Janet Napolitano appointed Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen to coordinate the federal response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. That's great, but the oil rig blew up eleven days ago, on April 20. In the meantime, the oil slick has tripled in size over the last two days and is approaching the Gulf coast. Now there is speculation that the oil could make its way all the way to the Atlantic. President Obama, reversing an earlier announcement, made hasty plans to visit the Gulf tomorrow.With all the exoriation that was piled upon the Bush Adminstration following Katrina where according to the legacy media "tens of thousands of people have died", you'd expect them to hit the Obama administration just as hard. Because, while only the 11 workers who were on the rig have died, the economic effects of this huge spill will be far more widespread.
The Obama administration's slow-footed response to the disaster threatens to become a major political problem, as the spill itself threatens to turn into one of the worst environmental disasters ever. You're doing a heck of a job, Napolitanie!
In the past 2 days, while the Obama Administration has dithered, the spill has grown more than 3 times as large. Had a rapid response been implemented early in the disaster, it could have been contained far more easily. But unfortunately, this administration has been far more intent on Tea Party inspired/Right Wing terrorist threats, that just don't exist, than to actually do something concrete. After all, old ladies singing "God Bless America" is obviously a threat that need the riot squad.
Pesonally, I think their very delayed response has been specifically eliminate all coastal drilling by showing "this is what can happen." This has been allowed to evolve into a huge problem in order to silence those, like myself, who think that drilling for oil in our own coastal waters is preferable to purchasing oil from OPEC. That in my opinion, is why this has been permitted to baloon as much as it has.
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