President Obama delivered his first Oval Office address last night, but it had to have been the most anti-climactic address any president has ever delivered from this office.
After all, most presidents use this austere setting to inform the nation of grave new developments or to mobilize the public behind an issue of national importance. For example, John F. Kennedy used it in 1962 to inform the nation of the Cuban Missile Crisis; Ronald Regan used in 1986 to console the nation over the space shuttle Challenger disaster; and on September 11, 2001, George W. Bush used it to inform the nation that “today, my fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack.”
By contrast, Obama used it to inform the nation about a national tragedy that occurred 57 days ago and about which most Americans already feel that he is either too impotent or too incompetent to do anything about. Not to mention that the first thought that came to mind when I saw him last night was that he was doing an opening skit for Saturday Night Live.
So what was the point – apart from trying to appease critics (left and right) who have been badgering him to act more like commander and consoler in chief…?
He repeated the pledge he’s been making for weeks now about making BP pay; but this rang hollow given the way BP has been nickel and diming claimants.
He announced a new Gulf Restoration Plan to be funded by BP; but this is fraught with legal pitfalls given that a) he can’t force BP to fund this plan (unless he pulls a Chavez and nationalizes the company) and b) if BP agrees, it will undoubtedly try limit its liability, for example, by paying only $20 billion into the fund even though the damage it has caused to the lives, businesses, and ecosystem could easily exceed $100 billion.
He cited the litany of things his administration has been doing “from day one” to clean up BP’s mess; but this seemed delusional given the way oil from a still gushing well is now contaminating beaches all along the Gulf Coast. Never mind that the 5,000 barrels that the ruptured pipe was spewing out on day one has now mushroomed into 60,000.
Most notably, though, he called for energy independence; but this seemed trite and contrived given that none other than George W. Bush made the same call throughout his presidency:
What people need to hear loud and clear is that we’re running out of energy in America. We can do a better job in conservation, but we darn sure have to do a better job of finding more supply. We can’t conserve our way to energy independence.
(Bush, American Presidency Project, May 3, 2001)
In fact, every president since Richard Nixon has been sounding this alarm about America’s dependence on foreign oil only to see that dependence increase each year.
Nevertheless, my hope is that Obama will make history by passing a comprehensive clean energy bill – just as he made history by passing healthcare reform even though every president since Truman attempted but failed to do so.
But truth be told, nothing he says these days, no matter how sincere, poll-tested, or critics- driven, will mean a damn thing until BP plugs that hole and he does a far better job of preventing that slick from washing ashore.
In the meantime, I have to admit that, with his vietnamization of the war in Afghanistan, the failure of his economic stimulus and jobs bill to stimulate the economy or create jobs, and his presidency now drowning in this BP oil spill, I’m losing HOPE.
Related commentaries:
Obama goes gansta on BP
Obama’s ironic mission to Afghanistan
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