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Forget Katrina, Obama Compares BP Spill To 9/11

» 52 comments

Forget Katrina, President Obama opened the headline floodgates this weekend and compared the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf to 9/11. Obama gave an Oval Office interview to just-returned Politico reporter Roger Simon and linked the two events together thusly:

“In the same way that our view of our vulnerabilities and our foreign policy was shaped profoundly by 9/11…I think this disaster is going to shape how we think about the environment and energy for many years to come…“So I’m going to be fighting on their behalf and doing everything I can and using my bully pulpit to communicate that fact to the American people…I know there’s an anti-incumbent mood out there right now because … people are frustrated about the hit that the economy has taken. … But what I’m going to remind people of is we didn’t create this mess. And this Congress responded forcefully at a time when this economy really could have fallen off a cliff.”

Obama is not the first to make the comparison; a few weeks back Shep Smith similarly linked the two. Obviously Obama’s statement carries a great deal more weight than Shep’s. And while he is certainly not saying that the BP spill is a new 9/11, Obama must know the resulting headlines will inevitably construe as much. Subsequently, I can’t help but wonder if it represents some hopeful thinking on his part: it would certainly be to the administration’s advantage to change the Spill narrative from one of government incompetence to one of the nation being under attack. Additionally, it is being reported that Obama will use Tuesday’s Oval Office address in part to propose a new energy-climate law. By redirecting the spill comparisons from Katrina to 9/11 Obama may be trying to infuse the spill with a sense of urgency that could help propel an inevitably unpopular climate bill through Congress.

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  • ImNotBlue

    A statement this insensitive and foolish just couldn’t have been said by Obama.

    No… just like the SC race and Alvin Greene, I think this was a Republican plant. Yup… they hacked into his teleprompter, and changed the words to make him look bad. Yes… that’s where we need to focus our attention… to the Republicans who made him say that.

    /sarcasm

  • The Real Royal King

    I thought only Rudy Guiliani was allowed to do that.

  • MichelleF

    Obama will use Tuesday’s Oval Office address in part to propose a new energy-climate law

    Well according to Rham, you can’t waste a crisis.

  • The Real Royal King

    More preemptive bleating, moaning and whining, I see.

  • The Real Royal King

    By the way, it is “Rahm”.

  • ImNotBlue

    The Real Royal King says:
    June 14, 2010 at 10:27 am

    I thought only Rudy Guiliani was allowed to do that.

    Yes, like when he… um… UUUUHH… ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…

    The Real Royal King says:
    June 14, 2010 at 10:33 am

    By the way, it is “Rahm”.

    Really? You’re correcting spelling? Really?

    What, you’re upset there were no parenthesis in his name? No (R)ahm?

    No creative nicknames for him? We know you like that. Although, for the life of me I still can’t figure out the whole “pig” thing from the other identity.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kam-Fet/572005492 Kam Fet

    That’s just crazy talk. I also find it amazing that people are talking more about the pelican being covered in oil than the 11 people who are deceased. How come the Fourth Estate can’t get their priorities right.

  • me1ranger

    “But what I’m going to remind people of is we didn’t create this mess.” We know loser..it’s all Bushs’ fault. How can anyone stand listening to this bullshit any longer? I’m going to hurl..

  • me1ranger

    9/11 was Clintons fault..right? Discuss..

  • The Real Royal King

    You have to remember, the Clinton people actually warned Connie of the intelligence they had been receiving. Connie, who knows everything, elected not to disturb W with the news. Then began the “W and Dick and Connie and Donnie Show”. It has been a very long running show.

  • me1ranger

    You have to remember..Green Beret and CIA snipers had Osama in their scopes, but Bubba didn’t let them pull the trigger. Then began the worst terrorist attack this nation has ever endured, ending with the death of nearly 3,000 of our fellow citizens..What’s your point..dumbass? Clinton told Bush that the number one threat to America was Iraqs proliferation of WMDs. Fact. Why does king hate this country so much? Pathetic..

