Today’s Q for O – 5/27/2010
EmailJAKE TAPPER: You say that everything that could be done is being done. But there are those in the region and industry experts who say that's not true. Governor Jindal obviously had this proposal for a barrier. They say that, if that had been approved when they first asked for it, they would have 10 miles up already. There are fishermen down there who want to work, who want to help, haven't been trained, haven't been told to go do so. There are industry experts who say that they're surprised the tankers haven't been sent out there to vacuum, as was done in '93 outside Saudi Arabia. And then, of course, there's the fact that there are 17 countries that have offered to help, and it's only been accepted from two countries, Norway and Mexico. How can you say that everything that can be done is being done with all these experts and all these officials saying that's not true?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, let me distinguish between — if the question is, are we doing everything perfectly out there, then the answer is absolutely not. We can always do better.
If the question is, are we, each time there is an idea, evaluating it and making a decision, is this the best option that we have right now, based on how quickly we can stop this leak and how much damage can we mitigate, then the answer is yes.
So let's take the example of Governor Jindal's barrier islands idea. When I met with him when I was down there two weeks ago, I said, I will make sure that our team immediately reviews this idea, that the Army Corps of Engineers is looking at the feasibility of it, and if they think — if they tell me that this is the best approach to dealing with this problem, then we're going to move quickly to execute it; if they have a disagreement with Governor Jindal's experts as to whether this would be effective or not, whether it was going to be cost-effective, given the other things that need to be done, then we'll sit down and try to figure that out.
And that essentially is what's happened, which is why today you saw an announcement where, from the Army Corps's perspective there were some area where this might work but there are some areas where it would be counterproductive and not a good use of resources.
So the point is, on each of these points that you just mentioned, if the job of our response team is to say, OK, if 17 countries have offered equipment and help, let's evaluate what they've offered, how fast can it get here; is it actually going to be redundant or will it actually add to the overall effort?
Because, in some cases, more may not actually be better, and decisions have been made, based on the best information available, that says, here's what we need right now; it may be that, a week from now or two weeks from now or a month from now the offers from some of those countries might be more effectively utilized.
Now, it's going to be entirely possible, in an operation this large, that mistakes are made, judgments prove to be wrong, that people say in retrospect, you know, if we could have done that or we did that, this might have turned out differently, although in a lot of cases it may be speculation.
But the point that I was addressing from Jennifer was, does this administration maintain a constant sense of urgency about this, and are we examining every recommendation and every idea that's out there and making our best judgment as to whether these are the right steps to take, based on the best experts that we know of? And on that answer, the answer is yes — or on that question, the answer is question.
-Jake Tapper
White House Loves Aggressive Journalism ... Abroad 
Virginia Ultrasound Bill Hits Nerve
He gives the longest D*#n answers for the simpelist of questions!!
Posted by: nwesterner | May 27, 2010, 2:53 pm 2:53 pm
What in the heck is that last paragraph?
Posted by: BigGuy | May 27, 2010, 2:54 pm 2:54 pm
“Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?”
How dare the media exploit President Obama’s children? Oh, it’s the President who’s exploiting his children.
That’s okay – heck, it’s awesome – since he’s supplying such a wonderful “human angle” for the press.
Posted by: Bob | May 27, 2010, 2:54 pm 2:54 pm
So he answered:
1. Jindal’s idea works halfway but we still haven’t done any of it
2. Skips the local volunteer effort
3. Lays groundwork for further scapegoats
4. Never answers the barge & vacuum question.
Worthless, he should go back to ducking pressers
Posted by: Armando | May 27, 2010, 3:15 pm 3:15 pm
Armando, expressing his child’s concern about the oil spill is somehow morphed, in your mind, into exploitation? Funny, I didn’t see him dragging children from one place to another in order to create some false sense of family values.
No matter what the answer is, I suspect you and Big Guy will find something wrong with it. And, Big Guy, at least he ANSWERS the questions, unlike Rand Paul when simple questions were proferred by Rachel Maddow.
Posted by: E. Joyce | May 27, 2010, 3:29 pm 3:29 pm
Tapper the hardest part about watching this Press conference was the breaking news that the BP Gulf oil leaks have been taken care of and they may have stopped it? I was hoping for a response to what could be done now to clean up the mess before hurricane season starts in June. Anther pundit mentioned more oil tankers being brought to the oil spill to help with the clean up.
