Obama: Critics 'don't know the facts'

Tackling an environmental crisis quickly becoming one of the most serious political threats to his presidency, President Barack Obama insisted Thursday that critics of the federal government’s response to the oil spill in the gulf “don’t know the facts.”

“Those who think that we were either slow in our responses or lacked urgency don’t know the facts. This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred,” Obama said during a rare news conference in the White House East Room. “We understood from day one the potential enormity of this crisis and acted accordingly.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37875.html#ixzz0p9vV8FXN

It's possible some critics actually do know the fact about US government actions in the Gulf. He's basically saying all the people complaining about nothing being done to protect the ocean and the coastlines are just wrong. I don't think that's a good tack.

What drives me nuts is his assumption, which no-one cares to question, that there actually is some way of doing deepwater drilling where there will not be any accidents in the future that will cause blowouts and do harm.

neither Obama or anyone else wants to acknowledge that we will eventually fuck up vast swaths of oceans and shorelines if we keep doing deepwater extraction.

Because that's who he was referring to.

I was thinking of that angry fellow from one of the parishes on CNN and everywhere else yesterday. He was livid over the failure of the feds to do anything as the oil hits the wetlands. Is the President not saying he has his facts wrong?

Rove Gets Schooled
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x316809

There is a concerted effort from the usual suspects to push this notion. The same suspects that pushed Obama is weak because of Somalia Pirates. Obama is weak because of the UnderWear Bomber. etc etc.

I know DU likes to decontextualize statements and turn them into something sinister (Obama is high handed and is attacking that fellow from the parish).

That is not what his answer was about at all.

you think it is.

Sitting here on DU trying to convince us you know more than he does right now. Complaining may have its place but it solves nothing.

The Left opposed Obama's reckless energy plan announced on March 31. The last thing our planet needed was more offshore drilling, nuclear plants, and "Clean Coal."

The Left was right, as it is about the wars!

He doesn't have to rely on the internet. So, I will venture that he has better information than anyone on this board.

Obama found out from the reporters that Minerals Management Service Director Elizabeth Birnbaum had resigned, or been forced out. That doesn't give me confidence that he is being well served.

It's almost an art form.

that he didn't spend any time on appropriate PR.

I'm only half joking.

He didn't know that MMS Elizabeth Birnbaum had resigned which tells me that there is too much information being filtered before it gets to him, as Jim Carville suggested early this morning.

Salazar's head is the one that should have rolled, together with the inept administrator for NOAA (good scientist does not make a good leader or administrator).

and he knew that he had told Salazar that whomever is fucking incompetent, get rid of their asses.

1+1=2

Except to those who don't get that equation.

Did you watch the press conference?

Here's the transcript, and him answering the question...


"Now, with respect to Ms. Birnbaum, I found out about her resignation today. Ken Salazar has been in testimony throughout the day, so I don't know the circumstances in which this occurred. I can tell you what I've said to Ken Salazar, which is that we have to make sure, if we are going forward with domestic oil production, that the federal agency charged with overseeing its safety and security is operating at the highest level. And I want people in there who are operating at the highest level and aren't making excuses when things break down, but are intent on fixing them. And I have confidence that Ken Salazar can do that."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/us/28obama-text.html?pagewanted=8


So he did know, but he wasn't the one to fire her. What he did was to tell Salazar that we need to be operating at the highest level, and those making excuses need to go. It appears that Salazar is the one that fired Ms. Birnbaum without further counsel from the President, since that department falls under his leadership as Secretary.

as I recall. :shrug:

We don't know the facts. We've been told a dozen different sets of facts, and we are basically being told "Just don't worry about it, someone else will fix it."

Tell us the facts. Hold press conferences to inform us rather than just to defend yourself.

I don't really think Obama has done a bad job here, and I know he was on it as soon as it happened. But if he doesn't want us to second guess him, he should keep us better informed, not just blame us for not being informed. And from my armchair way the heck over here out of the loop, it sure looks like he could have done more, or at least done things better. It looks like the pattern we keep seeing from him, where he sits back and lets everyone else argue while he stays out of it. I have no way to form another opinion, because he hasn't done enough to keep us informed. It's not his Katrina, and he's done a helluva lot more than Bush did after Katrina, but he's still not making me feel really confident.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/deepwater-bp-oil-spill and the corporatemediawhores would rather eat shit than give a fact.

They'd rather get suckers to believe the pile of bullshit their shoveling.