  • Grammie

    Back to the subject at hand:

    “I know there’s an anti-incumbent mood out there right now because … people are frustrated about the hit that the economy has taken. … But what I’m going to remind people of is we didn’t create this mess.”

    He can’t be that tone deaf, can he?

    BTW, who is “Connie”? Rahm’s brother?

  • The Real Royal King

    Uh huh.

  • The Real Royal King

    The insufferable Ms. Rice, Janet.

  • The Real Royal King

    I know there’s an anti-incumbent mood out there right now because …

    I know this is not your premise, but I think it too shallow to be useful. Certainly, Bland Lincoln in Arkansas, Toll Booth Perry in Texas, Jim Demented in South Carolina, are just a few examples of incumbents who have not been the objects of voters’ rath at the polls.

  • me1ranger

    King hates the Republican black woman..And her nic-name is Condie..smart guy. Care to respond to my post proving 9/11 was Clintons’ fault?

  • Grammie

    Oh, you meant Condi. No doubt you were so focused on spelling Rahm’s name correctly you got Secretary Rice’s name wrong.

    Don’t you just hate when that happens, Bobby?

  • ImNotBlue

    Kam Fet says:
    June 14, 2010 at 11:12 am

    I also find it amazing that people are talking more about the pelican being covered in oil than the 11 people who are deceased.

    That is the first thing that you and I agree 100% on! Consensus!

  • me1ranger

    Only liberals are blaming the wave that is about to wash their sorry asses out of office on an anti-incumbent mood. That’s what you say when your losing on the issues, and you can’t fight to defend them. Or you can physically attack the questioner, like some dem congress pee-holes do..

  • The Real Royal King

    me1ranger says:
    June 14, 2010 at 11:43 am

    King hates the Republican black woman..And her nic-name is Condie..smart guy. Care to respond to my post proving 9/11 was Clintons’ fault?

    Grammie says:
    June 14, 2010 at 11:43 am

    Oh, you meant Condi. No doubt you were so focused on spelling Rahm’s name correctly you got Secretary Rice’s name wrong.

    Actually, there is a difference in believing someone botched the most important task she ever undertook, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis, and hating her. More accurately, I pity her.

    As for Connie instead of Condie, you apparently missed the little alliterative ditty going about a couple of years ago involving:

    W and Dick.
    With Connie and Donnie.

    Perhaps, it’s an age thing, or a hip thing.

  • Grammie

    Ig by age you mean behavior more appropriate to the Kindergarten class, you nailed it or is that some new international fad sweeping the world, Bobby?

  • me1ranger

    So..like I said, 9/11 was Clintons fault. The recession that Bush inherited was Clintons’ fault as well. The republican congress during the Clinton years created the budget surplus, but the last couple of years in office, Bubba mandated that all poor people should be able to get loans for mansions without even having jobs. So..now here we are in another recession caused by Clinton and his hapless minions. Right ..king?

  • Grammie

    Of course, the Dems (including BHO himself) controlled the House and Senate from Jan 2007 which not coincidentally marked the very beginning of our economic woes.

  • sarainitaly

    “So I’m going to be fighting on their behalf and doing everything I can….” right after my four hour golf game.

    http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/102893-obama-golfs-for-four-hours-in-sweltering-heat

    I can’t wait to see the new Michael Moore movie, where he films Obama making these types of comments and then teeing off, just like in 9/11. Cuz he does this about every other day – parties, concerts, vacations, golf… he must be exhausted from doing everything he can.

  • http://gordonbloyershow.com gordonbloyershow

    Why is RRK still shooting off his mouth? He asks questions but never answers why he keeps hiding behind a phony name. Is he really Rahm. Now I am beginning to think he is really Barney Frank.

    Obama is at fault for stalling the clean-up. He is a total incompetent fool.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kam-Fet/572005492 Kam Fet

    @ImNotBlue
    I think we’ve agreed on another issue before that’s 100%.

