Obama’s phony photo-op “tour” of the Gulf oil slick

The President went to the Gulf Coast and let his remarkable compassion flow like oil from a busted well head. It was warm. It was caring. And it was completely phony.

The LA Times Top of the Ticket blog reports the details:

A Louisiana trip was laid on for Sunday. The advance teams were redeployed and their short prep time showed with the president having to drive instead of helicopter from New Orleans to a Delta Coast Guard briefing and then, as he spoke to reporters outdoors, be drenched in a downpour. Guard briefing and then, as he spoke to reporters outdoors, be drenched in a downpour.

The president was also seen taking off for a disaster scene tour in a chopper. But winds were such and the threat of fog possible that the president only saw the ordinary Louisiana coast.

After all that travel, logistics and talk, he never spotted one drop of oil.
The good news for him is twofold: He was seen caring about the incident. And he wasn’t seen looking uselessly out a plane window as Bush was.

Aides were quick to describe how useful the tour was for Obama to see something for himself. He did get out the main message-quote about BP being responsible for every dime, even though there’s a $75 million limit on a causative party’s costs.

Local officials were quoted as appreciative of his presence which, truth be told, did absolutely nothing to stop the oil, advance the recovery or mitigate any damage beyond that potentially to the president’s image if he hadn’t gone.

Obviously, this trip wasn’t planned because the President is concerned about the oil spill spreading. It was planned because he’s concerned about the discontent of the voters spreading.

Source: Top of the Ticket