Big Dogs Weblog

Obama’s Suggestion; Plug The Damn Hole

by Big Dog on May 26, 2010 at 04:45 Political

When Katrina hit the liberals went into high gear to blame George Bush and to slam the federal response. I have often written that the federal response did lack in some areas but it was not as bad as the liberals portrayed it. The bulk of the blame for the problems at the state and federal level went to Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco. Their missteps caused undue delay and made the federal response much more difficult.

Barack Obama promised not to forget the Gulf Coast when he was running for office. He told us that he remembered the storm and he would not forget the Gulf Coast implying that Bush had forgotten about it.

Why would he not give that impression? Bush was blasted for not going there right away, blasted for being on vacation, blasted for fundraisers, blasted for a slow response and accused of hating black people. The left painted this unfair picture and it stuck. It was deliberate and it played politics with the lives of those affected.

But Obama fairs no better. He has made one trip to the Gulf (I think Bush had visited the Gulf nearly 10 times by this time frame during Katrina), the federal response was slow, he went on a mini vacation after the disaster and he is going on another this weekend, and he is squeezing a fundraiser in as well.

Obama had no plans to go to the Gulf but has capitulated and will visit the area this Friday after he returns form a fundraiser today and then he will go to his home in Chicago for some time off. He is so worn out from his quest to destroy our nation that he will miss the Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.

He will reportedly go to a cemetery in Illinois on Memorial Day. I hope his vacation is not interrupted too much.

Obama is getting hammered from the right (and now some of the left is chiming in) for the way he has responded to the Gulf oil spill. He is being held to the same standard that the left held Bush to during Katrina and to the standard he promised would be better than the one Bush had set.

Perhaps this is why Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called the media into the West Wing and scolded them for asking too many questions about the oil spill. I don’t recall the media letting up on the questions asked of Bush about Katrina and I am sure that the liberals kept asking questions. It is funny how things change when the ones who criticize are on the receiving end.

And Obama, who is very thin skinned, is not happy. He knows his messianic reputation is taking a hit. He knows he is teetering on being a failure in the eyes of the public because he knows what unfair accusations did to Bush. Obama participated in those accusations. He is getting tense by the day and is reported to have snapped, “Plug the damn hole.”

Gee, if only BP had thought of that…

And yes, I said unfair accusations. No occupant of the White House can slip into a phone booth and change into Superman and fix things. Bush could not swoop into New Orleans and fix things any more than Obama can swoop into the Gulf and fix things. Leaders have to rely on the people under them who have responsibility for things. Bush had to rely on a state and city that was led by incompetent boobs and who worsened the situation. Obama has to rely on the experts in the oil industry to fix the problem that the government is not equipped to take on. He had to rely on a decades old plan that ended up falling flat because required equipment was not in place. That plan was in place long before Obama (or Bush for that matter) was in office.

It sucks being the leader when the things that are supposed to be taken care of are not. It sucks when you get the blame for things out of your control.

But Obama was happy to criticize Bush and the response to Katrina. He was happy to pile on the unfair accusations and he was happy to say he would do better.

That is important to remember. He said he would do better and he has not. Whether the problems are his fault or not means nothing because he made promises he is now unable to keep.

And he is being held to the same standard that he held Bush to.

Liberals do not like it and Obama does not like it but you reap what you sow.

So while Obama is out at fundraisers and on vacation the Gulf remains in peril and the people there feel forgotten.

Even though they were promised that would change.

How is that Hope and Change working out for you now?

Never surrender, never submit.

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Tags: bp, Bush, fundraiser, gulf coast, katrina, Obama, oil spill, vacation