This is the time to throw everything at the oil spill clean up. Even Kevin Costner’s idea? Is it too late to clean up the floating oil spill plums underwater? How do they plan to deal with the massive oil plums? A lot of us saw ABC’s Sam Champion in a diving suit and his report of the oil spill damage underwater. Can he do a follow through but use a underwater cameras this time because it would be too dangerous for him to dive into it again. A report on oil plum clean up? Can oil plums even be cleaned up? Can oil plums be founded? Can our Military find oil plums and track them? Followed by Oil Tankers with equipment to separate the oil from Water?
If Top Kill failed, then waiting 3 more months for the last option of drilling 2 relief wells would have dominated the news and the oil spill would have been even worse. The Damage has already been done to parts of the coast, can Florida and the rest of the Gulf and East coast be saved. Can Mexico’s coast and Caribbean coasts be saved?
We look forward to our mainstream media and our pundit’s follow up stories on the clean up efforts!
Posted by: Cooday | May 27, 2010, 3:36 pm 3:36 pm
Your damned if you do your damned if you don’t. Everybody in the media thinks theirs is the most important question and the answer must be correct and they will twist whatever is said.
Posted by: BSKI | May 27, 2010, 3:59 pm 3:59 pm
You have to compare this over calculated, painfully thought out, measured response, taking all things into account, including cost..to the response you see when one of our major rivers starts to flood..affecting community after community as the water rises and crashes down stream…frantic energy, citizen volunteers, thousands of sandbags all applied with furious energy to fight off a moving disaster. What is going on here?
Posted by: cindy | May 27, 2010, 4:09 pm 4:09 pm
Jake, … you better stop asking questions that matter… questions WE want answered.
Obama will definately stop calling on you now!
Posted by: ster | May 27, 2010, 4:21 pm 4:21 pm
You have to compare this over calculated, painfully thought out, measured response, taking all things into account, including cost..to the response you see when one of our major rivers starts to flood…
What is going on here?
cindy | May 27, 2010 4:09:18 PM
A flood is very different than an oil spill and the unintended environmental consequences of sand bagging are far better known than building hundreds of miles of barrier island out of millions of cubic feet of sediment dredged from sensitive estuaries?
Just a thought.
Personally I like a though out response, especially one that has shown concrete actions since day one of the spill. Google back to see what the Coast Guard was saying in articles on April 22nd (the Christian Science Monitor had a good summary)- the Coast Guard was moving from searching for survivors to planning for a spill and bringing in boom; the response magnitude has grown as the failure of the blow out preventer became apparent.
Posted by: jhw539 | May 27, 2010, 4:25 pm 4:25 pm
I think he likes to give such long winded and empty answers, reminds me of when Charlie Browns teacher talks WOOK WOOK BLAH BLAH.
Posted by: Scott | May 27, 2010, 4:31 pm 4:31 pm
JHW, do you live on the coast? This is about tourism, the environment, and for many, many folks its about their jobs. There are 2 battle lines here..on the open water itself and along the shores. I am ill equipped to critique what is going on to fight this on the open gulf, but oil slapping against the shore line is a different story..THIS is where you throw everything against the wall..the good ideas, the half good ones, the expensive and the cheap.
Posted by: cindy | May 27, 2010, 4:40 pm 4:40 pm
This guy (POTUS) is a joke at America’s expense.
Posted by: Walsh | May 27, 2010, 4:48 pm 4:48 pm
“Now, it’s going to be entirely possible, in an operation this large, that mistakes are made, judgments prove to be wrong, that people say in retrospect, you know, if we could have done that or we did that, this might have turned out differently, although in a lot of cases it may be speculation.”
Obama on the oil spill-or Bush on Katrina?
Posted by: cindy | May 27, 2010, 4:50 pm 4:50 pm
Go, Jake!
You and Major Garrett are the only journalists with guts.
Posted by: MichelleIndependent | May 27, 2010, 5:34 pm 5:34 pm
Good question, good answer.
Posted by: tierra | May 27, 2010, 5:40 pm 5:40 pm
It’s amazing how fast these red-state neo-secessionists, after 16 months of uninterupted negativity against Washington D.C., run for help to the federal government. I’ve also yet to hear a serious answer to what exactly the government can do to stop the gusher that B.P. is not doing. Finally, if the Louisiana had purchased berms sufficient to protect it barrier islands, Jindal wouldn’t need to build berms. By the way, have you ever tried to stack marsh mud?
Posted by: B.Bear | May 27, 2010, 5:42 pm 5:42 pm
JHW, do you live on the coast?
cindy | May 27, 2010 4:40:40 PM
Yes I do. Grew up on the West, living on the East.
