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Peggy Noonan: He Was Supposed to Be Competent

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
* MAY 29, 2010

He Was Supposed to Be Competent

The spill is a disaster for the president and his political philosophy.

*
By PEGGY NOONAN

I don't see how the president's position and popularity can survive the oil spill. This is his third political disaster in his first 18 months in office. And they were all, as they say, unforced errors, meaning they were shaped by the president's political judgment and instincts.

There was the tearing and unnecessary war over his health-care proposal and its cost. There was his day-to-day indifference to the views and hopes of the majority of voters regarding illegal immigration. And now the past almost 40 days of dodging and dithering in the face of an environmental calamity. I don't see how you politically survive this.

The president, in my view, continues to govern in a way that suggests he is chronically detached from the central and immediate concerns of his countrymen. This is a terrible thing to see in a political figure, and a startling thing in one who won so handily and shrewdly in 2008. But he has not, almost from the day he was inaugurated, been in sync with the center. The heart of the country is thinking each day about A, B and C, and he is thinking about X, Y and Z. They're in one reality, he's in another.


President Obama promised on Thursday to hold BP accountable in the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill and said his administration would do everything necessary to protect and restore the coast.


The American people have spent at least two years worrying that high government spending would, in the end, undo the republic. They saw the dollars gushing night and day, and worried that while everything looked the same on the surface, our position was eroding. They have worried about a border that is in some places functionally and of course illegally open, that it too is gushing night and day with problems that states, cities and towns there cannot solve.

And now we have a videotape metaphor for all the public's fears: that clip we see every day, on every news show, of the well gushing black oil into the Gulf of Mexico and toward our shore. You actually don't get deadlier as a metaphor for the moment than that, the monster that lives deep beneath the sea.

In his news conference Thursday, President Obama made his position no better. He attempted to act out passionate engagement through the use of heightened language—"catastrophe," etc.—but repeatedly took refuge in factual minutiae. His staff probably thought this demonstrated his command of even the most obscure facts. Instead it made him seem like someone who won't see the big picture. The unspoken mantra in his head must have been, "I will not be defensive, I will not give them a resentful soundbite." But his strategic problem was that he'd already lost the battle. If the well was plugged tomorrow, the damage will already have been done.

The original sin in my view is that as soon as the oil rig accident happened the president tried to maintain distance between the gusher and his presidency. He wanted people to associate the disaster with BP and not him. When your most creative thoughts in the middle of a disaster revolve around protecting your position, you are summoning trouble. When you try to dodge ownership of a problem, when you try to hide from responsibility, life will give you ownership and responsibility the hard way. In any case, the strategy was always a little mad. Americans would never think an international petroleum company based in London would worry as much about American shores and wildlife as, say, Americans would. They were never going to blame only BP, or trust it.

I wonder if the president knows what a disaster this is not only for him but for his political assumptions. His philosophy is that it is appropriate for the federal government to occupy a more burly, significant and powerful place in America—confronting its problems of need, injustice, inequality. But in a way, and inevitably, this is always boiled down to a promise: "Trust us here in Washington, we will prove worthy of your trust." Then the oil spill came and government could not do the job, could not meet need, in fact seemed faraway and incapable: "We pay so much for the government and it can't cap an undersea oil well!"

This is what happened with Katrina, and Katrina did at least two big things politically. The first was draw together everything people didn't like about the Bush administration, everything it didn't like about two wars and high spending and illegal immigration, and brought those strands into a heavy knot that just sat there, soggily, and came to symbolize Bushism. The second was illustrate that even though the federal government in our time has continually taken on new missions and responsibilities, the more it took on, the less it seemed capable of performing even its most essential jobs. Conservatives got this point—they know it without being told—but liberals and progressives did not. They thought Katrina was the result only of George W. Bush's incompetence and conservatives' failure to "believe in government." But Mr. Obama was supposed to be competent.

