I was stuck in Chicago Midway International Airport so I missed President Barack Obama’s first Oval Office address.
I received an embargoed copy of Obama’s remarks because I am on the White House media list. As I read it, I was struck by its tone: professorial, vague, by-the-numbers and unfocused.
Americans want Obama to focus like a laser on the environmental and economic disaster that is unfolding before their eyes.
They also want Obama to go for BP’s wallet and throat.
Instead, Obama will “inform” the chairman of BP that he should set aside an escrow fund to compensate the victims of BP’s “recklessness”:
Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company’s recklessness. And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent third party.
Inform? Hell, tell him to show us the money.
What is the metric for “fair and timely”? BP or CP Time.
And who will administer the escrow fund?
The New York Times editorialized:
We know that the country is eager for reassurance. We’re not sure the American people got it from a speech that was short on specifics and devoid of self-criticism. Certainly, we hope that Mr. Obama was right when he predicted that in “coming weeks and days,” up to 90 percent of the oil leaking from the well will be captured and the well finally capped by this summer. But he was less than frank about his administration’s faltering efforts to manage this vast environmental and human disaster.If the hole is not plugged in the coming weeks and days, BP may stand for “Barack Petroleum.”
