During Hurricane Katrina, the governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans were useless, but all the blame fell on President Bush because federal aid took, what, four days to get to New Orleans? We're two months into this oil spill, and let's see how decisive Professor Obama is:
Eight days ago, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state's oil-soaked waters. Today, against the governor's wishes, those barges sat idle, even as more oil flowed toward the Louisiana shore...
"The Coast Guard came and shut them down," Jindal said. "You got men on the barges in the oil, and they have been told by the Coast Guard, 'Cease and desist. Stop sucking up that oil'"...
But the Coast Guard ordered the stoppage because of reasons that Jindal found frustrating. The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble contacting the people who built the barges.
Remember when we were told that the reason to vote for Obama was competence? Here's your counterexample--as if we needed yet another one. And the battered spouse environmentalists will still support him.
Update: Mort Zuckerman, no conservative, doesn't mince words:
World Sees Obama as Incompetent and AmateurThis is truly damning:
The reviews of Obama's performance have been disappointing. He has seemed uncomfortable in the role of leading other nations, and often seems to suggest there is nothing special about America's role in the world. The global community was puzzled over the pictures of Obama bowing to some of the world's leaders and surprised by his gratuitous criticisms of and apologies for America's foreign policy under the previous administration of George W. Bush. One Middle East authority, Fouad Ajami, pointed out that Obama seems unaware that it is bad form and even a great moral lapse to speak ill of one's own tribe while in the lands of others...
The end result is that a critical mass of influential people in world affairs who once held high hopes for the president have begun to wonder whether they misjudged the man. They are no longer dazzled by his rock star personality and there is a sense that there is something amateurish and even incompetent about how Obama is managing U.S. power...
America right now appears to be unreliable to traditional friends, compliant to rivals, and weak to enemies. One renowned Asian leader stated recently at a private dinner in the United States, "We in Asia are convinced that Obama is not strong enough to confront his opponents, but we fear that he is not strong enough to support his friends."
The president just doesn't understand, or is indifferent to, his role as President of the United States.
I can't imagine that this failure is Obama's fault any more than the issues at Katrina are Bush's. The Coast Guard would have done that two years ago as well.
ReplyDeletePresident Bush waived many requirements to get help to the Gulf Coast; leaders recognize when there's a need to do that.
ReplyDeleteAn effective executive knows that he needs to spend time suppressing harmful bureaucratic behavior in his own organization. One very successful CEO of my acquaintance referred to this a playing whack-a-mole.
ReplyDeleteObama has never run so much as a small pizza parlor; he has no practical understanding for how organizations function nor does he appear to have studied the subject academically.
Of course, the situation with regard to Katrina is best understood by remembering that federal law and disaster plans include the expectation that state and local officials ask for assistance and be able to deal with the immediate aftereffects of a disaster for 72 hours -- neither of which happened in that case.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the state folks have been much more competent in dealing with the disaster than the feds have in the case of the BP disaster.
My husband swears he was on the ground outside New Orleans 3 days after the big K. providing medical care to other military people there who were rescuing people...I truely do not remember the time table only that he was gone and that the conditions were awful down there.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Coast Guard has to stop those barges to inspect them to make sure they are capable of doing the job and that they are carrying safty equipment. It may seem stupid, but better safe than sorry.
What I don't understand is why the help and equipment form foreign nations hasn't been taken with open arms by the president and BP. This was offered Weeks ago.
I think Obama wanted this crisis to continue to push his agenda and a few bills through congress. Only it may backfire on him.
Let's hope that the lessons learned with this one term inexperienced, incompetent president will be remembered in future elections.
ReplyDeleteKauaiMark
ReplyDeleteI pray your right...but anyone with half a brain would have known in 2008 he not qualified to run for the office much less hold the office.