People Need To Do Their Jobs

This is also the problem with the public and private face of the Presidency as a whole. It is two different worlds. My personal preference is for a President who is working hard in the background trying to get things done instead of traveling to ever disaster spot and walk around for morale purposes that serve no real effect in getting the problem solved. Now, I have no idea what is going on, if anything in private. Unfortunately, in our visually immersed society, it has gotten to the point where if there is no video clip of the President slogging on the front line, it looks like nothing is being done. I was critical of the critiques of Bush's Katrina flyover (an appropriate response that does not disrupt the important work on the ground). So my opinion has not changed that I don't think that Obama needs to be there to solve the problem.

Therefore, this brings me to the schizophrenia of the public/private work. There is no way for a President to really win in a disaster. When he goes to the Gulf, he will be shuttled from photo op to photo op. He will speak to some of the people who is losing their way of life. He will speak to the people who are working to clean up the beaches(disrupting their work in the process). He will be seen walking around with government and BP officials. He will promise to redouble the efforts. Some people will think it is all fluff and others will think he is showing leadership. No one will ever know if the trip did anything useful but boost morale while spending a lot of money. I guess if it makes the people on the coast think something is being done it could be useful. I just doubt that anything will really come out of it.

What is the government going to do? Try to take this over? BP would love that. They could shift a lot of legal blame to the government in the courts down the road. There should be a task force when things are said and done on both preventing and planning for future events. However, I think the administration really has no choice but to let BP lead on this because they are the experts.

Truthfully, I am more annoyed that the Commander in Chief thinks it more important to take a vacation in Chicago then to perform his duties at Arlington at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Yes, I know Reagan and GHW Bush missed it once also. Reagan was excusable due to what he was doing. I do not think it was right that Bush missed his for campaign fundraising. However, I think it is even more important that the President attend to this sacred duty in his position as Commander in Chief while we are at war.