I understand that some are frustrated with the speech tonight. I understand that some wanted more specifics. There are several problems with this.
He's the President, not the King, not the Emperor. The President. He executes laws. He doesn't make them, and he can't just throw numbers out and make escrow accounts appear out of thin air.
Look, I get the frustration over the spill - the anguish and the rage. I feel it, too. But anyone looking for him to give a specific number and demand BP give it over in a speech is being completely unrealistic. He just can't do that. Well, he could, but it wouldn't mean anything. It couldn't be enforced.
We all know that BP is in over their heads. The simple truth is, nobody really knows what to do about this situation. It was never prepared for. But like everything else, it's a remnant of the Reagan and Bush years, especially the last eight, and blew up on a Democrat's watch, so he gets shafted with it. He - nor the US government - doesn't have an answer. They're trying. Sometimes shit happens, and you just have to figure it out as you go.
But let's be clear - he's NOT reading 'My Pet Goat' or eating birthday cake with John McCain. Nor is he hiding out while Biden runs the show. We wanted an intelligent, thoughtful President and we got one. The man, I believe, is honestly doing everything that can be done, whether we're privy to it all minute by minute or not. His job isn't to go on TV and reassure me with numbers and the word 'escrow'.
It's to find a solution.
UPDATE
I just want to address the fact that I find it sad that we on the Left are crying out for Daddy to fix everything and declare Mission Accomplished. It's like some of us have no sense of irony or perspective.
I have seen the enemy, and he is us.