he is contributing to the problem and not the solution.
I originally posted this as a comment in teacherken's diary, but wanted to also amplify it here.
Question:
What possible reason would the President of the United States have to NOT do everything he could to remediate this ongoing disaster?
So it stands to reason that if something is not happening, there is a reason it is not happening.
The simple fact is that even if skimmer ships from other countries were or are dispatched, they cannot suck up enough oil to counteract what is coming out and will continue to come out until August.
Period.
Even if half as much oil was coming out they couldn't.
And once they suck up the oil, they are going to have to stop and unload it somewhere.
The truth is that we could bring every skimmer ship on the face of the earth today to the Gulf of Mexico, and if they had left 15 minutes after that rig blew up, they would not be able to suck up enough oil to stop it all.
The simple fact is that the reason the Obama Administration did not take time out to "war game" what might happen in a potential oil spill is because they were "war gaming" two actual wars, trying to avert a financial collapse, trying to pass health care reform, and battling renegade terrorists at home and abroad.
All within the first year of being elected.
Now we are told that it is the President's fault that he did not "wargame" the worst-case-spill scenarios and develop a fleet of supertankers to be standing ready at the coastline in case the worst happened?
It is now President Obama's responsibility to have a worst-case-scenario plan for every private business, foreign or domestic, just in case?
Seriously?
But I'm drinking the koolaid?
It is true that more can be done . . . more can always be done.
But in life you cannot do it all, you have to make choices.
The initial focus was on stopping the leak, and several attempts were made.
They did not work.
Now the focus shifts and the reality of the situation shifts.
All the backseat driving is fun, but it doesn't actually get us anywhere.
The reality is there is no and was no good, perfect, or easy solution.
Pretending that there is an easy solution that is not being used is just a coping mechanism to deal with the horrific reality and the unbearable sadness of the situation.
It is one of the stages of grief on our collective way to accepting the gravity of what has happened.
UPDATE: Thanks for taking the time to read this diary and thanks for the rec list . . . I really appreciate it.
UPDATE 2: Thought I would address some common themes I am reading:
Dissent 1: "So if we can't scoop up all the oil, we shouldn't scoop up any?"
Twice in this diary, I said that the skimmer boats would not be able sto suck up enough oil to couteract what is coming out. Once I said they could not get it all. Guess which line got the most play? :o)
I think it is clear, but I will restate it more clearly - my problem is the analysis that we are one more skimmer boat or one more boom away from solving the problem.
We aren't, and pretending that we are is disingenuous in my opinion.
I want all the oil scooped up as soon as possible, just like everyone else on the planet, so yes every drop counts. But lets not overestimate how much it counts to score political points.
Dissent 2: "So Obama is perfect and anything he does is perfect and anything he doesn't do he has a good reason for?"
In a word, no.
This ain't about President Obama and his goodness. It is about the oil spilling daily into the Gulf of Mexico.
Now until it is proven otherwise, I am going to operate under the premise that the President and his staff are doing everything they can to mitigate this disaster.
And I am going to need something more than the word of "local" officials who also happen to be Republican, states rights politicians and the "analysis" of the media based on nothing more than how things "appear" and "make them feel" to dissuade me from that view.
Final note: I don't have anything at all against Eugene Robinson, teacherken, or anyone else who disagrees.
I am just explaining why I think that many of the conclusions that are being drawn simply don't match the reality of the situation.
If President Obama disappeared from this Earth today, and all of the tips that are being suggested were implemented, that would still not undo what has been done.
Time to accept that and work together to salvage what we can. . . no need to destroy each other and the Gulf.
UPDATE 3 Do folks really believe that there was enough boom already on hand to protect the coast of the entire southeast U.S. and each and every marsh? Is that realistic? Perhaps the delay is because the booms have to be CREATED before they can be DEPLOYED?
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/...