And there has been NO impediment to throwing ideas against the wall, just evaluation to make sure bad ones aren’t implemented. It would be foolish to poison a hundred miles of shoreline (which stands a good chance of being missed by the oil) with toxic sludge dredged up from shipping lanes in a blind panic.
I get that a large portion of the US prefers the Republican Stern Daddy Will Protect You, Bring ‘Em On style. I prefer the professional carefully thinking through all the data. But at the end of the day, it’s about the facts on the ground. The facts are there has been a massive response and the government is putting all it can into it (and wisely focusing on keeping the best in the world engineers, paid for by billion dollar profits, in the private sector motivated).
Posted by: jhw539 | May 27, 2010, 5:47 pm 5:47 pm
This kid in the White House is nothing but a playboy,cares less ,likes the glamor of being President but not the responsibility,shame but true.He is a real JO)KE and one of the worse Presidents in our History,O yes the kid needs another vacation over Memorial Day Shame but true .
Posted by: Joeray | May 27, 2010, 5:52 pm 5:52 pm
Bush’s statement on Katrina:
“Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government,” Mr. Bush said. “And to the extent that the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility.””
President Obama on the oil spill:
“I take responsibility,” he said. “It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down.”
Interestingly, when Bush finally fired Heckuva Job Brownie, the professional he replaced him with was Vice Admiral (at that time) Thad Allen.
Posted by: jhw539 | May 27, 2010, 5:57 pm 5:57 pm
jhw, from what I see on TV, the oily facts are already on the ground.
Posted by: cindy | May 27, 2010, 5:57 pm 5:57 pm
jhw, from what I see on TV, the oily facts are already on the ground.
cindy | May 27, 2010 5:57:22 PM
Really? You mean there’s been an oil spill? Wow. I didn’t realize…
What does that have with the advisability of undertaking massive earthworks along hundreds of miles of sensitive shoreline without any consideration of their impact?
Posted by: jhw539 | May 27, 2010, 5:59 pm 5:59 pm
Jake, Obama did not understand your question — he said ‘if the question is…’ Who would have thought the Prez is capable of ‘lawyer speak’, after all, lawyering was and continues to be his profession.
Obama cannot kick the habit of lawyering because he is not the executive that he should be. He will never hold himself accountable because he chooses to contort questions in self-serving ways.
The only way to hold him accountable is to attack Obama’s evasions for what they are — fillibusters.
ABC should team up with some of your colleagues (in the news industry) to break through Obama’s fillibustering — if you have the courage.
Posted by: Mike, CO | May 27, 2010, 6:01 pm 6:01 pm
PS JHW..that last sentence you wrote was so..so..capitalist sounding. (Now before you get all mad at me, I am just trying to be funny.)There is alot to be said against the govt coming in too fast, too broadly, and too generously, I agree..and a careful study of NOLA in the months and years post Katrina will bear that out…as will the months and years post stock market crash.
Posted by: cindy | May 27, 2010, 6:04 pm 6:04 pm
PS JHW..that last sentence you wrote was so..so..capitalist sounding. (Now before you get all mad at me, I am just trying to be funny.)
cindy | May 27, 2010 6:04:09 PM
I am a capitalist, and I support corporations – just like a gun, they are an incredibly powerful (but amoral) tool. Part of the reason I support the legislation pushing a very large insurance policy requirement for deep sea drilling. There is NO government regulator in the world who would be as thorough and competent as the private insurance company agents who would be tasked with writing a $100 billion policy on a deep sea rig.
Posted by: jhw539 | May 27, 2010, 6:12 pm 6:12 pm
JHW, One can only hope you are right, but as corporations are amoral, people are immoral, and I have lost alot of confidence in both over the last two years.
Posted by: cindy | May 27, 2010, 6:22 pm 6:22 pm
OBAMA QUOTE:
“We will promote these values above all by living them — through our fidelity to the rule of law and our Constitution…”
What, pray tell, would you know about the Constitution? Who’s Constitution are you referring to sir? It most certainly is not the United States Constitution.
