What do you mean by this? Its Obama's fault for trying to get more oil domestically then from OPEC? This was the fault of past regulators that wanted to cut corners on cost issues for fail safe devices. This is a result of greed.

[edit on 1-5-2010 by iamjesusphish]

Waiting so long to try and do anything is Obamas fault. If President Bush had done the same he'd have been crucified in the media. Big damn deaal, this loser is gonna do a flly over, and then what. This isn't like a hurricane you can rebuild from, this will take years, you don't rebuild mother nature. I live on the gulf coast of Florida and when this gets here it will destroy our local economy, as well as our lifestyle. Who's responsible, yes it's BPs rig, but the gubment did nothing to halt this. Those that don't live in these areas are all for drilling offshore, meanwhile I don't know a local here that supports it........it doesn't affect you so yeah drill baby drill. Obama earns an epic fail on this for his lack of action.

I don't think the Fed has or ever will moved that quickly. It's sickening to watch the glop come ashore, birds, fish and sea life sicken and die. Been there done that. I had occasion long, long ago to be the primary point of responsibility to respond to an oil spill off the west coast of the U.S. Most of the action seemed sadly, a shuffling of blame, rather than actual ACTION.

AFTER the action, then the blame for the response flared up again. The whole thing disgusted me, and I don't see much in the way of change -- at least from the FED -- since then.

My truth is, the Fed doesn't move quickly. If there is a blame to be assessed, I'd guess that emergency response protocols -- which should be put in place well prior to the event -- might have been lacking, although I don't know that, just a guess.

It's a horrible, slowly creeping death -- a crude spill -- that keeps on killing long after the landfall.... it kills creatures, it kills plants, it kills jobs, and it kills economies. We, the users of said oil, are somewhat culpable, but are mostly powerless to affect the policies and economic factors that support oil. What we can do, is wean ourselves from petroleum product dependency on a personal level. That seems to not be an option for many people, and perhaps that's something that involves a very radical shift in perceptions to even make a difference.

Do I drive an auto? Yep. Do I use plastic products? yep. Utilize things made from manufacturing? Yep. Enjoy on-grid power? Not so much. Very little. We do what we can, most of us, hopefully.

We will never be able to drill for oil, nor transport it with 100% safety assurance. That's the nature of the beast. I could sit here and second-guess the response to the Gulf spill all day, but even having some experience with same, I cannot know the factors that have played a part in it. I can only urge all of us to wish well, pray if you do, whatever -- hope like hell that this event can be mitigated, oil captured, skimmed, boomed, dispersed and that we seek legislation to enforce a higher standard of emergency controls for these situations.

I have a sinking, deeply pained feeling that this is going to be the most terrible spill in history. Plenty of time for blame and risk assessment later. Plug that @#$@#%er up ! Get it clean, and spend whatever is necessary to protect the shores of the Gulf nations, as well as those southerly of the U.S.

ETA: Obama's fault? His ultimate responsibility, maybe. The Federal goverment is a slow, rusty, badly-in-need of retrofit and lubrication, machine full of redundant cogs and gears. I think it's pointless to try to ascribe an abundance of blame on the President, unless that's your particular hobby.


end/rant

[edit on 1/5/10 by argentus]

Do you happen to use any type of OIL in any of your vehicles? Do you blame the oil stains on the pavement caused by any of yours or your families vehicles on the President also? Or is it also the Presidents fault that you use oil in your vehicles and other mechanical devices?

If you must blame someone, how about blaming the big shots throughout history in the OIL biz that buys out patents and destroys any new inventions and ideas that would operate without the need for oil or gasoline.

Blaming the president for this is just ANOTHER of the IDIOTIC attempts to tarnish him for SILLY reasons.

I hope they will put all these tired threads together, somewhere in political madness.

We can just call it:

"If you blame Barack Obama for the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, Click here".

Maybe the rest of us can discuss the real failure of the Petroleum industry to care about anything other than their own pockets, even if it means failing to provide standard equipment, and having a protocol which is effective to cope with the massive mistake we are now seeing.

Should it be more regulated, so you can legitimately raise hell at the President?
Or less regulated, so you don't have to be concerned about big government interference?

The rig and the solutions are inadequate. When it comes to learning lessons the hard way, I have a bad feeling that this one is going to be way, way too hard.