The two points CNN is making this afternoon are valid

I'm as supportive of the President as just about anyone, but the two issues they brought up in this most recent segment are on target.

1. The seeming disconnect between the "we are in charge" or "I am in charge" assertion with the two things that were revealed yesterday and today--one that the Admiral gives a news conference discussing the ongoing pumping of mud as part of the top kill effort when the truth is that the pumping had been suspended many hours before... and second, that the President didn't yet know whether his MMS head had been fired or resigned. No matter how you look at it, it seems to me, questioning this obvious disconnect is legitimate.

2. As much as President Obama eschews empty photo ops, he badly needs on this trip to at least spend a little time with real people, preferably in a location where the sludge is much more devastated than the relatively cleaner beach where he talked to the media. Obviously he has spent considerable time with the politicians in his Grand Isle visit, but if he flies back to Chicago without at least a brief visit to some people that are already being victimized by this disaster, it will be a huge mistake IMO. Photo op or not, there was nothing insincere when Bill Clinton consoled the victims in Oklahoma City... it was not insincere when Bush grabbed the bullhorn (but mission accomplished was pure political theater bullshit). Sometimes, when it is real, you have to do things like this.

I guess one reason I am frustrated is that such a politically astute person as President Obama was when campaigning for the job, he seems a little bit politically tone deaf on this disaster. Yes, he has done pretty well the last few days explaining the BP-government responsibility/accountability tightrope (save the disconnect noted above). Yes, there is an incredible commitment of resources. The media is not giving enough credit to the deliberate way the administration addresses crises. They have brought a lot of great minds together to address this crisis and they are proceeding on a logical, methodical plan to get the well gusher stopped. They know they need to improve the clea-up response and are clearly working very hard to do that.

He may not be able to do anything about the first issue except to make sure shit like that doesn't continue to happen. He better do something about the second now that he has the chance.

On the other hand, Sanchez needs to get off the god-damned Sestek non-scandal... and the White House needs to freaking destroy Issa.

that his response was cool, collected, intelligent and measured. We didn't vote for a cowboy or an actor so this is what an intelligent man surrounded by intelligent men and women looks like when he's SOLVING problems.

Sigh.

people voted for him--myself included. That said, these two issues IMO give an agenda-driven MSM ammunition they should not have.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

the rest of the media are jumping from one talking point to another in an attempt to equate President Obama with Bush.


After all the cries for him to "get down there," it's now "politically tricky."

an understatement--anti-Obama approach to coverage is crap. They were pre-disposed to the government line during Bush. That said, I think much of the public ignores a lot of the spin and makes judgments based on what they see. How else to explain the President's stable poll numbers in the face of all the bullshit. Yes, those who watch Faux, or listen to Rush, Hannity or Beck, just follow their bullshit, but most of the rest of us can cut through the spin. All I am saying here is that even cutting through the crap, I believe these two issues are valid.

while trying to save a sinking ship. A foolhardy act in my honest opinion

politically tone deaf right now. Maybe he's just tired of fighting the 24/7 MSM bullshit barrage, I don't know. He'll survive this--assuming the gusher is resolved and the cleanup progresses acceptably. He suggested today there would be justice for those hurt by this disaster, including those that died on the rig. I hope that is true.

I'm just baffled that someone that could be so on top of the politics in the campaign--including the political theater--is having a problem "connecting" here. I don't want a "bullhorn" moment, but I do want some evidence that he is connecting with the real victims here, I think it is politically important and the right thing to do.

In any event, he'll survive this fallout. A lot of good democrats are watching his back.

It is lack of political savvy of him and his advisers. Personally I think he should never have left campaign mode and should have crushed the grand old pricks into oblivion.

but I thought he still had the core of his political brain trust with him at the White House. By the way, his visit to Louisiana and his new conference there are being received better than yesterday's presser, best I can tell.

It's not surprising he would slip here and there on the message, etc. But any thing he did to that line now would be trashed too, as trying to campaign for himself, blah, blah.