Remarkable too is the way both BP and the government, 40 days in, continue to act shocked, shocked that an accident like this could have happened. If you're drilling for oil in the deep sea, of course something terrible can happen, so you have a plan on what to do when it does.

How could there not have been a plan? How could it all be so ad hoc, so inadequate, so embarrassing? We're plugging it now with tires, mud and golf balls?

What continues to fascinate me is Mr. Obama's standing with Democrats. They don't love him. Half the party voted for Hillary Clinton, and her people have never fully reconciled themselves to him. But he is what they have. They are invested in him. In time—after the 2010 elections go badly—they are going to start to peel off. The political operative James Carville, the most vocal and influential of the president's Gulf critics, signaled to Democrats this week that they can start to peel off. He did it through the passion of his denunciations.

The disaster in the Gulf may well spell the political end of the president and his administration, and that is no cause for joy. It's not good to have a president in this position—weakened, polarizing and lacking broad public support—less than halfway through his term. That it is his fault is no comfort. It is not good for the stability of the world, or its safety, that the leader of "the indispensble nation" be so weakened. I never until the past 10 years understood the almost moral imperative that an American president maintain a high standing in the eyes of his countrymen.

Mr. Obama himself, when running for president, made much of Bush administration distraction and detachment during Katrina. Now the Republican Party will, understandably, go to town on Mr. Obama's having gone only once to the gulf, and the fund-raiser in San Francisco that seemed to take precedence, and the EPA chief who went to a New York fund-raiser in the middle of the disaster.

But Republicans should beware, and even mute their mischief. We're in the middle of an actual disaster. When they win back the presidency, they'll probably get the big California earthquake. And they'll probably blow it. Because, ironically enough, of a hard core of truth within their own philosophy: when you ask a government far away in Washington to handle everything, it will handle nothing well

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704269204575270950789108846.html?mod=rss_opinion_main
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I have to sit and chuckle about this Hypocrit-- because it fits your name so well...

You and some of the socalled "conservatives" are screaming, whining, and moaning for the government to do more on this oil spill--- when all other times you claim government is totally incompetent....

You and some of the socalled "conservatives" are screaming, whining, and moaning for the government to do more on this oil spill and tell BP what to do-- when all other times you claim government should keep its nose out of industry business....And even Obama says the industry has the top authorities...

You and some of the socalled "conservatives" are screaming, whining, and moaning for the government to do more on this oil spill-- when all other times you think that government shouldn't spend money on industry problems - and that the industry should pick it up.... "No Bail Outs" for FU's...

BP was runningthe well without a remote control shut-off switch used in two other major oil-producing nations, Brazil and Norway, as a last resort protection against underwater spills.The useof such devices is not mandated by U.S. regulators.

You and some of the socalled conservatives are screaming, whining, and moaning because of the failed parts of industry and government- when the rules for these rigs- and the authorization- plus much of the inspection was done by the prior administration and/or their appointees/employees....

So are you now telling me-- you want more government control of and Reponsibility put on the Industry..... :???:

You then support the nationalization of the oil industry or off shore drilling industy :???:
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
I have to sit and chuckle about this Hypocrit-- because it fits your name so well...

You and some of the socalled "conservatives" are screaming, whining, and moaning for the government to do more on this oil spill--- when all other times you claim government is totally incompetent....

You and some of the socalled "conservatives" are screaming, whining, and moaning for the government to do more on this oil spill and tell BP what to do-- when all other times you claim government should keep its nose out of industry business....And even Obama says the industry has the top authorities...

You and some of the socalled "conservatives" are screaming, whining, and moaning for the government to do more on this oil spill-- when all other times you think that government shouldn't spend money on industry problems - and that the industry should pick it up.... "No Bail Outs" for FU's...

BP was runningthe well without a remote control shut-off switch used in two other major oil-producing nations, Brazil and Norway, as a last resort protection against underwater spills.The useof such devices is not mandated by U.S. regulators.

