DADvocate

Don't be fooled by the one "Where's Cheney Now" sign. There were more signs directed at the current President, a few going after Louisiana's political caste of both parties and far more directed at BP. That's before the speakers got the bullhorn.

But that doesn't mean folks have forgotten the sponsors of the "drill, baby, drill" brand. Oil and energy policy has been off the rails for some time in this country. One reason a lot of folks voted for Obama was on the expectation that he would change these problematic policies from the former administration. He has yet to do so.

Compartmentalizing blame will not solve this. Cheney and Bush did a lot to encourage the cozy relationship between the MMS and the oil industry during their 8 years of oversight. Obama did not address those issues when he came on board in an effective way. Senators Vitter and Landrieu (R&D), as well as a host of other legislators, have tried to have the cake and eat it, too, demanding the government allow more drilling before verifying the safety of these operations.

That makes for very bad policy in both the set-up and the response to catastrophe, and knowledge of that has been well reflected - at least in Louisiana.
 

Don't forget BP gave Obama lots of money.

It's been well over a year. Yes, this problem was long in the making but Obama has plenty of time to much more than he's done.

I'm amazed that apparently no one had a viable plan on how to handle an event that was entirely predictable. Just as cars crash and ships sink, everyone knows that oil rigs will have major mishaps, but it seems those in charge chose to ignore this.
 

I'm not forgetting. I just remember that oil companies gave the Republicans even more.

I'm interested in changing the policy. Obama got elected to change the policies. He has yet to do so, and he'll pay a price for that. But maybe not so high a price as you're expecting:

Obama still has a chance (maybe not a good chance, but a chance) to turn things around. And with every major GOP leader heavily invested in bailouts for BP or the the "drill, baby, drill" culture that got us to this point, I figure I'm just going to have limited electoral options. The GOP does not pick up my vote (or even keep me home on election day) based on this matrix, though that seems to be the hill they'd prefer to die upon.

As far as not having a viable plan, that's just the national dysfunction we've both spoken of. It knows no party. Again, it is one of the things Obama was elected to change. We have to expect far more of our political leaders (on all sides) before America becomes the new Russia.

If there is a place the GOP may pick up votes like mine, that's where. (Please see also: Jindal, Bobby.) But again, the years of the former administration remain awash in fail, and the monolithic nature with which the GOP defended the last guys stains the brand as a whole.