'Political Stupidity': Democrat James Carville Slams Obama's Response to BP Oil Spill

'Political Stupidity': Democrat James Carville Slams Obama's Response to BP Oil Spill

abcnews.go.com

The "political stupidity is unbelievable," Democratic strategist James Carville said on "Good Morning America" today. "The president doesn't get down here in the middle of this. ... I have no idea of why they didn't seize this thing. I have no idea of why their attitude was so hands off here."

(visit the link for the full news article)

Wow. I'm so confused, . This is Carville. AND this is ABC News.

More:

But Carville said the Obama administration's response to the BP oil spill has been "lackadaisical," and that rather than place the blame on the previous administration, it should've done more to deal with BP and "inept bureaucrats," which would've in turn helped boost Obama's approval ratings.

"The president of the United States could've come down here, he could've been involved with the families of these 11 people" who died on the offshore rig, Carville said. "He could've demanded a plan in anticipation of this."

There's a video of it at the link.



abcnews.go.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 26/5/2010 by Iamonlyhuman]

Carville is completely right.

He knows something is not right. Many of us in Louisiana sense it, from the Governor on down.

There is some serious insanity going here and it makes the slow reponse to Katrina pale in comparison.

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


Isn't it firstly unconstitutional to seize private property and secondly a bad idea to put important matters into the hands of the government? Maybe BP isn't doing a good job but its not a bad bet the government would do even worse.

I agree. This man had brass knockers to say that on TV but he's right. There is nothing politically stupid about his words.

I consider myself a republican but not a die hard. I like snakehead Carville, he's got some stones you gotta admit. Well said James!


Edit spelling.

[edit on 26-5-2010 by JMech]

reply to post by truthquest


What property would be seized? The platform blew up and sank.

The US government has the resources to handle this crisis. BP's resources are nothing compared to the government, which could coordinate an effort of multiple companies and the military to work on ending this crisis.

BP has been more inept than the US government.

If they don't get it fixed before Hurricane Season, we are going to see a catastrophe of biblical proportions when the first Hurricanes enter the gulf. The oil will not allow the ocean to cool, causing it to heat up like a greenhouse. This will create hurricanes in the gulf beyond anything we have seen in recent history. Those same hurricanes will then rain and surge oil all over the Gulf coast.

So not only will the gulf fishing industry be devastated, agriculture, water supplies, and wildlife will be devastated.

Hurricane season begins June 1st.

I am amazed at the cojones of Carville. I never thought I would see the day to actually hear him speak up for something that is being insufficiently handled, instead of his usual policy of following the party line.

I guess that sometimes a man can reach a breaking point in his life when he realizes that he can no longer accept the status quo.

Wow.


This one is for you James:

www.youtube.com...


[edit on 26-5-2010 by manta78]

You know that Obama is in deep trouble, when Carville blasts him.
Democrats are starting to run away from Obama in droves now. I doubt that many Democratic House members will be asking for help during the coming campaigns.
Obama is beginning to realize how in over his head he is. It takes more than a clever Chicago politician to run the US, and his pick of ideologues as advisers make matters even worse. Now we know the REAL reason Rahm left the states, not the "published" one:

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is in Israel with his family for the bar mitzvah of his son and a nephew in the coming days

www.politicsdaily.com...

I think he's trying to get his job back with the Israeli Defense Forces.

Obama to fellow Democrats, sort of like this video clip: (Video Clip is GRAPHIC)