The fact is that you, Mr. Obama, are extreme: In-your-face-Healthcare, Unaccountable Communist Loving Czars, Boldface Lies, Race-baiting, personal attacks on American Citizens who disagree with you and your Democrat Party, calling Tax Paying Natural Born American Citizens “nazi’s”, attempting to cover-up or dismiss 8 terrorist attacks or attempted attacks since you stepped into the “Office of the President”, and your fawning media that is complacently, treacherously, allowing these things to pass unquestioned, unanswered…
Moreover, it is the Democrats that “should not be elected to any public office”, EVER! Mr. Obama and the Democrat Party are the ones with the extreme views. Democrat Party is the one who acts like nazi’s. The DemoNazi Party is the one attacking the U.S. Constitution, The DemoNazi Party wants to control free speech, The DemoNazi Party attacks the Constitutional Right to Bear Arms, The DemoNazi Party wants unfettered control of individuals lives, The DemoNazi Party “thinks” that it can make decisions for individuals better than they themselves can. All the while you are happy to see the United States Constitution eroded, year by year, decade by decade, making political fodder out of each issue until you have the Natural Born U.S. Citizens up to their chins in fodder. We have had quite enough. Each generation has a task. This generation’s task will be to RIGHT the ship that has been listing for nearly one hundred years. That ship is the U.S. Constitution. The Natural Born Citizens are awake to the water in the bilge. YOUR party, Mr. Obama, is the water in the bilge and we have our teacups ready to bale. No federal program is more sacred than the Constitution. It is Un-American and akin to treason to trample on the Constitution. It is time to get back to the basics of the U.S. Constitution. There is no need to prove you are a Natural Born Citizen anymore. That time has passed. It is now IMPEACHMENT time for treasonous acts against the United States, the U.S. Constitution and the American People, and failure to adhere to the Presidential Oath of Office.
Posted by: DontTreadOnMe | May 27, 2010, 6:45 pm 6:45 pm
ABC news is lucky to have Jake Tapper ask POTUS the hard questions other journalists are too bamboozled to ask. The only downside is Obama rephrases and reworks questions then bloviates his propaganda ad nauseum thus never answering what was originally asked.
Posted by: Downwithsocialism | May 27, 2010, 8:27 pm 8:27 pm
ABC news is lucky to have Jake Tapper ask POTUS the hard questions other journalists are too bamboozled to ask.
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It was a good question, and a good answer.
Posted by: tierra | May 27, 2010, 9:27 pm 9:27 pm
Everything that could be done is not being done.As of 9:55 EDT on 27 May2010 no work on barrier islands has commenced.The Army COE has still not responded to the requests of the governor of Louisiana.
Posted by: Nephron | May 27, 2010, 9:58 pm 9:58 pm
The Army COE has still not responded to the requests of the governor of Louisiana.
Posted by: Nephron | May 27, 2010 9:58:33 PM
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VENICE, Louisiana — The US government gave the go-ahead Thursday for an ambitious plan to construct several barrier islands to reduce the amount of oil from the giant Gulf of Mexico spill from coming ashore.
Coast Guard commandant Thad Allen told reporters that he gave approval for the trial construction of a section of prototype barriers that, if they appear to work, could become part of a larger construction separating the Louisiana coastland from the widening oil slick.
He added that the massive construction project would not provide a quick fix to the threat of millions of gallons of crude slopping up on the Louisiana shoreline.
“Some of these projects are estimated to take six to nine months, some up to a year,” he said.
Posted by: tierra | May 27, 2010, 10:04 pm 10:04 pm
Have they started? When will they start dredging?After one month there doesn’t seem to be much urgency.The statement is correct-at ths point nothing has begun.
Posted by: Nephron | May 27, 2010, 10:10 pm 10:10 pm
The statement is correct-at ths point nothing has begun.
Posted by: Nephron | May 27, 2010 10:10:33 PM
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No, actually your statement was wrong that “The Army COE has still not responded to the requests of the governor of Louisiana.”
Jindal was overseeing dredging operations today.
Posted by: tierra | May 27, 2010, 10:53 pm 10:53 pm
So the point is, on each of these points that you just mentioned, if the job of our response team is to say, OK, if 17 countries have offered equipment and help, let’s evaluate what they’ve offered, how fast can it get here; is it actually going to be redundant or will it actually add to the overall effort?
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No sir the job of the response team is to get it cleaned up AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. Well while they are evaluating, the oil is into the wetlands. These countries would have been better off offering it to the individual states who at least with LA seem to know what amounts of consumables like boom they need and haven’t received in the weeks since they’ve requested it. So either the feds aren’t up to it or they’re roadblocking it either way another example of big gov’t bureaucracy at it’s finest.
Posted by: obieone40 | May 27, 2010, 11:13 pm 11:13 pm
Dredging operations at the direction of then governor of Louisiana-he couldn’t wait any longer for Washington to make up its mind. The COE has nothing to do with the current state efforts.
