consume less if we want this to happen less. Suck it up.

[Michael]

I almost feel sorry for poor, deluded Tom Degan. Now he knows what it felt like to be a conservative during the Bush administration!

The administrations mishandling of the oil spill is a mere microcosm of the C.F. that awaits us with ObamaCare!

I'm not quite sure what will be more important in 2012, the Presidential election or the end of the Mayan calender!

BTW: Caption for the ex-RINO on the beach -

"Charley Crist Looking for Tar Balls"

[George]

Is the author of this post retarded? He wants specifics on how the oil spill will be stopped? Obama is not an oil-drilling expert, nor should he be. What do you expect him to do? Figure out the technology to stop the spill himself? The best he can do is co-ordinate the response - and he's done that - but the specifics have to be left to the experts.

And the connection between the broken pipe under the Gulf of Mexico and alternative energy is clear as day to anyone who doesn't have his head up his ass - if this country wasn't addicted to fossil fuels, there wouldn't be a need to drill in 5,000 ft of water, and there wouldn't be a need for us to be involved in the mess in the Middle East. How is this not clear to the author of this article?