  • Grammie

    As for Connie instead of Condie, you apparently missed the little alliterative ditty going about a couple of years ago involving:

    W and Dick.
    With Connie and Donnie.

    Bobby, AKA TRRK, you really are a pompous boob who can’t admit even to himself that you made a mistake.

    First, that is not “alliteration”. Second, I googled the phrase and surprise, surprise the only links (two before today) go right back to you.

    You must have been a charmer when you were legitimately a child. Did you have an imaginary friend that you blamed for everything you did named Royal?

  • writer

    Since things happening eighteen months into Obama’s term are still Bush’s fault, then things that happened only nine months into Bush’s term must have been Clinton’s fault.

  • The Real Royal King

    sarainitaly says:
    June 14, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    “So I’m going to be fighting on their behalf and doing everything I can….” right after my four hour golf game.

    I, for one, am happy that President Obama is able to get away from all the ridiculous bleating, whining and moaning which began in October 2008, when it was clear is was going to whip McCain and that woman who ran with McCain. He needs and deserves the break. Just as W needed and deserved all of the many, many, many breaks he took.

  • writer

    And we’re all sure the King never bleated, whined, and moaned when Bush took those breaks.

  • The Real Royal King

    Most of my bleating, moaning and whining about W occurred when he was governor. Once he was appointed president, I pretty much just said, “I told you so.”

  • writer

    All that world traveling, and yet you continue to live here. Such a masochist.

  • JohnSimpson

    Yes, in the lib world, a premeditated terrorist attack is the same as a blowout preventer malfunction.

  • zombo

    Did you see the earrings on The King? Looks like Tommy has two mommies.

  • stevor

    The World Trade Center tower 7 “collapsed” when NOT hit by a plane and AFTER the fires (that weren’t hot enough to affect the steel beams) died down. So, the only way it could have collapsed like a planned demolition is because it WAS a planned demolition. The guy that leased out the building even said they’d “pull it” down. So, 911 was a FRAUD and I wouldn’t put it past our CIA or some other covert group to have caused the “oil spill”, so yes, they both are probably extremely similar!

  • The Real Royal King

    JohnSimpson says:
    June 14, 2010 at 1:26 pm

    Yes, in the lib world, a premeditated terrorist attack is the same as a blowout preventer malfunction.

    Only in the sense the former was clearly preventable, and the latter ought to have been.

  • The Real Royal King

    You invited the conspiracy theorist, John, not I.

  • timzank

    TRRK “Only in the sense the former was clearly preventable, and the latter ought to have been.”

    the former : Thanks BillyJeff!
    the latter: Thanks Barry!

  • The Real Royal King

    I had no idea President Clinton was in office when 9/11was allowed to unfold. I thought he’d been out of office for 8 months. Silly me.

  • JohnSimpson

    The Real Royal King says:
    June 14, 2010 at 2:07 pm

    JohnSimpson says:
    June 14, 2010 at 1:26 pm

    Only in the sense the former was clearly preventable, and the latter ought to have been.”

    Wrong again king!

  • me1ranger

    King..you don’t like it when your twisted blame-logic is fired back at you. To bad..read my post about the Green Berets and CIA snipers to understand how Bubba shared in the blame. Don’t try to be cute..you’re far from it!

  • JohnSimpson

    The Real Royal King says:
    June 14, 2010 at 2:09 pm

    You invited the conspiracy theorist, John, not I.”

    No more than HT was forced to say what she said.

    And king, I know this is an epiphany to you, but it was Barry who compared this to 9/11, not me.

    And prove that 9/11 was preventable. I need a good laugh.

  • The Real Royal King

    me1ranger says:
    June 14, 2010 at 2:40 pm

    King..you don’t like it when your twisted blame-logic is fired back at you. To bad..read my post about the Green Berets and CIA snipers to understand how Bubba shared in the blame. Don’t try to be cute..you’re far from it!

    I enjoy fiction, but only if it is well-written.

