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Dems Turn On Obama
by TexasBlue Wed Jun 16, 2010 10:18 pm
Dems Turn On Obama
Dick Morris
June 16, 2010
To the left, the oil spill is not an index of presidential competence or an issue in the political sphere. It is a daily gushing of poison into the Earth’s waters as a direct result of the president’s failure to stop it. They blame BP. But they already hate oil companies. And they blame Obama, too. And they are coming to dislike him.
When Obama attempts to recoup this damage to his political base by pushing new legislation on the environment or by resurrecting his cap and trade legislation or by bringing criminal charges against BP or by setting up a liability fund for the spill’s victims, it does not solve his political problem. With each day, 60,000 gallons gush into the Gulf, Obama’s equivalent of the body count in Iraq that caused the left to loathe George W. Bush. Rhetoric or programs or visits to the Gulf or posturing won’t assuage the negatives. Only plugging the hole in the bottom of the ocean can do it.
The right and center of American politics turned off Obama over health care. And now the left is leaving him over the oil spill.
Why can’t Obama plug the hole?
Because he has no administrative experience. I often saw Bill Clinton, as governor and as president, call in experts and ask the tough questions when he faced a new disaster. In Arkansas, it was tornadoes or floods or fires. In Washington, it was Oklahoma City. But, each time, he thoroughly familiarized himself with all the technical issues. He took a bath in the science and substance of the hazard and became as knowledgeable as those who had spent a lifetime studying it. So he knew what questions to ask.
Any CEO or COO or manager has similar experience. But a community organizer, law professor, state senator, US Senator, and president doesn’t have the requisite experience. He doesn’t know not to trust his own bureaucracy. He hasn’t been burned enough to realize that he needs to intervene to waive restrictions, set aside regulations, and open up the process to new solutions. He’s like JFK during the Bay of Pigs. He doesn’t know how to avoid being betrayed by his own bureaucracy and the industry it’s supposed to regulate.
Why did he not waive the Jones Act (he still hasn’t) to allow foreign vessels to ply our waters to clean up the spill? Not because he was against it. He couldn’t have been against so obvious a course as waiving it. It was likely because nobody told him about it and he never knew to ask.
Why did he let the bureaucracy use only US contractors to dredge the Gulf and build the berms that Louisiana wanted? Why did he spurn the offer of Dutch assistance (half the country has been dredged from the sea and is below sea level)? Not because he wanted the jobs to go to Americans. That would have been an insane consideration in the face of this crisis. it is probably because he never realized that our capacity for dredging needed augmentation. Because he never asked.
To the right and the center, these failings show that Obama is in over his head. But to the left, which bleeds for each drop of water in the Gulf and cries over every turtle or shrimp or sea bird, it is an unpardonable sin.
It is the nature of things that presidential mistakes metastasize into presidential character flaws. Bush’s inaction over Katrina comes across as insensitivity. Now Obama’s incompetence and inexperience is causing liberals to see him as arrogant, aloof, removed, conceited, suspicious of outside advice, and even lazy. Long after the oil has stopped spilling, these supposed character defects will haunt the president, just as Carter’s reputation of timidity and inability lasted long after the Iran hostages came home. These defects will last until 2012 and beyond.
Dick Morris is the former adviser to President Bill Clinton
Dick Morris
June 16, 2010
To the left, the oil spill is not an index of presidential competence or an issue in the political sphere. It is a daily gushing of poison into the Earth’s waters as a direct result of the president’s failure to stop it. They blame BP. But they already hate oil companies. And they blame Obama, too. And they are coming to dislike him.
When Obama attempts to recoup this damage to his political base by pushing new legislation on the environment or by resurrecting his cap and trade legislation or by bringing criminal charges against BP or by setting up a liability fund for the spill’s victims, it does not solve his political problem. With each day, 60,000 gallons gush into the Gulf, Obama’s equivalent of the body count in Iraq that caused the left to loathe George W. Bush. Rhetoric or programs or visits to the Gulf or posturing won’t assuage the negatives. Only plugging the hole in the bottom of the ocean can do it.
The right and center of American politics turned off Obama over health care. And now the left is leaving him over the oil spill.
Why can’t Obama plug the hole?
Because he has no administrative experience. I often saw Bill Clinton, as governor and as president, call in experts and ask the tough questions when he faced a new disaster. In Arkansas, it was tornadoes or floods or fires. In Washington, it was Oklahoma City. But, each time, he thoroughly familiarized himself with all the technical issues. He took a bath in the science and substance of the hazard and became as knowledgeable as those who had spent a lifetime studying it. So he knew what questions to ask.
