By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 7th 2010 10:26PM
Filed under: News, Politics, President Obama
Some have been asking
President Barack Obama to get tough with BP, and while
I don't think the president is getting as tough with the company as he can, it certainly can't be denied that he is using tougher language. In an interview set to air on '
Good Morning America,'
President Obama stated that he is "looking for whose ass to kick" in response to the recent crisis.
I am not sure how often the president has been deliberately recorded using this kind of language, but the words will certainly fire up his base. I doubt that this was an inadvertent slip of the tongue, but rather an effort for Obama to appear to be the tough leader that the nation has been requesting to deal with one of the worst environmental crises in American history.
The move is a good one for Obama, making him appear to be edgy and assertive, rather than conservative and passive. He has moved himself to the left, placing himself and his administration firmly within the crowd of those who appear to want BP to pay dearly for the crisis. While one can certainly argue that the move is probably more hype than substance, it allows Obama to fulfill his objective of distancing himself from BP and not shouldering the blame.
The recent crisis continues to devastate the Gulf Coast, as more than 75,000 jobs are expected to be lost when it's all said and done. The $60 billion tourism industry for the state of Florida is in jeopardy as the oil arrives to the shores of its sunny beaches. To make matters worse, the 1990
Oil Pollution Act caps liability for spills at $75 million, hardly enough to begin cleaning up this much oil from the oceans. All the while, President Obama is not quite able to hold BP accountable, because his administration has been the biggest recipient of campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry.
So, while President Obama might be "looking for whose ass to kick," BP might be able to retort, "Mr. President, we actually own your ass." It's going to be an interesting battle.
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Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the new book 'Black American Money.' To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here. 
Comments: (20)
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By: BillSchrier on 6/07/2010 10:44PM
Obama is desperate to put on a show of "anger" now that polls show Americans rate his response as worse than that of Bush's response to Katrina:
http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/Media/poll-bp-oil-spill-rated-worse-katrina-criminal-charges/story?id=10846473
Just adding to Obama's overall unpopularity, and another reason why he's at best a one-term president. For all you blacks who consider(ed) him a god who walks on water, no one else agrees with you now. Reading a teleprompter well no longer cuts it.
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By: stopwhining on 6/08/2010 9:15AM
He is your GOD, that is why you spend all your time talking about him.
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By: TruthBeTold on 6/08/2010 1:41PM
You're an idiot and a racist tea bagger. Get bent troll.
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By: BillSchrier on 6/07/2010 10:57PM
Democrats are abandoning Obama's socialist agenda as the mid-terms approach and voter anger against them rises:
"After betting their political future on a government-mandated expansion of health care to include millions more Americans, Democrats appear to have little appetite for more legislative showdowns given voter rebellion against government spending amid trillion dollar-plus annual deficits.
The solution in some cases is to simply not vote. Immigration reform is too politically toxic. Key bills with massive price tags are getting shelved."
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100607/D9G6D6NO0.html
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By: William L.Robinson on 6/07/2010 11:41PM
The Prez is right, BP over step their bounds, we got to teach them they don`t mess up America and then said they can`t fit it, and run back to Europe, we are just starting on their asses,they better clean up their mess quick, like ASAP. And they(BP)better not think of vacation time, cause we are thinking of prison.
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By: BillSchrier on 6/07/2010 11:57PM
Obama hold BP accountable? I guess you missed the part in Watkin's article where he admits "All the while, President Obama is not quite able to hold BP accountable, because his administration has been the biggest recipient of campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry".
It's kind of hard for Obama to hold BP accountable when they have been he's been their biggest recipient of campaign donations. Which is probably why Obama gave this same BP rig a safety award last year! Talk about incompetence.
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By: FOBAMA on 6/07/2010 11:56PM
Obama soft arse wouldnt know how to kick arse if it were attached to both his feet.
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By: rightorwrong on 6/08/2010 6:04AM
Obama & the BP President have the same temperament laid back slow to do anything if not pushed, besides thou BP is taking a lot of the flak, blame still lies with the american contractors on the rig who should have taken care of health & safety be more concerned about the environment, their are a whole lot of people to blame here not just BP or Obama slow to move and kick ass, i wonder if the mafia is part of the contract?
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By: Duffy on 6/08/2010 8:33AM
EEEEEhaw! Obambi has finally found a gulf region where he wants to kick some ass, instead of pandering and bowing. Never thought I'd see the day. Wait,... I still haven't.
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By: P.Moe on 6/08/2010 2:21PM
Attack of the Obama haters!! WOW!!! No room on your pages. It must be nice to stay up all day and night looking for someone to blame. If you folks are so smart and astute as you claim to be, why aren't you helping make a change instead of playing the role of the trash man and spreading this garbage!!! Oh, I forgot, all you do is point fingers. I hope you guys are submitting solutions on your pages, blogs, or wherever. It would be a shame for such intelligent, intellectual ideas to go to waste. May GOD bless you and keep you.
As always...Ignorance is Bliss!!
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