I've been refraining from saying it, but I'm just going to go ahead with it already. Can you imagine how apeshit everyone would be going with The White House right now over this oil spill were The Great Satan George Junior still in office right now?
I am hoping that we finally see The Magician grow a pair over this oil spill when he speaks to us tonight. It kinda seems like he's been laying the foundation over the past few days to finally get in BP's face.
While I do understand how after blaming The Bush for eight years, it can be the go to response for Democrats that are appearing on The TV to talk about the oil spill, but really, you are going to need to do better than that. We need to take a long, hard look at oil drilling, its regulations, lack of regulations, and lack of adherance to regulations. Blaming The Great Satan George Junior for this isn't going to get us anywhere. We need to determine if our regulations did enough, if BP met them, and what we do if they did not. We need to quickly ensure all of our offshore drilling rigs have met regulations and get back on track.
Another thing I have noticed that some folks out there are starting to do is to compare the oil spill with Hurricane Katrina. Apples and oranges. Katrina was a swift-moving hurricane that killed people who could not, or just refused to, evacuate out of its path. Katrina's devastation was quick and deadly - killing a large number in a short period of time. It's economic and environmental impact will last for decades.
This oil spill, on the other hand, despite the fast-gushing oil we see at its source, moved relatively slowly over the water. There was well over a month of warning to react to ensure that this oil did not reach the coastline. The spill's devastation will be quick and deadly to a lot of wildlife, but to humans, it's devastation will take some time. Economic impacts will take months and health issues will take years to surface. The environmental impact may be around for well over one hundred years.
But, if we are going to make a comparison, here are some things to think about:
- Think reasonably about all of the other natural disasters that hit America (hurricanes, floods, earthquakes) and you will see that the response to those disasters before, during, and immediately after, all falls into the hands of local and state officials. The federal government doesn't usually get involved until the point at which the state's governor asks for federal assistance. Yet, with Katrina, the blame for a lack of planning, action, and response fell on the federal government, especially after the fact. Why was Katrina different than any other hurricane and who could have possibly known for sure what was going to happen before hand?
- This oil spill is different. This is a man-made disaster that occurred on federal "land" on an offshore oil rig that was OK'd by and regulated by the federal government. Do you see how this was the responsibility of the federal government from the very beginning? Have not, historically, the problems of the federal government fallen at the feet of whoever is President at the time?
- The Great Satan Geroge Junior called for a mandatory evacuation before Katrina hit, and while criticized, it is generally accepted that federal relief efforts were well underway four days after the hurricane hit with emergency funding signed and FEMA engaged. What is often overlooked is that both Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco refused to issue mandatory evacuations of the city despite being advised to do so by the federal government.
What is also overlooked is that in the case of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, standard emergency management protocol calls for local and state officials to be prepared to manage the situation for three days until a federal response can be made. That would mean that the planning to ensure proper warning, mandatory evacuations, and transportation for citizens would be responsibility of the officials in the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, not the federal government. Local officials don't really get any of the blame for what happened before, during and after Katrina, though, do they?
- I must say that within four days of the start of this oil spill, I did not see a massive response from the federal government, i.e. the current administration. It really seems like it took them a couple of weeks to even get up to speed on what was really going on and about 45 days before you could see them finally realizing what a big deal this was going to be.
- Bush went to New Orleans eight times in the first 46 days, and was condemned for not visiting enough. Obama took 49 days to visit the Gulf region three times.
The Great Satan George Junior will continue to be criticized for not getting out his chair on the morning of 9/11 for eight minutes and not getting aid to New Orleans for four days, but I do believe in the long run, history will better remember this oil spill and will better remember that it took The Magician 45 days to realize that this was going to have an effect on his Presidency...oh, I mean, the American people.
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