Any CEO or COO or manager has similar experience. But a community organizer, law professor, state senator, US Senator, and president doesn’t have the requisite experience. He doesn’t know not to trust his own bureaucracy. He hasn’t been burned enough to realize that he needs to intervene to waive restrictions, set aside regulations, and open up the process to new solutions. He’s like JFK during the Bay of Pigs. He doesn’t know how to avoid being betrayed by his own bureaucracy and the industry it’s supposed to regulate.
Why did he not waive the Jones Act (he still hasn’t) to allow foreign vessels to ply our waters to clean up the spill? Not because he was against it. He couldn’t have been against so obvious a course as waiving it. It was likely because nobody told him about it and he never knew to ask.
Why did he let the bureaucracy use only US contractors to dredge the Gulf and build the berms that Louisiana wanted? Why did he spurn the offer of Dutch assistance (half the country has been dredged from the sea and is below sea level)? Not because he wanted the jobs to go to Americans. That would have been an insane consideration in the face of this crisis. it is probably because he never realized that our capacity for dredging needed augmentation. Because he never asked.
To the right and the center, these failings show that Obama is in over his head. But to the left, which bleeds for each drop of water in the Gulf and cries over every turtle or shrimp or sea bird, it is an unpardonable sin.
It is the nature of things that presidential mistakes metastasize into presidential character flaws. Bush’s inaction over Katrina comes across as insensitivity. Now Obama’s incompetence and inexperience is causing liberals to see him as arrogant, aloof, removed, conceited, suspicious of outside advice, and even lazy. Long after the oil has stopped spilling, these supposed character defects will haunt the president, just as Carter’s reputation of timidity and inability lasted long after the Iran hostages came home. These defects will last until 2012 and beyond.
Dick Morris is the former adviser to President Bill Clinton
TexasBlue
Re: Dems Turn On Obama
by TheNextPrez2012 Tue Jun 22, 2010 7:44 am
TexasBlue wrote:
Why can’t Obama plug the hole?
It is not the government's job to fix this...that goes for any person in any level of government.
The government's job is to incompetently run the country by pushing everything to one side (usually the side of the party in charge). At no point are they expected to fix anything.
If I were in charge, I would just leave this to the oil companies and when it's fixed, hit the oil companies with a huge price tag on the bill.
Obama made a mistake by putting himself into this scenario...the wiser move would have been to just stay away until it was over.
Now that he is in the middle of it, he has to decide where to stand on the issue and he can't figure it out because he's nothing more than a community organizer.
TheNextPrez2012
Re: Dems Turn On Obama
by Guest Tue Jun 22, 2010 7:53 am
Dick needs to read this article, then he'll realize just how wrong he is -- unless he already does and he's just trying to save his job.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/06/why-has-obamas-approval-held-steady-despite-the-oil-spill/58419/
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/06/why-has-obamas-approval-held-steady-despite-the-oil-spill/58419/
Guest- Guest
Re: Dems Turn On Obama
by TexasBlue Tue Jun 22, 2010 5:41 pm
TheNextPrez2012 wrote:It is not the government's job to fix this...that goes for any person in any level of government.
The government's job is to incompetently run the country by pushing everything to one side (usually the side of the party in charge). At no point are they expected to fix anything.
If I were in charge, I would just leave this to the oil companies and when it's fixed, hit the oil companies with a huge price tag on the bill.
Obama made a mistake by putting himself into this scenario...the wiser move would have been to just stay away until it was over.
Now that he is in the middle of it, he has to decide where to stand on the issue and he can't figure it out because he's nothing more than a community organizer.
It's not the gov'ts job to plug it because they can't. It's not the business of gov't. But they have the power to aid in the cleanup. That's the part that's really been lacking.
TexasBlue
Re: Dems Turn On Obama
by TexasBlue Tue Jun 22, 2010 5:47 pm
alland wrote:Dick needs to read this article, then he'll realize just how wrong he is -- unless he already does and he's just trying to save his job.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/06/why-has-obamas-approval-held-steady-despite-the-oil-spill/58419/
Approval rating for his overall job performance is one ting.
Polls on his handling of the oil spill is another.
The new CBS News/New York Times poll? Just 32% say Obama has a clear plan to deal with the oil leak, while 59% (including 64% of Gulf coast residents) say he doesn't.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38840.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20008373-503544.html
Rasmussen Poll: Obama Approval at 41%
http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/rasmussen-tracking-poll-obama-approval-41
TexasBlue
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