OBAMA AND THE OIL SPILL

by Audrey

Everyone knows that BP is primarily responsible for the oil spill but since they cannot seem to handle the crisis in a satisfactory manner, I think that all of us on the gulf coast expected the most powerful man on earth to come to our rescue.  Instead of getting Superman, we have wound up with Scooby Doo.

Obama is a man of "pretty words" but short on "action."  He is a charming, good looking, and very intelligent man who can deliver a speech better than anyone that I have ever known.  BUT...he is not a leader.  The way he has handled this oil spill has proven this fact.  Leaders are like artists...it is a matter of the way the brain is wired...you cannot "educate" a man into becoming a leader...a leader is "born and not made" who responds primarily on "instinct" in a given situation.

I think Obama will eventually go down in history as the worst president who has ever held office in the United States.  Why?  Not because I disagree with most of his policies but because of the way he has reacted to this oil spill.  

He does not instinctively "think" and "act" like a leader.  When the oil spill occurred, his first thoughts should have been, "I need to contact BP and see what I can do as the president of the United States."  A real leader would not have been stupid enough to say, weeks into the tragedy, "I didn't call them because I knew they were only going to tell me what I wanted to hear."  Why makes him think like that?  Because that is what he does to the American people.  Ever since his campaign days, he is an "expert" in saying what he thinks we want to hear.  He knows how to play the "game" and most people fall for his rhetoric.

Immediately, from the very first day, even though it was a BP mistake, his mind should have automatically and instinctively went into action to formulate plans to start the business of unraveling the red tape involved in getting things done. Instead, he responded in an "odd" way in that he appeared to not "get it." His "Cool Hand Luke" approach and "pretty speeches" are not working anymore. People are beginning to wise up.

As a real leader, he should be putting this oil spill at the top of his list every single day, even above the economy because this spill is going to eventually have a dramatic ripple effect which will affect the overall economy.  A large portion of our gulf waters may become a "dead zone" for years to come.  Thousands of lives have already been altered or devastated and this tragedy is far from over.  How much worse can it get you may ask.  Well, just when you think it can't get any worse, it sometimes does.     

We have just experienced a hurricane that missed the oil spill.  We were lucky this time.  The odds are extremely high that one will form this season and travel right through the middle of the oil spill causing chaos of monumental proportions.  I live on Dauphin Island and if a hurricane hits just right, it will bring a storm surge of oil over the west end of the island and probably sling oil over the remainder of the island.  What will happen then?  We will not be allowed back on this island until the oil is completely cleaned up.  How long will that take?  A very long time, you can be certain.

Usually, when a hurricane threatens us, I only think about boarding up the house and packing enough clothes to last a couple of weeks.  This time, I will have a hard time deciding what items I need to take with me because I may not be able to return for an indefinite length of time.

I am almost ashamed to mention the problems the oil spill is causing me because they are minuscule in comparison with what is going on with other people up and down the gulf coast.  I repeat...I don't think Obama "gets it" and to quote James Carville, "We are dying down here."