toldailytopic: Is President Obama doing a good job handling the oil spill in the gulf

[Alate_One]

I think back in 2008 there were voters who actually thought Obama was super-human. I think that's fading, though.
What he is supposed to do is provide LEADERSHIP. Even people polled recenting in Louisiana think Bush did a better job with Katrina than Obama is doing now, and that's saying something.

Oh please . . . Katrina and this disaster are two entirely different things. Katrina was fully anticipated as a potential disaster, relatively easily accessible, predictable and fixable by comparison. And Bush flubbed it rather badly.

This ongoing spill wasn't any of those things. It's at the bottom of the ocean, and the oil is spread over the surface and in the water column itself. Pretty hard to show "leadership" when you don't have direct access to or control of the problem.

The EPA has the potential to wield more power than ever before. It's ludicrous to keep presenting it as being gutted.

Not anywhere near enough has been done to restore the EPA's role. It takes more than a year to do much of anything to a government agency. I doubt the research budget has been restored. (it was essentially eliminated under Bush)

 

[annabenedetti]

People who are essentially moderate tend to read a bit more broadly and draw in information from a number of disparate sources.

Maybe you're on the cusp. :think:

Maybe you're projecting just a wee bit. :chuckle:

I take in The Nation and The New Republic, by way of example. I suspect kmo does something like that.

For you to do something like that - that is, take in something from a bit on the other side, would be for you to take in something more conservative than those. So...what conservative-leaning sources do you like?

 

[annabenedetti]

Oh please . . . Katrina and this disaster are two entirely different things. Katrina was fully anticipated as a potential disaster, relatively easily accessible, predictable and fixable by comparison. And Bush flubbed it rather badly.

I know that's the story we've been fed by the mainstream media who hate Bush. That's what makes the poll so surprising, since the respondents ought to know better than anyone - they're from Louisiana.

Pretty hard to show "leadership" when you don't have direct access to or control of the problem.

I would wager if this had happened on Bush's watch, you would be singing a different tune.

Not anywhere near enough has been done to restore the EPA's role. It takes more than a year to do much of anything to a government agency. I doubt the research budget has been restored. (it was essentially eliminated under Bush)

Give them time. They're working furiously on it.

 

[annabenedetti]

The whole left right things is so childish. It reminds me of the childish groups and clicks we joined as kids just to argue for no purpose that benefited anything productive. The sides say they want what is best, but truth be told, they want for their side to win regardless of what's best.

Is there a way to remove my selection of right left etc and have it blank? If so I'd put what I am: N/A

I wait till I see who is running and listen to what they say without any pre-party childish fault finding attitudes.

Those cliques you joined as a kid just to argue for no purpose that benefited anything productive were preparing you to maintain your 22.05 post per day average. :thumb:

 

[Town Heretic]

Maybe you're projecting just a wee bit. :chuckle:

Yes. I'm projecting amusement at the moment.

For you to do something like that - that is, take in something from a bit on the other side, would be for you to take in something more conservative than those. So...what conservative-leaning sources do you like?

Sorry, I meant The National Review. I was debating using The Nation or The New Republic for one side and inadvertently set them both down and omitted it. :chuckle: I still miss Buckley and haven't found anyone from either side of the fence I enjoy reading as much...The Conservative Chronicle is a good place to go online for columns from the right.

 

[annabenedetti]

Yes. I'm projecting amusement at the moment.

See? Humor is infectious! You've caught mine. :chuckle:

I was debating using The Nation or The New Republic for one side and inadvertently set them both down and omitted it.

It would be difficult to refrain here from mentioning a Freudian slip...dang. How'd that happen?

I still miss Buckley and haven't found anyone from either side of the fence I enjoy reading as much.

What do you think of Charles Krauthammer?

 

[Alate_One]

I know that's the story we've been fed by the mainstream media who hate Bush. That's what makes the poll so surprising, since the respondents ought to know better than anyone - they're from Louisiana.

I would wager if this had happened on Bush's watch, you would be singing a different tune.[/QUOTe]
I love how right wingers claim this, when they do the exact same thing. Actually of all the things Bush did, Katrina is really low on my list as something he personally could have done better. He did so many more things that destroyed America's moral high ground (which Obama has moronically followed) which are far, far worse.

I place far more blame on moronic local officials that didn't bother to have the plan that was laid out for them actually in working order.

Bush did show a lack of caring/empathy and action once it was plain the local officials hadn't planned appropriately and there was actually a huge disaster. And he had some bad federal appointees as well.

In short neither Katrina nor the oil spill are the President's "job" he isn't supposed to be an expert in such matters. Now if he put incompetent officials in place, then he is at fault indirectly.

But after all the right wing assertions about companies behaving appropriately without regulation, complaints about the oil spill handling ring pretty hollow.

Give them time. They're working furiously on it.

I don't think anywhere near furiously enough.

