Obama needs to say some simple things on this oil catastrophe.

[Raven]

First, it is a catastrophe...I think he's almost said this.
Second, the government can't fix it....and he needs to explain why.
Third, everyday, day after day, he needs to tell us what he is doing.
Fourth, he needs to put together a team...like the Manhatten Project, who will find a way to kill this spill.

He now needs to stop following BP's lead.

We have the brains in the country to solve this. Obama needs to find them and leave the oil spoilers behind.

PS. I got a very simple explanation from a friend in NH who is a chemist as to why the mud didn't work. Made sense to me. What are you waiting for Obama?????

[H2O Man]

1. True.

Recommended.

[Cattledog]

24. Obama was slow out of the gate

and now he's playing catchup which makes him look rudderless.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Be sure to let him know what he needs to do.

Without help from Internet message boards he'll never be able to figure out what to do on his own.

[Captain Hilts]

5. He's got to get control of the message. It's that simple. nt

[laughingliberal]

10. +1 nt

[RKP5637]

17. Yep! IMO this is a repetitive problem that the messaging is not under control on

a lot of things. First step is always to get the messaging out very loud and very clear. Otherwise people start to invent their own conclusions, and when that happens control is lost. And then you start playing catchup and that seldom works.

[Raven]

6. Did you mean to be scarcastic?

[Bluebear]

7. He asked that his feet be held to the fire actually.

[quinnox]

9. given his performance thus far, it sure couldn't hurt n/t

[nichomachus]

11. Well, from all indications

On this and a host of other issues he seems to be pretty clueless -- a typical one-term wonder.

[bobburgster]

18. Are you serious?

Where do you watch your news, FOX?

[H2O Man]

21. Grow up.

The OP is a very good example of what DU is at its best. Your attempt at a snide comment is an example of the foolishness that distracts from a meaningful discussion.

[spanone]

3. k&r

[Captain Hilts]

4. Well said. nt

[quinnox]

8. Have the military take charge

BP will be directed by the military and have a task force formed with top scientists and oil specialist on it to figure out a way to fix this.

Obama has been frankly mediocre and lackluster on this incident for weeks, no leadership!

[RKP5637]

13. +1, n/t

[Whisp]

14. no leadership....

whatever. I have a different opinion and mine smells better. ;)

[Captain Hilts]

20. I agree. Time to stop trusting BP. Give charge to the military. Bring other countries in

to help out. What did the French do with the huge Brittany spill?

What do they do offshore of Aberdeen?

[MindandSoul]

12. You're mostly right. . .except that "the brains in the country" should

include "the brains in ANY countries!!!!"

Once again, there is too much arrogance in believing that Americans know better than anyone else!

WE do not know more than many other countries. . .and we must access knowledge from everywhere to combat this catastrophy!

[Raven]

16. Agree! Global brains wanted. n/t

[RKP5637]

19. Very very true!!! There is too much arrogance in believing that Americans know better than

anyone else! We see this a lot, the not invented here syndrome so it must be no good.

[proud patriot]

15. I agree and am going to share this with some friends

hopefully we can get this done .

[Coyote_Bandit]

22. Ummmm......

I personally could care less what he says. I don't believe him. He's said stuff before that he failed miserably to deliver on (e.g. transparency in the healthcare reform debate).

I'll judge him by his actions. Thus far with respect to the BP catastrophe ou can color me unimpressed. Slow public response from him. Seem to be lots of industry cozy political appointees that oversaw regulatory matters. And the EPA frickin orders BP to stop using corexit and stands aside twiddling their thumbs while BP continues doing so. WTF? In permitting that without loud and continued objection the Obama administration has signalled that BP has more power than they do.

[Cleita]

23. I don't know. Your suggestions would seem the sensible and logical thing to do, but

I think there is a whole lot more going on behind the scenes and under the radar that is tying his hands on doing a lot of what needs to be done. We are talking about the oil industry here not just BP and they are mighty powerful and they are international. I feel he's really going to have to bring his best chess game to this one.