WHAT Did Obama See, And WHEN Did He See It?

[Segami]

:smoke: Please tell.



BP withheld video of the gushing oil beneath the Gulf from the American public -- but not from the government.




Among the most troubling themes in Tim Dickinson's important new Rolling Stone investigation of the Gulf oil spill is how British Petroleum successfully compromised the federal government, from the obscure Minerals Management Service all the way up to the White House. The failure to respond aggressively and immediately will haunt the Obama presidency for years to come. And early promises of transparency seem to have been broken in this crisis because the administration allowed BP to take control of the narrative -- and especially the video:

RollingStone Investigation:

<http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/111965?RS_show_page=0>




From the start, the administration has seemed intent on allowing BP to operate in near-total secrecy. Much of what the public knows about the crisis it owes to Rep. Ed Markey, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment. Under pressure from Markey, BP was forced to release footage of the gusher, admit that its early estimates put the leak as high as 14,000 barrels a day and post a live feed of its undersea operations on the Internet -- video that administration officials had possessed from the earliest days of the disaster.




That's clearly correct: The "unified command" in New Orleans, including Coast Guard and other federal officials along with BP executives and engineers, has had streaming real-time video of the Deepwater Horizon site available from the earliest hours following the disaster. Adm. Thad Allen, the incident commander, and other members of the unified command team have testified to that fact on several occasions. Testifying before the Senate on May 18, Allen told Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., that "we have had full access to the video footage in our command center since the event started."




That testimony raises additional questions concerning BP's steadfast refusal to release any video footage until more than three weeks after the explosion (and to withhold the vide0 stream from the public for an additional nine days). If U.S. government officials could see that streaming video from the beginning, then why did BP get away with keeping video from the public domain for so long? Or to put it another way: Why didn't the government force BP to release the footage that media outlets and scientists had been requesting for weeks? Only after Sen. Nelson -- with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. -- used Allen's testimony to publicly demand release of BP's video footage did the company finally accede a few days later on May 21.


more




<http://www.salon.com/news/louisiana_oil_spill/index.html?story=/opinion/conason/2010/06/09/spillvideo>



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[RandomThoughts]

1. Let me see if I understand the blame the government spin.

For decades the corporate profit motive wants to be in control, and pays money to have laws made to give them the ability to have the profit motive set policy.

Then when it leads to the inevitable bad results of profit motive first

They blame the government that wants regulation on some sectors, (if that is what the government wants, and seems to be by what is said, although have to see the enforcement and effects of legislation, and what legislation still occurs.)


Anyone see the BS there?


I am not saying everything government does is right, but the problem is not government but what is behind some in government creating those effects. And that has less to do with the last year then decades of dismantling law and order for society protection.

[TheMadMonk]

3. Unfortunately the Government's hands are not unsullied.

If the regulatory authorities had done even a fraction of their job, this event probably would not have happened.

From the behaviour of all the players involved it is very clear that BP had the power (and will) to make life very difficult for even Haliburton. Yes even Darth has his masters. Each did exactly as they were told, none were given their way.

You can bet that the administration would be well aware of how the regulatory authorities have been rubberstamping anything passing over their desks, and ignoring infractions in the industries under their purview. It's first of all common knowledge, and secondly after the mine disaster would have topped at least one daily briefing. Obama entered this presidency knowing that the public service was compromised and under the control of the industries they were supposed to oversee.

[AllentownJake]

4. The Government exists to protect organizations like BP

Not the other way around it appears.

[caledesi]

2. Unlike Katrina, this is a man-made disaster! BP owns this one,

Right Teabaggers?? BP doesn't need no stankin' government in their private biz. No regulations...right?