In an unsigned editorial in the Jackson Sun today, the writer says that President Barack Obama is in a no-win situation. Sort of damned if you do, damned if you don’t when it comes to his leadership in dealing with BP’s mess.
Obama in the Gulf. Photo by Nola
Half our people believe he should let BP shoulder the costs and the repair burden. That is capitalism. The other half believe the government should shoulder the burden despite our huge deficit that many blame solely on Obama, as if President Bush had nothing to do with it. It’s not as if Obama can fix the oil leak that is a mile deep in the Gulf.All sides of the political spectrum believe they are right. Despite each party’s moral feelings, they are basically all in bed together. I like President Obama, but we do not need a law professor to fix the BP problems. We need a general.
He/She goes on to say that the president needs to force BP’s hand to fix the mess, even if it means the company go into bankruptcy. That got me thinking this morning. How many small, unknown businesses have gone through something like this? Just because BP is a huge global company doesn’t mean that they get a pass.
Or, and sadly the case may be, that we are so oil dependent that they will and that lies on all of us.
Southern Beale analyzes the good and the bad in last night’s speech from Obama.
He also made clear he understands the urgency of our need to leave behind our carbon-fueled ways and transition to a clean energy economy. He made clear he understands the magnitude of that challenge, he recognizes that we have failed in this task too many times in the past, and that we are running out of chances. He “gets” that, too.
But what I didn’t hear, what I truly wanted to hear, was some kind of stated vision for how we will manifest this desperately needed change. I didn’t hear the words “Apollo Project for energy,” I didn’t hear the words “national priority,” I didn’t even hear a call for us all as Americans to actually do anything. While he said we all have a role to play, he didn’t articulate what that is.
I didn’t see the president’s speech but I did read the transcript. (I really should take up a better hobby like macrame or knitting) but I tend to agree with the anonymous author of the editorial from the Sun on the fact that what we are facing is long-term, that there is no way to know if what direction we are going here because in many ways, it’s unknown.
The way I see it we can point fingers later on during the countless congressional hearings regarding the spill that I can only imagine will go on about five seconds shorter than eternity. Right now, I believe that what we need to do is wake up, look at what we must do today and just get it done. Let’s put the politics on the back burner until we have a, as Southern Beale said, vision of action.
I do know that if the disaster in Kingston on the toxic coal ash spill is any indication, I am not holding my breath on much of anything. Cynical, yet may be we can learn from this and find opportunity for stronger regulations and not fancy pieces of paper from lobbyists that hinder instead of help.