Barack Obama did, saying he’s trying to figure out “whose ass to kick” in the oil spill. Frankly, that’s fine by me. I know he’s engaging in theater, but I like this theater. And while I generally disapprove of anything that makes the public square more vulgar, in this case, I give the man a pass. It shows he’s human.
What do you think?
By the way, the Onion has once again come up with some choice reporting on the oil spill. Beware: there’s wonderful, mot-juste vulgarity here.
UPDATE: 1. I find it easy to believe Obama talks like this in private. I’d be more worried about a president who didn’t talk like this in private than one who does.
2. I also am very sure that this was a calculated bit of political theater by Obama. He’s a cool customer, but the American people want him to get madder in public than he has. So he felt compelled to do this.
3. I like seeing a display of presidential temper, but I don’t know what else he could do to get the problem solved faster — or why we expect him to be Superman. This is not a problem that can be solved by the application of overwhelming force. I would be very surprised if there were anything the government could do that BP is not already doing.
4. If he wants to kick BP’s a*s after the problem is solved, I hope he m—-f—n’ does.
5. If he’s looking for someone’s a*s to kick now, he should find out who in the federal regulatory bureaucracy approved BP’s nonsense emergency response plan, and kick them all the way back to Bugtussle. And he should also put the fear of God into federal regulators, and make them double down on all oil companies with offshore rigs, to make sure there’s a non-crazy response plan in place.
6. LIke Elizabeth Anne says in the combox, we have oil-soaked dead animals washing up on the beaches, and whole communities of fishermen having their way of life destroyed, perhaps forever, and somehow, there are people who are really upset because the president said an ugly word about the company responsible for it.