“The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism’ they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.”

Socialist Party presidential candidate Norman Thomas


Friday, June 11, 2010

The reactionary presidency


Tomorrow's meeting between Chairman Zero and BP-CEO Tony Hayward shows that Obama isn't acting to manage the oil spill disaster but reacting to public pressure days or weeks after it's detected....

*When the Deep Horizon blew up and sank, Obama seemed not even to notice, much less visit the area regardless of dire warnings of a massive shore damage possibly in the hundreds of billions. It was only when governors Jindal, Barber, Riley, and Crist created a public outcry by pointing out that the feds were responsible for disaster management, did Obama decide to pay a token visit.

*When the media began reporting on Obama's absence and apparent lack of leadership in the spill matter, only then did Obama give his, "the buck stops with me" speech.

*Only when it was pointed out the the archaic Jones Act of 1920, which prevents foreign ships from doing commerce between American ports unless they fly the American flag and are crewed by Americans, needs to be repealed by executive order immediately so that clean-up aid from other countries may be accepted, did the Obama administration decide to "look into it".

*And only after 55 days of incredulity of the American people as reflected by the increasingly impatient media has Obama decided to meet with BP-CEO Tony Hayward to discuss directly, mano-a-mano, the oil spill, clean up response, and it's implications for future deep-water drilling operations.

Shouldn't the American people expect a leader who acts decisively in an emergency rather than a stooge who reluctantly reacts, and only then when public pressure is applied after the fact?

1 comment:

Bill said...

Great analysis, Ed!

They do all this without a hint of irony.