Barack Obama is not a leader. He’s a wanna-be dictator. A petulant one at that.
The Hill describes the situation in the White House concerning the BP oil spill:
As critics question whether the White House is being tough enough with BP, Obama is reportedly showing his frustration behind closed doors. The Washington Post reported:
Since the oil rig exploded, the White House has tried to project a posture that is unflappable and in command.
But to those tasked with keeping the president apprised of the disaster, Obama’s clenched jaw is becoming an increasingly familiar sight. During one of those sessions in the Oval Office the first week after the spill, a president who rarely vents his frustration cut his aides short, according to one who was there.
“Plug the damn hole,” Obama told them.
That’s not leadership. That’s a tantrum.
And I don’t think it’s a singular event. Remember this report from the NY Times:
As the clock neared 1 a.m., the two sides were at an impasse. Mr. Obama stood up.
“‘See what you guys can figure out,’ ” one participant remembers him saying, adding that the failed effort left the president mad.
This is Obama continuing to vote present, even as President. One gets the idea that Obama is shocked that his will alone didn’t stop the oil from leaking.
And if that doesn’t scare you Iran is still building a nuclear weapon and North Korea just committed an act of war against South Korea and the economy is still tanking and the debt rising. And nobody’s more surprised than Obama.
May 26, 2010 at 8:17 pm
But, on the other hand, the White House parties have never been awesomer.
My favorite Obama soundbite so far (from Laura Ingraham):
"Eat your pees! Eat your broccoli! You gotta try it!"
May 26, 2010 at 8:49 pm
This is just a normal human reaction. Even Winston Churchill got like this. I mean, come on guys. This catastrophe is huge. Heads should roll.
May 26, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Did you really just compare Obama to Winston Churchill?
Churchill was one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century who stared down dictators and refused appeasement. Obama is the antithesis of Churchill.
May 26, 2010 at 9:16 pm
To compare Obama with Churchill requires more than noting moments of weakness they both share. How old are you, Geoffrey? What are we teaching kids?
May 26, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Wait a minute – was that Churchill comment some kind of sarcasm?
You know, b/c Obama reportedly took one look at the Oval Office bust of Winston and said, "What's THAT doing here?" and ordered it removed? Oh I get it – because his "head" rolled, right?
Yeah, so anyway, the point is that this guy seems to not be able to find his own rear end with both hands, but he is angry about not having a magic wand to make things his way.
I call that a tantrum. V2 rocket slams into London and Churchill is angry about it – that's another thing all together. (Righteous anger maybe?)
After all – If Obama had allowed the sand berm to be built as requested by Gov. Jindal then this oil might not be in destroying the Bayou's. Maybe THAT'S why he is upset.
Why hasn't he STILL ordered the Navy, the Coast Guard and a team of the best experts from around the world to come up with a solution and get it done? Because he is still trying to make BP do it. Well – so far they can't.
Since he likes the term so much, how about a "Plan B?" Sheese….
May 26, 2010 at 9:18 pm
And another thing – I am pretty sure that there is another company that could do this job. Unfortunately for the environment, that company is Haliburton.
May 26, 2010 at 10:49 pm
Jimbo;
I heard part of a press conference with the head of the Coast Guard and when someone asked when will the government take it over? His responses was more or less 'what could we do? They (BP) has all of the people, equipment and knowledge.'
Government IS NOT the solution! They are the PROBLEM! The Government prevents BP and the other oil companies from drilling on land and near the shores where none of this problem would have occurred.
May 26, 2010 at 10:57 pm
One more thing Jimbo;
Regarding the bust of Winston Churchill, not only did he have it removed from the White House, he sent it BACK to the UK. It was a gift from the UK to the USA for our attack on 9/11 and what he stood for in WWII. It was VERY insulting to the British, our best Ally.
Apparently the reason is because of BO's father. From the London Times, "In 1952 Churchill declared the Kenya emergency in the homeland of Mr Obama’s father, sending in troops to crush the Mau Mau rebellion against colonial rule. Among the Kenyans who were detained without trial and allegedly tortured by the British was Hussein Onyango Obama, the President’s grandfather." I'm sure you can find more on the story online.
May 27, 2010 at 12:44 am
Why does anyone think this blowout is an easy fix? Just how deep underwater is it again? For those who think this just takes some work by the Seaview, just remember "Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea" was fiction.
"Plug the damn hole" sounds really good, now just show us how it's done at that depth. 22 short & funfilled years in the sub force leads me to believe we could be dealing with this problem for a L-O-N-G time!
May 27, 2010 at 1:57 am
Subvet,
Sounds like you've had to straighten out a few people who've watched too many TV shows or movies.
I saw the following some time ago and while I think it's a fine solution the Greens / environmentalists would have a cow. (A good thing!)
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0504/russian-paper-suggests-nuclear-explosion-cut-gulf-oil-geyser/
"Komsomoloskaya Pravda, Russia's best-selling daily publication, has an idea: Why not just nuke it?
During the Soviet years, Russia's communists had to deal with numerous oil disasters and on five different occasions they employed controlled, underground nuclear blasts to quickly solve the problem.
[The] underground explosion moves the rock, presses on it, and, in essence, squeezes the well’s channel," Pracda reported.
