Oil exploration - a massive FAIL that calls for all kinds of revisions

We all should step back occasionally and make revisions.  It ain't easy when it comes to certain things (hello, novelists).  But in the wake of President Obama's Oval Office speech to the Nation, I'm thinking about a required revision I should have undertaken weeks ago.  Of course it's all related to the massive underwater oil volcano still erupting in the Gulf of Mexico.  Plainly stated, I was wrong when I gave Obama props for his long-range plans to open up offshore oil exploration.  And by revising the logic behind my earlier support for that political judgment call, I hope this brief mea culpa makes its way up the media foodchain to the President's desk.  I'm not expecting too much.  Just remember how my little bitchy fit about Williams-Sonoma paid off.

Obama's speech last night was a massive failure.  I think it just shows how out of their element his team is when dealing with an actual evolving crisis that they didn't inherit.  Obama wants to out-think this mess and out-straight-talk it - you can see and hear it dripping from every phrase he turns.  But he just plain doesn't say anything and his masterful cadences have begun to grate on even his more ardent supporters.  As a result, we're rudderless as the news gets exponentially worse every day.  Looking forward, the first hurricane that churns through the Gulf will upgrade the shitestorm of this underground septic tank leak into an exploding outhouse that sets the woodpile and outlying buildings on fire.  Or the rough equivalent.  What Obama does and says the next few weeks will set the tone for the entire summer.  So last night's speech was WAY too late and WAY too vague.  Move on and don't look back.  Because you had an off night with a really poorly written speech is now being kicked sideways by everyone this side of the World Cup.

This takes me back to the point I'd made at the end of March.  I thought that Obama was making a smart advance move in opening up the possibility of more exploration.  And in so doing, I thought he could eliminate the possibility of the GOP gaining ground in terms of energy policy which figured to be the next political battleground after financial reform.  What I (along with just about everyone else - even those that are paid to be keyed up on this stuff) didn't realize was that we can't drill safely.  Not at the depths we need to explore at for the foreseeable future.  Our regulatory oversight is horrible, the industry is arrogant, and we've got no money in escrow as a Nation to handle the costs if something goes wrong.  Allowing further exploration right now is just unconscionable.  Whether or not I should have seen that in March is beside the point - I was commenting on political points of expediency.  And I was way off my rocker wrong.  My apologies.

Maybe you're wondering why I'm bothering to get this out there.  Bloggers are people too, is my excuse.  And like many of my fellow citizens, I'm trying to figure out what to do about the disaster in the Gulf.  I've never even been to the beaches in Florida or off the coast of North Carolina.  Those are among the places that eventually will be soiled by all this.  So I'm just clearing my own conscience, with the equivalent of a small drop in the ocean of questions and failures we are all seeing form off the summer shore.  Sadly, that's about the only spill I'm able to deal with for the time being.

Meanwhile, as the RNC debates how much to tip for a lapdance...

Reactionaries on the Left are lining up to take shots at the latest news from the Obama Administration.  Expanded offshore drilling along the East Coast and off the North Shore of Alaska.  People are shocked, SHOCKED, by the about-face on this ("he campaigned against it, for the love of crepes!").  I, however, must offer up what I've been thinking we've begun to see in policy practice from the Obamanauts and assuredly see here.

Obama is more than just moving the goalposts - he's rolling out a plan to redesign the whole stadium.  This is all part of a plan that was in place back during the campaign.  Because every campaign had a plan of what to do if they won.  And every campaign in the future will.  Even Sarah Palin would put together a similar list of initiatives, albeit one with startlingly different aims.

Anyone who takes the time to ponder the field of play will recall that Bill Clinton did the same thing.  So-called "welfare reform" being the bumpersticker example that to this day drives the GOP off their collective nut.  But there was a whole host of plays that Clinton stole (for lack of a better word) from the traditional playbook of Republicans.  Fast forward to Obama getting his big save with successful passage of health care reform.  He then moves quickly to knock things off of what I believe constitutes their big ol' "to do, to them" list hanging on the fridge in the White House breakroom.  Recess appointments.  Talking tough publicly and privately with Afghanistan.  Opening up energy exploration.  Next up, I expect the list of Administration initiatives will cause even more heartburn for the Left.  Social Security.  Terrorism prosecutions.  War powers undertaken in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and even along the border with drug lords from Mexico.  I wouldn't be the least bit surprised by a very moderate pick to replace the soon to retire beloved lefty Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court - most likely a Senator or Governor meant to tie up those pre-ordained to object during confirmation hearings.  Long story short, Obama plays 3D chess.  The GOP, on the other hand, collectively couldn't look one move past yelling "King me!" after Scott Brown won a special election against one of the worst Senate candidates I've ever seen.  

What we're seeing with this offshore drilling headline nugget is a long-planned move in a larger serious game.  Can the GOP now take shots at Obama's energy policies, in anticipation of the climate change legislation debate about to heat up?  Sure, but DAMN did the Obamanauts take the legs out from under that GOP position.  Unfortunately, this "game" does have major impact on the environment and millions of jobs and just about every facet of our society.  I say "unfortunately" only because it has to be played like a game in order to win anything worth claiming as a trophy.  The truth is, I'd rather have Obama "playing" than any other leader in my adult lifetime.  Because even while he's changing the rules and where the dugouts are and how many vendors can sell gawddamn redhots from the stands, I believe this guy is smart enough to be thinking ahead to a whole wide world of what's next.  Obama says it himself - he's a better political strategist than his staffers tasked with that portfolio.  And he's right.

Hope your own perception of crisis presents an opening for expanded opportunities today.  Rock on.