  • me1ranger

    okay..thought so. Pound sand! Why does king hate the truth so much? Fear I suppose..so sad.

  • The Real Royal King

    I’m sorry if your post is poorly researched and written. Would you like me to critique it for you?

  • RichS

    Oh, yes, please do. That would be funny. Given the real racist king’s twisted reguritation of revisionist history, mixed with his racism and his knee jerk reactions his critiques are always funny. I also enjoy his laughable forays into a discussion before falling back into his normal effeteness.

  • CarmanK

    I think Obama is right, thisis a 9/11 moment and opportunity in history. The Exxon Valdez spill occurred in far off Alaska and after the intial media blitz, it faded away in the national headlines. Except for the people of AK who spent the next 20 years trying to compensated for their losses, no one else cared. Sarah Palin who was supposed to be an “oil expert” was the drill baby drill poster girl. It wasn’t until this spill in the Gulf, that I realized that the waters in AK are still contamnated and oil is still surfacing along the shoreline.
    This gigantic spill happened in the Gulf, for everyone to see and negatively impacts so many livelihoods, so many jobs and multiple industries. Beginning with Reagan, the republican mantra has been limited government achieve by cutting taxes, removing regulations and deminishing enforcement authority across the wide spectrum of government responsibilities. MMS at the Dept of the Interiror was the whore of the oil industry, and worse betrayed the american people while collecting their salaries. We are seeing how badly things can get without a true, effective government presence. The rich will get richer, no matter what the laws are: they will find a way. It is amazing how much creativity emerges when you have to get around “the NO”.
    Children are masters at circumventing “the NO’ word, imagine what our great minds could do with a little money and “need” to find another way. Necessity is the Mother of Invention, it is true now as it was ages ago when our ancestors refused to let “NO” known pathwaly stop us from moving West. The repub

  • The forgotten man

    You’re absolutely right Carmen. A true, effective government presence would be great. When you find one besides the military, you let me know. I can’t even imagine where you would begin looking for such a department of our government. Good luck with that.

  • eingriff

    Does Mr. Obama (he has not yet proved his Hawai’ian birth was to U.S. citizen parents, so he has not proved he was a natural born U.S. citizen at birth, so he is not President Obama) mean that BP may erect a huge mosque on the ocean floor?

  • jrcmi

    “I thought only Rudy Guiliani was allowed to do that.”

    “Yes, like when he… um… UUUUHH… ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…”

    Like when he claimed “there were ‘no domestic attacks’ during George W. Bush’s presidency”? See: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31272.html . 9/11 apparently failed to get the attention of NYC’s then-mayor.

    “Clinton told Bush that the number one threat to America was Iraqs proliferation of WMDs. Fact. ”

    Joe Wilson subsequently told Bush – and us – that the Africa/uranium deal was bogus. In retaliation, Cheney treasonously “outed” Wilson’s CIA agent-wife. FACT.

    “anti-incumbent mood.”

    No Dem lost a primary. One will face a runoff. Repub incumbents like Sen. Bennett got the boot.

    “The recession that Bush inherited was Clintons’ fault as well. ”

    Repubs didn’t have the votes to override a Clinton budget veto. Clinton left a budget surplus. Your selective memory has fried completely.

    “four hour golf game. ”

    Bush spent ONE-THIRD of his (stolen) presiduncy on vacation. I have mixed feelings about this: if he’d actually done any “work” we might be even worse off. No one begrudges a prez some time off . . . unless he’s a Dem, of course.

    “Obama is at fault for stalling the clean-up. He is a total incompetent fool.”

    Yeah, and when will he get off his skinny butt and cure cancer?

    “things that happened only nine months into Bush’s term must have been Clinton’s fault.”

    The FIRST WTC attack occurred months into Clinton’s first term. HE treated the terrorists as what all terrorists are: criminals. They were found, tried, convicted and thrown in the slammer.