Had someone I know say he did not believe it when I mentioned Carville's comments. I knew he would not watch the video so found
the transcript here: Source: newsbusters.org...
---
A transcript of the May 26 segment, which aired at 7:06am EDT, follows:
STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, the White House denies any political motivation here. But, immigration and this oil spill have become two, big political headaches for the administration. So, let's bring in our political strategist, James Carville, worked for Bill Clinton. Matthew Dowd, pollster for George W. Bush, also some Democrats, as well. And, James, let's begin with the oil spill. Last week, even though you're an ally of President Obama, you blasted the White House. Said it was a lackadaisical response, said they were naive for trusting BP. And you went on to say that this is a disaster of the first magnitude. They have got to go to Plan B. Are we seeing Plan B now?
JAMES CARVILLE: Man, I hope so, George. Because, the political stupidity is unbelievable. Here, you have a situation, where you have some working- 11 working- hard-working people, blown up as the result of corporate malfeasance and maybe criminal negligence, as a result of inept bureaucrats who were part of the- you can actually blame the previous administration for this. And the President doesn't get down here in the middle of this. This thing should be- his approval should be up seven points right now if he had come down. I have no idea of why they didn't seize this thing. I have no idea of why their attitude was so hands-off-y here. It's just unbelievable. Now, I hope he sees it now, because very seldom do you get good politics and the really the right thing to do. And that is to get involved here.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, the President is going down on Friday. He's announcing these tighter new regulations on Thursday. Matthew Dowd, you lived through Katrina with President Bush. What we are seeing now, for the first time on this issue, a majority disapprove of how he's handling it. But, do you see this posing a Katrina-like threat, political threat to President Obama?
MATTHEW DOWD: Well, I think this incident that happened, the environmental disaster that happened, is another example for the American public that they can't trust corporations and big government to protect them. And I think ultimately, it will be a real political problem. It hasn't affected his numbers yet. But, James is right. In a disaster like this, his numbers should be going up. Not just staying stagnant. And, ultimately, I think the country right now is so frustrated on a lot of things. This is just another example where they say, "What is government doing? And what can they do well?" We have disasters. And we're seeming to be on Plan G "
STEPHANOPOULOS: But, let me ask both of you this: What more can the President do here? He didn't-
CARVILLE: George! George! George! The President of the United States could have come down here. He could have been involved with the families of these 11 people. He could have commandeered the things. We could have sent the Woods Hole people. He could have sent the Scripps on research vessels in the Gulf of Mexico. He could have implemented a plan in anticipation of this. You know, right, he can't exactly fill the hole up. Last night I was on Larry King, the CEO, the former CEO of the Shell. They said they got 85 percent of the stuff cleaned up in the Gulf of Saudi Arabia. He could be commandeering tankers and making BP bring tankers in and clean this up. They could the deploying people to the coast right now. He could be deploying people to the coast. He could be with the corps of engineers and the Coast Guard with these people in Plaquemines Parish, doing something about these regulations. These people are crying. They're begging for something down here. And it just looks like he's not involved in this! Man, you have got to get down here and take control of this! Put somebody in charge of this and get this thing moving! We're about to die down here!
STEPHANOPOULOS: Okay. You've answered that question. Let me turn to Matthew Dowd on immigration. Another big political wave heading toward the President, announcing these new troops towards the border. Will this be enough to stem this political wave that's coming right at him?
DOWD: No. Not at all. And, I mean, ultimately, this was a political move. He would not have done this but for what happened with Arizona and what's going on in the rest of the country. It's not just an Arizona problem. The rest of the country thinks the government is broken and can't- doesn't have an immigration policy. So, yeah. I think this is a symbolic act. It's not going to- 1,200 troops on the border that stretches from California to Texas is not going to do anything to stop drugs from coming over or stop the gang killings and all the things going on. It is symbolic. Presidencies, as James just said- Symbolism is very important. If you show up at a disaster, it's important. I think the symbolism here, it's not going to have substantive effect. But it is a political problem when the majority of the country supports what Arizona did.
STEPHANOPOULOS, And clearly, James, the Arizona member of Congress, Gabrielle Gifford, who announces he's happy with what the President is announcing. But, the President has also got to manage a lot of others in his Democratic base, who are concerned that the push for comprehensive immigration reform may stall.
CARVILLE: He does. It's a heck of a problem. I'm not exactly sure if you hear conflicting things. Some think that the crime rate in Arizona is down, with the number of illegals into Arizona is down over a period of time. I have no idea what the facts are. But, obviously, they have some problem on their border. They really feel that way. This is an area of great frustration. And he's doing something. Hopefully this works. But, man, he's got to- the other thing he needs to do. They need to launch a criminal investigation. The Attorney General needs to investigate criminal negligence on the part of BP and what went on at MMS. There are a thousand of things that he can do. He just needs to get down here and start doing something. People are dying!
STEPHANOPOULOS: Okay. Well, the President is going to be there on Friday. Thank you both for your passion and insight.



[edit on 27-5-2010 by manta78]