3 Takeaways from Obama’s Press Conference

Thanks, Kate. Are YOU going to write a full analysis / more thoughts for dead-tree tomorrow? Brace yourself for right-wingers harping on point #3 over and over (and more ad hominems against your team as Liberal Media ™) since it’s always Right Wing Groundhog Day around here (repeating same crap over and over). But thanks for NOT making a point #4 about Malia’s question at the end. Leave that to M-Dowd.

“Obama conceded that BP is the party with the best resources to stop the leak and clean up the mess.”

I think that is more of an observation than a concession. The federal government is not in the oil extraction business; BP is.

can I borrow some of this to spread on my lawn?
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1) Obama clearly wanted to send a message that the federal government is in charge and focused.

2) Obama said he didn’t yet know the circumstances of Birnbaum’s departure

3)“In case anybody wonders, in any of your reporting, in case you are wondering who’s responsible, I take responsibility.

Isn’t 1) & 2) at odds with each other making 1), 2) and 3) nothing but more lies from Obama

Yeah, allow/make BP fix the problem they created but don’t rely on them for all of the necessary information.
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I HOPE he’s got other sounces of information as to spill rates, whether or not the fixes can work as described, etc. BP is showing more desire/ability to “manage” the PR or spin aspects of this disaster than they have been to quickly fix the problem itself.

Just for the sake of argument, lets assume that Sestak was offered a job in the administration in exchange for not running against Specter. So what? It’s not illegal. It’s not immoral. It’s not fattening. So why should I care?

I think that is more of an observation than a concession. The federal government is not in the oil extraction business; BP is.

True but it makes it extremely amusing that all decisions are being made by the Federal government.

It’s like going in for brain surgery and asking the janitor to read read the MRI. Although this could be a prelude to Obamacare

From today-
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“I think it is a legitimate concern to question whether BP’s interests in being fully forthcoming about the extent of the damage is aligned with the public interest. I mean, they — their interest may be to minimize the damage and, to the extent that they have better information than anybody else, to not be fully forthcoming.

So my attitude is, we have to verify whatever it is they say about the damage”
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http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/05/obama_on_bp_oil_spill_im_fully.html

Was she forced out, the press wanted to know?
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Katie-This is minor. However, everyone knows unless they have their heads stuck in the sand the MMS is completely broken and has been for quite a long time now. This lady has been in the job for not quite a year. And no matter if it was her fault or not she is gone. Her being forced out or quitting is not really that important.
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The press should want to know from the president what his administration is doing to fix the agency which has a very important job but, has become a laughing stock because its employees’ conduct, its coziness with the industries they are supposed to regulate and its revolving door policies.

As I indicated in an earlier comment, yes, I voted for Obama but some of these missteps really concern me.
This was evidently going to become a political hot button from the minute it became obvious that BP had shirked its duty of care.

I do not understand why Obama waited for so long to address this matter in this way.

I think that once Fox news starts jumping up and down and casting spells on any issue (ha), it is usually a good indication that the matter could become a big political brouhaha. Better preparation should have been made for this inevitable circumstance.

Obama did nothing wrong however, politically, he has not taken sufficient steps to fend off his detractors and insulate himself from expected and usual cutting criticism from the drama kings on both sides of the aisle.

As President, in this vitriol filled environment, he cannot take anything for granted. This was a lapse of judgment. I hope he has no more of these.

Ready, shoot! That should be his actions since it is clear that he is under political siege from people who either want his job or just want him to fail, period.

The Tea Drinkers are mixing their tea with a whole lot of vodka. Obama should know this and stay ready! Come on!

LM
http://theblindspotsofgod.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/fully-support-gun-ownership-and-pity-women-who-do-not/

Obama: “Message: I care”

Since (1) referred to the clean-up efforts in the Gulf and (2) referred to a staffer’s resignation back in D.C., then (3) why bother you’re only going to pout anyway.

Paul Dirks (I think) posted this on an earlier thread today. It explains some of what is going on.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/05/critical_perspective.php#more?ref=fpblg

Republicans think if you shout loud enough, people will think something wrong happened.
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As Rusty pointed out, Darrell Issa is calling this “Obama’s Watergate.” Because trying to clear the field for a party primary is just the same thing as committing a variety of felonies in attacks on a president’s political enemies and then engaging in a cover up by manipulating the FBI and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in hush money to convicted criminals. Exactly the same.

It is obvious what the man should have done, from the first nanosecond that this event occured…
1. instantly morph into Aquaman
2. strip down to his pants
3. jump out of a C130 at about 20,000 feet
4. dive down to the leak and twist the pipe shut with his bare hands, and…
5. Swim to shore and hold an immediate presser

Afterall, that’s what Ronnie Raygun, John Wayne, and Dick Cheney woulda done….