    George Dubious Bush used the SECOND WTC attack as an excuse to start two illegal wars – neither of which he failed to end, “Mission Accomplished” notwithstanding. Instead, he left us mired in a costly fiasco that we may never be able to resolve.

    “And prove that 9/11 was preventable. I need a good laugh.”

    From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bin_Ladin_Determined_To_Strike_in_US :

    “‘Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US’ was the President’s Daily Brief given to U.S. President George W. Bush on August 6, 2001. The President’s Daily Brief (PDB) is a brief of important classified information on national security collected by various U.S. intelligence agencies given to the president and a select group of senior officials. The brief warned of terrorism threats from Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda over a month before the September 11, 2001 attacks. . . .

    “Some arguments have focused on clear warnings in this letter, specifically that:

    * the title was Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US
    * a large attack was planned
    * the attack would be on United States soil
    * target cities of attacks included New York City and Washington, D.C.
    * the World Trade Center bombing was explicitly mentioned
    * hijacked plane missions were anticipated
    * people living in, or traveling to, the United States were involved
    * recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York was witnessed. . . . ”

    Laughing yet?

    Bush was in Crawford on one of his many, many vacations when a CIA officer briefed him. Bush’s alleged response: “Okay, you covered your ass. Go back to Washington.” Hilarious.

    Bush seemed to WANT an attack so he could start a war. He yearned to be remembered as a great wartime president, according to his autobiographer, Mickey Herskowitz (sp).

    This sounds plausible, in view of Bush’s history. An indifferent student, AWOL soldier, failed businessman and a largely ceremonial governorship left Bush very much in the shadow of his more successful father’s, grandfather’s and brothers’ collective shadows.

    Big Oil/Big Pharma/Big Money is trying to BUY control of our government. The Republicants – and too many Dems – gladly accept their campaign contributions and lucrative lobbying jobs in return for legislation that makes this possible.

  • http://gordonbloyershow.com gordonbloyershow

    jrcmi, I don’t think there has been anyone as dumb as you that has commented here. It is easy to see why people like you are the problem in this country. Almost everything in your post is utter nonsense.

    It is now a well known fact that Dick Armitage was the first to reveal the Wilson idenity not Cheney.
    There were numerous recounts of the election Bush won them all.
    Iraq nor Afghanistan are “illegal” wars.
    The rest of your post is just a waste of time and a rant by an ignorant partisan.

  • ImNotBlue

    jrcmi says:
    June 15, 2010 at 1:11 am

    Like when he claimed “there were ‘no domestic attacks’ during George W. Bush’s presidency”?

    That whole thing was debunked a long time ago. Guiliani statement was for “post-9/11,” and anyone with a shred of decency or honesty was able to figure that out right away.

    Joe Wilson subsequently told Bush – and us – that the Africa/uranium deal was bogus. In retaliation, Cheney treasonously “outed” Wilson’s CIA agent-wife. FACT.

    LIE. It was STILL Richard Armitage… despite the “reality” the left has created and is determined to make “true.” Oh, and wasn’t Wilson found to have fabricated most of his report? Oh, details.

    No Dem lost a primary.

    How does a Dem lose a primary running against another Dem?

    Clinton left a budget surplus.

    The economy had already started to slide at the end of Clinton’s term. Clinton’s economy was mostly a result of the internet boom, which created numerous new businesses. However, as the businesses started to fail, the economy started to slide. The surplus was not a result of Clinton’s action… it would have happened no matter who was in the White House.

    Bush spent ONE-THIRD of his (stolen) presiduncy on vacation.

    A good… a “stolen-election” conspiracy theorist.

    No one begrudges a prez some time off . . . unless he’s a Dem, of course.

    Unless of course it’s Bush… in which case, you and the rest of the left are free to complain all you want.

    George Dubious Bush used the SECOND WTC attack as an excuse to start two illegal wars –

    Illegal? Has anyone on the left ever explained what makes a war “illegal?” Of is that just something they say without thought?

    JRCMI… a real conspiracy kook! Thanks for playing!

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