"It’s so simple, in fact, that the Soviet Union, a major oil exporter, used this method five times to deal with petrocalamities," added Moscow reporter Julia Ioffe, writing for True/Slant. "The first happened in Uzbekistan, on September 30, 1966 with a blast 1.5 times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb and at a depth of 1.5 kilometers."
May 27, 2010 at 3:17 am
Matt, I know this is spoze to be a 'free' country & all but plz be careful about what u re: our dictator…ur, president. These folks r thugs from ChiTown as everyone knows!
May 27, 2010 at 3:23 am
You know, for 8 years I heard over and over "Bush is a dictator!" And you know what? It sounds just as stupid and tiresome now ("wannabe" clarfier notwithstanding). Hyperbole is the last refuge of those lacking credibility.
May 27, 2010 at 8:45 am
I don't particularly see what the big deal is; I'm not seeing dictatorship here, it strikes me as a rather uncharitable phrasing of what Obama wants to do. I'm with the last anonymous guy, TBH, minus the last sentence.
I also don't think it's just "voting present" to leave a decision about how to clean up and deal with a massive disastrous oil spill to people who might have actual expertise in the related engineering, as opposed to trying to use one's political savvy to solve an engineering problem. That, to me, frustration or not, sounds like the responsible thing to do–and I don't count it against him if he left a meeting.
As for "plug the damn hole," I guess I think "tantrum" is an overstatement. If I were trying to make a nation run smoothly and a major private corporation had created an ecological nightmare that was now partly my responsibility, I'd be pissed, too. Anyway, those are my twenty cents. Dan out.
May 27, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Our Catholic Bishops cannot and should not get a free pass on their part played in supporting, by omission, this president and his Chicago gang to run our country. When even the pill is not considered a matter of conscience, the bishops stated in their Catholic Voting letter, "to vote for Obama is a matter of conscience." With a final sentence that read, abortion is evil, like racism. Our bishops wanted national health care, and Bernardin started working on Obama in the 80's and the hell with the babies. The CCHD got caught with their hand in the pro abortion jar, Obama, Saul Alinsky, community organizations. Strange as it may be, the 7 million dollars granted to ACORN stopped only because of an embezzelment investigation, not the pro abortion activities of ACORN. How about the CCC, Carr is still shelling out money to almost 50 affiliates of CCC who are pro abortion. Now, the immigrants, the Church careless about the people in America, just like national health, the immigrants are and will continue to destroy or nation fiscally. Ask yourselves why the bishops haven't excomunicated the "socialist nuns" who support the opposite of church teaching in the name of so called "social justice" actually SOCIALIST JUSTICE. Why do pro abortion representative in Washington continue to receive the Holy Eucharist? (a bishops first responsibility is to protect the Holy Eucharist.) No, as far as I can recall, the church never changed "the end never justifies the means, until Obama and his evil gang where up for election. Pray, Satan has his hold on the Catholic Church, his prime target to send souls to hell.
May 27, 2010 at 4:31 pm
"the immigrants are and will continue to destroy or nation fiscally."
Immigration may cause other issues, but most analyses show immigartion to be econmically neutral at worst, and slightly economically beneficial at best.
Our fiscal crises have very little to do with illegal immigration.
May 27, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Dictator is a bit over the top. He is, like most politicians, a follower not a leader. He follows his handlers and power brokers. He does what will keep him in office, not what is best for the country. But again, that only makes him a typical politician.
May 27, 2010 at 4:41 pm
OK folks, a small clarification is in order. What I was talking about was the president ordering and all-hands-on-deck to go OUTSIDE BP on this. Despite the Cost Guard comment, BP is NOT the only company with experts. In other words, it IS the government's responsibility to provide for the common defense, and while I am not one to want to make the ecology an national security issue, it can become one when the economy takes a hit because of it.
I wasn't suggesting the fix would be easy. I was suggesting he should have allowed that berm to have been built and I am suggesting that he needs to immediately expand the circle of people contributing to this.
In fact, I was suggesting that the government should be OUTSOURCING this. They should be getting competing ideas from other oil companies and other experts. If someone has a better idea than BP, we should pay them to get it done and then give BP the bill.
As for the back story on the Churchill bust. It makes sense. Don't blame him based on that.
Most importantly: "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" was the best DOCUMENTARY about real life in the Navy-evah. (Kidding.)
May 28, 2010 at 2:55 am
Yeah. Because George Bush wasn't a dictator. He took us into Iraq, found WMDs and brought Osama Bin Laden to justice. And thanks to his Republican father, we got one of the most pro-life justices ever, David Souter. That's why I'm only going to criticize Obama.
May 30, 2010 at 11:12 pm
It is sad when so many with no knowledge of the problem's cause and of its cure dispense so much vitriol on a Catholic blog.
First, remember accidents happen. It is a practical impossibility to plan for every possible event.
Second, those who rail against the engineers on this job are as petulant and uninformed of the technical problems as is Obama.
But finally, how are these petulant comments an exercise of the love for our fellows which Jesus called us to give?
June 19, 2010 at 8:37 pm
This is exactly why we'll have 4 more years of Obama. Some of you sound like a bunch of right-wing cooks who have no reasoning skills. Obama is no more an extremist of the left than Bush was one of the right. NEITHER political party cares about the middle class. Don't think for a minute that the Republican party is any less pro-abortion than the democratic party.