Posted by: Nephron | May 27, 2010, 11:39 pm 11:39 pm
Dredging operations at the direction of No sir the job of the response team is to get it cleaned up AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. Well while they are evaluating, the oil is into the wetlands.
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Nonsense. Do some research into all the of the steps taken to date. For you to pretend everyone has sat around doing nothing is plain phony. Put aside your right wing bias and look at some real facts.
Posted by: tierra | May 28, 2010, 12:02 am 12:02 am
such as what?
Posted by: Nephron | May 28, 2010, 1:18 am 1:18 am
such as what?
Posted by: Nephron | May 28, 2010 1:18:43 AM
______________________________________
So lame . ..
* Personnel deployed . . . more than 20,000 are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife.
* Approximately 1,300 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
* More than 1.85 million feet of containment boom and 1.25 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 300,000 feet of containment boom and 1 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
* Approximately 11 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
* Approximately 840,000 gallons of total dispersant have been deployed—700,000 on the surface and 140,000 subsea. More than 380,000 gallons are available.
* 17 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines, including: Dauphin Island, Ala., Orange Beach, Ala., Theodore, Ala., Panama City, Fla., Pensacola, Fla., Port St. Joe, Fla., St. Marks, Fla., Amelia, La., Cocodrie, La., Grand Isle, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., St. Mary, La.; Venice, La., Biloxi, Miss., Pascagoula, Miss., and Pass Christian, Miss.
Posted by: tierra | May 28, 2010, 2:29 am 2:29 am
And how much of that is being done by the Army Corps of Engineers?Are any of the quoted activities being done by the Corps of Engineers?How much of the quoted effort is actually being done by the Federal government? How much of said boom has been supplied by the Federal government? Prior posters have claimed that the Federal government didn’t have any boom.How many Federal employees were involved in removing said water-oil mix?Is the COE doing this? is the Navy?Is the Coast Guard? Your post is a nice commercial for BP,but does not answer the question.
Posted by: Nephron | May 28, 2010, 10:54 am 10:54 am
Posted by: Nephron | May 28, 2010 10:54:16 AM
Again, do you own research. Your lame questions show how little research you’ve done. Try to keep up with the news. Answer your own questions.
Posted by: tierra | May 28, 2010, 1:18 pm 1:18 pm
The question went unanswered. WHAT ABOUT THE UNDERWATER OIL?!! SUPERTANKERS CAN SUCTION AND CLEAN OUT THESE PLUMES OF CRUDE THAT WILL OTHERWISE SETTLE TO THE BOTTOM AND KILL ALL LIFE IN THE GULF. The tankers should and could have been brought in weeks ago! No answer from Obama on this direct question!!!
Posted by: sbeck | May 28, 2010, 11:34 pm 11:34 pm
Y’all haven’t figured out yet this is a band aid on a gushing wound? The projection by BP to shareholders was 500,000 barrels A DAY for 10-15 years… what their doing right now is stalling so they can liquidate and disappear. Remember, their public projection was 1000 barrels, our own government counter offered with 5000. They have not willingly allowed any outside scientists to look at the leak… which OBAMA has allowed, giving THEM the resposibilty to clean up/fix… and they have been spraying the dispersent directly into the hole to try to cover up the correct totals from viewing cameras. WHY? BECAUSE WE ARE TALKING BILLIONS IN FINES ALREADY, NOT JUST A FEW 100,000 dollars an hour! When that pipe starts to collapse… AND IT WILL WITH THAT MUCH PRESSURE… there is every probability the ocean floor will as well, making that MOTHERLODE GUSHER A WORLD WIDE CATASTROPHE. Oh yeah: This hole was drilled… along with many others in that area of the Gulf… without OUTSIDE ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY SUPERVISION because it was passed under an OUTHOUSE CLAUSE. That’s right. BP made the discovery and started drilling as quickly as possible without normal accurate research after it was APPROVED AS AN OUTDOOR SHITTER. If this thing goes global… and I don’t see how it won’t… it’s us AMERICANS who are going to foot the blame for negligence.
Posted by: lune | June 1, 2010, 8:17 pm 8:17 pm
I just read where Jake Tapper asked THE BIG QUESTION about the Saudi Aramco Plan to Barack Obama.
Jake rocks! Woo-Hoo! Jake is my hero!!!
Posted by: Aunt Luke | June 2, 2010, 11:44 pm 11:44 pm