From Day One

Joint Information Center
At the beginning of the event, the Coast Guard elevated the response and established a Regional Command Center and Joint Information Center in Robert, La., inviting all partners in the response to join. Get the latest updates from the partners on the ground in the Gulf Coast: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

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Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Since the moments after the oil rig explosion on the night of April 20, DHS has played a lead role in federal response efforts—deploying the U.S. Coast Guard to search and rescue the 126 people aboard the rig, and quickly leading efforts to establish a command center on the Gulf Coast to address the potential environmental impact of the event and to coordinate with all state and local governments. Secretary Napolitano leads the National Response Team, an organization of 16 federal departments and agencies responsible for coordinating emergency preparedness and response to oil and hazardous substance pollution events.

U.S. Coast Guard
The Coast Guard has played a major role from the very beginning, when it responded to the explosion on a search and rescue mission to save lives. Pursuant to the National Contingency Plan, Rear Admiral Mary Landry was named the Federal On-Scene Coordinator to lead a Regional Response Team which was stood up that included DHS, DOC/NOAA, DOI and the EPA, as well as state and local representatives. As the event escalated, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen was announced as the National Incident Commander for the administration’s continued, coordinated response—providing additional coordinated oversight in leveraging every available resource to respond to the BP oil spill and minimize the associated environmental risks.

Department of the Interior (DOI)
The morning after the explosion, Secretary of the Interior deployed Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes to the Gulf Coast to assist with coordination and response to the event, and provide hourly reports back to the administration. Since then, DOI has played a vital role in overseeing BP’s response efforts while—at the President’s request—working to deliver a report with recommendations on what, if any, additional safety measures should be required for offshore operations. Secretary Salazar has announced that inspections of all deepwater rigs and platforms are underway.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Since the BP Oil Spill, EPA has provided full support to the U.S. Coast Guard and is monitoring and responding to potential public health and environmental concerns. Environmental data, including air quality and water samples, will be posted and frequently updated on this site as it is collected and validated by EPA’s response teams along the impacted coastlines. This data is meant to determine potential risks to public health and the environment: http://www.epa.gov/bpspill

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
As the nation’s leading scientific resource for oil spills, NOAA has been on the scene of the Deepwater Horizon spill from the start, providing coordinated scientific weather and biological response services to federal, state and local organizations: http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/deepwaterhorizon
Weather Forecast: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lix/

Small Business Administration
SBA is making low-interest loans available to small businesses in the Gulf Coast regions of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi suffering financial losses following the April 20 Deepwater BP oil spill that shut down commercial and recreational fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) are available immediately in designated counties and parishes of each of the four states to help meet the financial needs of qualifying small businesses following the oil spill: http://www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance/

Department of Defense (DOD)
DOD continues to support the ongoing response effort by lending Naval and Air Force bases to provide vital staging areas for boom deployments and other activities, and providing C-130 aircraft equipped with Modular Aerial Spray Systems, which dispense chemical dispersant—capable of covering up to 250 acres per flight. DOD also plays a significant role in the National Response Team, helping to lead the coordination of response actions for the federal government. Secretary of Defense Gates has authorized use of Title 32 status for up to 17,500 National Guard members in four states: Alabama (3,000), Florida (2,500), Louisiana (6,000) and Mississippi (6,000).

Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service
The Fish and Wildlife Service continues to support the joint agency response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico with experienced specialists, land managers, and support personnel. Booms to capture and deflect anticipated oil are being deployed at Breton National Wildlife Refuge, where thousands of brown pelicans and shorebirds are currently nesting. The Service also is initiating Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration activities in this incident to assess and address the long-term damage to impacted resources: http://www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill

Department of the Interior’s National Park Service
The National Park Service is focused on human safety and resource protection in eight national parks in the Gulf area. These parks are working to assess resources, collect baseline data, coordinate boom placements, plan for responsible cleanup, install barriers for shore bird and turtle nest protection, and plan for potential park closures, if necessary: http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Oil spill response workers may be exposed to many different chemical, physical, biological, and psychological hazards. These hazards vary depending on the type and location of the oil spill, type and stage of response, degree of coordination between entities involved in response and recovery, and the workers’ specific tasks. Therefore, occupational and environmental hazards need to be identified, assessed, and monitored in each oil spill response: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/oilspillresponse

Beauracratic PR releases, recitations of psi measurements, news reports about what new personality has gotten involved... That's hardly what I was talking about. I've seen the information dumps, what I haven't seen is a leader standing before a podium on a regular basis explaining how he has taken charge, why I should believe that BP is doing all it can, why I can trust the numbers I'm seeing about oil flow rates...