You and some of the socalled conservatives are screaming, whining, and moaning because of the failed parts of industry and government- when the rules for these rigs- and the authorization- plus much of the inspection was done by the prior administration and/or their appointees/employees....

So are you now telling me-- you want more government control of and Reponsibility put on the Industry..... :???:

You then support the nationalization of the oil industry or off shore drilling industy :???:

Peggy Noonan is a Liberal. She's the one that is calling for more intervention from the administration, as Matthews also did today.

My feeling is there was and is too much control by the Federal Government, that's why Jindal is still waiting on approval for the sand berms. The plans were in place for clean-up before the spill, it wouldn't have taken much for obama to give the go ahead to implement them. The authority for doing so has been with the Fed. Government since 1990.

This gets back to my comments about the size of Government being too big to be effective.

Just because I post an article, does not mean I agree with all points made in said article. The purpose of posting this article was to show that some obama voters are finally starting to realize what most on Ranchers knew from before the election.
 

MsSage

Well-known member
The only thing i want the Fed to do is UNTIE the hands of the states to do what needs to be done and stop the blame game.
Environmental study WTF????? Good gawd almighty the berms will do LESS damage then the oil will ...lets see, use common sense.
 

TSR

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
I have to sit and chuckle about this Hypocrit-- because it fits your name so well...

You and some of the socalled "conservatives" are screaming, whining, and moaning for the government to do more on this oil spill--- when all other times you claim government is totally incompetent....

You and some of the socalled "conservatives" are screaming, whining, and moaning for the government to do more on this oil spill and tell BP what to do-- when all other times you claim government should keep its nose out of industry business....And even Obama says the industry has the top authorities...

You and some of the socalled "conservatives" are screaming, whining, and moaning for the government to do more on this oil spill-- when all other times you think that government shouldn't spend money on industry problems - and that the industry should pick it up.... "No Bail Outs" for FU's...

BP was runningthe well without a remote control shut-off switch used in two other major oil-producing nations, Brazil and Norway, as a last resort protection against underwater spills.The useof such devices is not mandated by U.S. regulators.

You and some of the socalled conservatives are screaming, whining, and moaning because of the failed parts of industry and government- when the rules for these rigs- and the authorization- plus much of the inspection was done by the prior administration and/or their appointees/employees....

So are you now telling me-- you want more government control of and Reponsibility put on the Industry..... :???:

You then support the nationalization of the oil industry or off shore drilling industy :???:

Otimer just leave the corporations alone, they'll police themselves. Profit is not their number one motive. Yeah right! :shock: :(
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
TSR said:
Oldtimer said:
I have to sit and chuckle about this Hypocrit-- because it fits your name so well...

You and some of the socalled "conservatives" are screaming, whining, and moaning for the government to do more on this oil spill--- when all other times you claim government is totally incompetent....

You and some of the socalled "conservatives" are screaming, whining, and moaning for the government to do more on this oil spill and tell BP what to do-- when all other times you claim government should keep its nose out of industry business....And even Obama says the industry has the top authorities...

You and some of the socalled "conservatives" are screaming, whining, and moaning for the government to do more on this oil spill-- when all other times you think that government shouldn't spend money on industry problems - and that the industry should pick it up.... "No Bail Outs" for FU's...

BP was runningthe well without a remote control shut-off switch used in two other major oil-producing nations, Brazil and Norway, as a last resort protection against underwater spills.The useof such devices is not mandated by U.S. regulators.

You and some of the socalled conservatives are screaming, whining, and moaning because of the failed parts of industry and government- when the rules for these rigs- and the authorization- plus much of the inspection was done by the prior administration and/or their appointees/employees....

So are you now telling me-- you want more government control of and Reponsibility put on the Industry..... :???:

You then support the nationalization of the oil industry or off shore drilling industy :???:

Otimer just leave the corporations alone, they'll police themselves. Profit is not their number one motive. Yeah right! :shock: :(

Passing new laws to give the appearance of oversight and then ignoring them because of lobbying and bribes is working so well.