 

[Aimiel]

Isn't it obvious from Katrina, the gulf oil spill and the healthcare abyss that our federal government has failed, miserably, in every sense possible, even though we're being taxed out the wazoo? What will it take for US citizens to stand up and make this thing right again?

 

[Town Heretic]

See? Humor is infectious! You've caught mine. :chuckle:

I always enjoy your sense of humor, :banana: if not the point to it on every count.

It would be difficult to refrain here from mentioning a Freudian slip...dang. How'd that happen?

So if I'd set out two conservative mags you'd have gone the other way with that, huh...:chuckle: That's what I thought.

What do you think of Charles Krauthammer?

Very sharp fellow. A bit partisan, but in context worth reading. He can give a left handed compliment with the best of them. :chuckle: I'd just read a column of his again the other day on Obama...give me a minute. Here's what I was thinking of:

"With remarkable political honesty and courage, Obama unveiled the most radical (in American terms) ideological agenda since the New Deal: the fundamental restructuring of three pillars of American society -- health care, education and energy."

Not remotely fair, of course, but very nicely done. Now I'm with him on cap and trade. That's disaster waiting to happen. But he's wrong in opposing health care reform and, well, let's just say I find him interesting enough to pay some attention to.

oly:

 

[annabenedetti]

So if I'd set out two conservative mags you'd have gone the other way with that, huh...:chuckle: That's what I thought.

If you'd set out two conservative magazines, you would have proved a point and left me with nothing to chuckle at. Where's the fun in that?

"With remarkable political honesty and courage, Obama unveiled the most radical (in American terms) ideological agenda since the New Deal: the fundamental restructuring of three pillars of American society -- health care, education and energy."

Not remotely fair, of course, but very nicely done.

You're right. It's not fair to use political honesty and courage in the same sentence with Obama. :think:

Now I'm with him on cap and trade.
[...]
I find him interesting enough to pay some attention to.

We have a tiny bit of common ground! Try to keep your elbows out of my half, will you?

 

[Town Heretic]

If you'd set out two conservative magazines, you would have proved a point...

No, it would have been nothing more or less than an equally obvious mistake owing to no particular orthodoxy.

and left me with nothing to chuckle at. Where's the fun in that?

Well that much is inarguable.

Something I probably should have clarified long ago. When I take those involved political "you are here" tests I invariably end up a little left of center WITHIN the moderate range and a little more libertarian than statist.

You're right. It's not fair to use political honesty and courage in the same sentence with Obama. :think:

So Krauthammer isn't to the right enough to satisfy your, um, a little more right view of things...:chuckle:

We have a tiny bit of common ground! Try to keep your elbows out of my half, will you?

Man are you going to be upset if you ever realize I'm pro gun and property rights (actually oppose property tax as an abridgment), against judicial activism, anti government ownership of any means of production and a long list of similarly conservative principles. :doh: I let that one out of the bag...sorry.

Well, I'm pro public education and healthcare as a right, so you'll just have to take comfort and find your fun there.

 

[annabenedetti]

So Krauthammer isn't to the right enough to satisfy your, um, a little more right view of things...:chuckle:

A mere diversion. I had you fair and square. :chuckle:

Man are you going to be upset if you ever realize I'm pro gun and property rights (actually oppose property tax as an abridgment), against judicial activism, anti government ownership of any means of production and a long list of similarly conservative principles. :doh: I let that one out of the bag...sorry.

Hmmm...I could work with that...:think:

Well, I'm pro public education and healthcare as a right, so you'll just have to take comfort and find your fun there.

re: healthcare, I could have found some common ground there, but certainly not in the way liberals would go about it, and certainly not how this healthcare plan was devised. There is certainly a need for common-sense, well administered safety nets, but there should have been a reform of the existing system, not a new fabrication which is inherently and deviously flawed.
Education, that's an easier topic. I'm more moderate on that than you might think.

But those are for other threads... Until then...

:cheers:

 

[kmoney]

For someone who is self-desgnated as more right than left, I find it humorous that you'd be on a site which gets its news from the likes of Go Left TV, Lefty blogs, Daily Kos, Florida Progressive Coalition, etc. because it just doesn't seeim to fit someone who considers himself even the littlest bit righter than left.

:idunno: I didn't get that article because Pensito Review is a website I regularly browse. I got it from a different website that linked to it. Or I might have just searched for something about the Jones Act and found it that way.

But regardless, I don't see how it's relevant.

And I agree with TH. I believe it's good to read news from many sources and many different perspectives. If you restrict yourself to "conservative" sources or "liberal" sources you will turn into crazies like Glenn Beck or Keith Olbermann. :shocked:

It's possible they've been outside U.S. territorial waters, but I don't know either, actually. There do seem to be conflicting reports, since it's been widely reported that foreign offers were turned down until very recently. It would be very helpful to see someone put together a credible timeline.

Again, I'm not focusing on the fact that foreign offers were initially denied. I admit that, since that seems to be the consensus. What I'm focusing on is the Jones Act and if it ever truly needed to be waived. It seems like the Jones Act problem might have been non-existent.