Quick typo correction:

Ready, shoot! That should be his action! Action not Actionsssss No “s”

LM

Seriously, why has the once great American nation morphed into a pile of sniviling, gelatinous toads, revelling in posturing and macho bullsh!t as a replacement for thoughfulness and analysis. Today I heard a woman go on about how horrible Obama was because he was letting dolphins die, blah, blah, blah. Since when did Republicans give a rat’s right g0nad for dolphins? Same thing in foreign policy; lets shot at somebody without thinking about the consequences, because a) it makes the mental midgets feel better about themselves and b) they know nobody will raise their taxes to pay for the whole mess anyway.

….no offense meant to midgets in #12

I wouldn’t be as harsh as you’ve been, but I do think there’s a lot of truth in what you’ve said.

…well, bob, there is a bit of hyperbole there…

…and another thing….why have we let these pr!cks from Al-Qaeda upset the greatest judicial system on earth, a source of pride and justice for 230 years? Torture, warrantless wiretapping, and their own special legal status? Just because they’re “special”? John Adams woulda called them what they are….criminals, not “enemy combatants” or some other horse dung. American needs to stop wetting its collective drawers, stop emoting, and start doing some long term thinking for a change….

You go!

What does this “was she forced out” question really mean. Salazar, who could have fired her, said “You can’t have that job anymore but you can have another job at the agency if you really want one.” She wisely resigned.

Anyone else messed up that bad in a non-elite job would have been fired.

OK, Dick wouldnt have held the presser, John Wayne would have stayed at home while General Jimmy Stewert did it, and RR woulda slept with Bonzo……

Some have pointed out that if the Reps win back the house it will be one investigation of the Administration after another. We will be overwhelmed with “gates”. Then traditional media will be enthralled with these “gates” regardless of their merits. It will be Clinton redeaux.

Why would the press ask now? They ignored the gutting of regulations and placement of cronies into regulatory positions for 8 years.

glorious you are glorious.

A Democrat is back in the White House, which means the press once again decided it’s important to watch what the government does.

Damn right.
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Republicans act like Al Qaeda is the Legion of Doom or something. “Supermax prisons won’t be able to hold them! Our courts will be incapable of trying and convicting them! Our Constitution is powerless against their awesome powers of cave-dwelling!”
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Sack up, Republicans. We’re the United States of America. We beat Hitler’s Nazi “supermen” and the Japanese Empire — at the same time! — and then stared down the Soviet Union. A handful of thugs who can’t even manage to light their own underwear on fire aren’t going to bring us down.
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Seriously, someone tell Glenn Beck to stop wetting himself.

Obama’s failure with the BP disaster is the same as his failure in the Wall Street disaster and the HCR disaster. It is what he has failed to say about the cause of the problem:

But the truth is that we have disempowered government and handed vast responsibilities over to a private sector that will never see protecting the public interest as its primary task. The sludge in the gulf is, finally, the product of our own contradictions.
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– E. J. Dionne
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/26/AR2010052604013.html

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Until he can bring himself to tell the public about it’s most destructive force for the present and gravest threat for the future, he is a failure as a national leader.

Well said, glo.

Exactly.

‘…and another thing….’
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And another excellent comment!

3. The White House doesn’t have a response yet in the matter of U.S. Senate candidate Joe Sestak and whether he was offered an administration job in exchange for not running against Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania.

Besides the fact that we’re facing what is arguably the greatest environmental disaster since Chernobyl (even if the leak is capped tomorrow), we have two wars, double-digit unemployment, and a potentially dangerous situation, to put it mildly, in Korea. But this FoxNews-generated Beltway gossip is a topic that some nitwit decided to ask about at the press conference the MSM has been whining for for weeks. Next time you’re asking yourselves why people hate the media, think back to this day.
And for the record, I think Obama should have been far more present on the spill and more available to the media, but this kind of stupidity makes me understand why he avoids the White House press corps.

Bob, I’m with you. Who cares? I’d heard Sestak claimed it was job as the Secretary of Navy. Currently, President Obama has no Navy Sec. If Sestak was offered the job, good for him. If he had taken it (and been confirmed) he couldn’t have run against Specter in the primary–which would have been good for Specter.
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I’m a PA Dem who crossed party lines several times over the years to vote for Specter and I gotta say this last primary was difficult. In the end, I’d decided Specter was just too old to continue as my senator. He’d been a very good steward for PA and I hope Sestak does as good job (I’m certain he’ll beat Toomey handily).

What Press?

Dude, she’s just telling you what happened. What is your problem?

Exactly. The best way to make sure no one can really blame you is to claim full responsibility.

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