Corporatism is the partnership between big business and government. That's what you have going on in the US.

The rig in this case was inspected 10 days before the blow out. Are more laws/oversight on Corporations needed?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
MsSage said:
The only thing i want the Fed to do is UNTIE the hands of the states to do what needs to be done and stop the blame game.
Environmental study WTF????? Good gawd almighty the berms will do LESS damage then the oil will ...lets see, use common sense.

Sge the states have the authority its called the CONSTITUTION. What is needed is backbone from officials and constituents that won't back down. :wink:

What is the Goverment going to do if Jindal does his job. Place him before a firing squad? :???:
 

nonothing

Well-known member
I do not understand you people ,this is out of control and your fighting about control??.....Do you not think in cases like this every available hand should be on deck....to think that regulations to stop or at least limit these spills is not in place,is absolutly stupid....It is time for goverment and industry to work together,one who performs the work and the other to make sure safe guidlines are established and met....Who cares whos fault it is,fix the problem,then iron out the details..this is damaging life that has no control over the decisions being made...There is no way stuff like this should happen anfd just proves that its time to look for alternative fuels..
 

Steve

Well-known member
.to think that regulations to stop or at least limit these spills is not in place,is absolutly stupid.

the regulations were in place to limit or stop the spill... but BP was given a exemption on a redundant system, so it was not in place..

but as with any catastrophic failure,.. despite all the regulations oversight, intent, training and planning in the world, you still can't prevent an accident...
 

Steve

Well-known member
NoNothing said:
.There is no way stuff like this should happen and just proves that its time to look for alternative fuels..

being forced to drill in deeper water and bypass readily available oil reserves close to the coast line is part of the problem..

locally it has been proven we have oil off the coast.. (15 to 25 miles) in shallow water.. but it is off limits...

add that to Alaska's reserves, and many other sources and this deep water well would be unnecessary..

the darn stuff keeps showing up in our back yards yet the FED keeps putting the areas off limits..

FAITH, S.D. (AP) _ Workers drilling for a new water well in the northwest South Dakota town of Faith struck oil instead.
 

Faster horses

Well-known member
The other night on Talk Radio it was mentioned that this well was so
deep because Federal regulations make the oil companies go way out
to drill. They aren't allowed to drill closer where the oil isn't so far
down. The government knows so much...again...

Why was BP such a big donor to Obama's campaign? What did
they buy? :x
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
This is only the last few paragraphs of this article.

And it's ironic that now the president is about to have his reputation further tarnished by the very difficulties he and other liberals have placed on the energy-producing sector of our economy. Now the professor child is upset about a spill in his little utopian sandbox. The child is whining and pointing fingers and demanding that someone fix it. It is eating into his playtime for shooting hoops and playing golf, and it is so much messier than theoretical issues.

The problem is that the child has no clue how the sandbox was built or how the pristine sand got there. He has no clue what built the house in front of it or how the lawn around it gets mowed. He really has no clue where the money comes from to make all of it possible. But sadly, the child has the keys to his little kingdom.

And liberal academic children have had way too much power for far too long. Academic children thought every American should own a home regardless of his or her ability to pay a loan, so they made difficult rules for the lending industry. They thought Americans should want and Detroit should build little green cars, so they made life difficult on the popular and profitable SUV models. They thought unionized government employees should be able to retire early and have unlimited health care benefits, so they wrote these into contracts that are now ruining state budgets.

And now this. The idea that we must go six miles deep to find our oil is more liberal theoretician environmental groupthink. The problem is, this very idea is now boomeranging back and devastating our environment, and a good chunk of the Gulf economy with it. And the liberal academic theoretician is finding out that solving these very real problems is very hard indeed. Everything is when you're thirty-two thousand feet down.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/05/when_professor_obama_meets_dir.html
 
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