Oh yeah, on that last one I've learned I can't trust the numbers, because our government just repeated the numbers BP gave them. That's what I'm talking about. I don't want to drown in data, I want to believe the data and be given proof that the leader knows the data and understands it and is acting on it. Instead, I see a guy assuring us he's right, and I see a bunch of departmental releases describing what each department sees as its job.

We saw info dumps like that after Katrina, too. Bush was constantly trying to show us what all he was doing and how he was so great for doing it and how those who complained didn't know the facts. I got emails like your post from conservatives a lot after that.

Obama's doing a hell of a lot more than Bush, as I've already said, but he's coming across as complacent and detached, and we've seen too many facts hitting our airwaves that we can't trust, and that's what the complaints are about. For Obama to blame people for questioning him rather than answering the questions is not helpful.

It seems like every time he does something, I just sit around and chant "He's better than Bush, he's better than Bush," and try to feel good about that. Yeah, he's better than Bush, and I do feel good about that, but for the second time this decade I'm watching my home be destroyed by a major disaster and watching a president sit back and tell me other people are handling it. Not a good feeling.

and aren't so concerned about the reality and seriousness of the actual situation and solutions.

That's the MSM's game in a nutshell. It's why I hate them.

Apaprently you're just one of those people who want your hero in the White House and don't really care about what it is he does while he's there.

That's the Cult of Personality in a nutshell, and it's why I hate the MSM.

:thumbsup:

The critics don't give a shit about the facts. They avoid, distort, overlook and pretend the facts don't exist.

The emotional response to this catastrophe is as important as the logical response. This is a deeply disturbing experience
for each of us on an emotional level as well for our country as a whole. It is important that our leaders express this pain,
this anguish as we feel it. Clinton and Bush both understand this need.. Obama in crisis responds with more logic and
more detachment. In many situations, that is exactly the correct response. In a crisis of this magnitude, we need more.
It is the emotion that stirs us to act individually and as a society. It is that emotional catharsis that is missing from
the Admistration's response.

We are under great threat. It is the balance of logic and emotion that will energize the best possible outcome.

let's all get in touch with our inner child. that will fix things.

especially from one who is so rational and adult. You may think you have detached your emotions from
this crisis, but I assure you everyone I am speaking to has not. Most are responding with tears and anguish.
They are expressing their sense of powerlessness in the face of such a dire crisis. At these times as
I repeat Clinton and Bush understand, it is important for the leader to give voice to these emotions of
the many. It is with the use of emotion that leaders mobilize and fuse with their followers. Politicians
normally understand these aspect of leadership. Because you do not says more about
you than you think.

the problem in the Gulf than trying to hold my hand and say "there, there, it will be okay". I'm a grownup and have confidence that the President and the people under him are doing all they can to mitigate the damage being caused and once the well has been made to stop the damage from increasing, they will then clean it up to the very best of their ability. Who actually thinks that the President wouldn't do what he has the power to do in this situation? If they think it's any less than his very best they are the delusional ones.

Great leaders actually do both. That is why they are remembered as great!

thing. They have to figure out how to fix it - not worry about how people feel about it.

See my post above. Great leaders do care how people feel and solve problems at the same time. Much of Clinton's success was
based on these concurrent abilities. FDR also understood this brilliantly. He reached out to the people at the same time he was
working to solve the technical problems of the economy.

I think it can be very positive when we see our elected officials "fired up" about the issues that matter most to us.

This is not to say, as your critics in this thread seem to suggest, that we want weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. But there is indeed an emotional or gut-level aspect to leadership. There is an emotional component to decision-making, there really is -- that's what makes us all human.

I believe Pres. Obama has plenty of intellect to address our nation's problems. He has plenty of genuine human compassion, empathy and sense of justice, too. It's okay if he shows us the entirety of his personality more often. In fact, as you note, it can be extremely beneficial at times.

he wanted to go off, but calmly stated the facts. More power to him dealing with this brain-dead media.

That's been the major problem hobbling this administration, not to mention the Dem-controlled Congress, IMO. We react and react and react to all the various bit players, when we should be hogging the whole stage for ourselves.

I know it's an uphill battle, but we've got to get beyond simply blaming the media. The media sucks, we all know it. Now it's time (it's well past time, actually) to come up with a strategy for surmounting this obvious fact.