Hurricanes happen. Oil spills are NOT so unavoidable. Cost-cutting in safety and prevention infrastructure, exacerbated by human negligence and poor protocols, are corporate choices, not “acts of God.”

The human cost of hurricane Katrina in lost lives and property was almost entirely the fault of the Democratic administrations of the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans. Both jurisdictions failed to implement their carefully planned hurricane response procedures until it was too late, even though there would have been plenty of time to save their constituents. Despite this obvious truth, Democrats and their media lackeys were quick to blame the disaster on the Republican president George W. Bush.

Now a catastrophic oil spill has been polluting the Gulf of Mexico since April 20th, well over one month, and the current Democratic president has done NOTHING. But only now are some Democrats and media figures beginning to criticize his failure to act.

Last Thursday, native Louisiana son James Carville lamented Obama’s inaction to CNN’s Anderson Cooper:

I’m as good a Democrat as most people, and I think this administration has done some good things. They are risking everything by this ‘go along with BP’ strategy they have that seems like, lackadaisical on this, … they seem like they’re inconvenienced by this, this is some giant thing getting in their way and somehow or another, if you let BP handle it, it’ll all go away. It’s not going away. It’s growing out there. It is a disaster of the first magnitude….

Also last week, Chris Matthews appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and expressed disappointment with Obama’s lack of leadership:

The president scares me. He’s been acting a little like a Vatican Observer. When is he actually going to do something?

And I worry. I know he doesn’t want to take ownership of it. I know the politics. Because the minute he says I’m in charge, then he’s blamed. But somebody’s got to take charge.

On Sunday morning, ABC’s This Week brought more Obama disapprovals. From Cokie Roberts:

The oil is gushing and we’re being lied to by how much oil is gushing … and the administration has now named a commission. Now this is what you do when you really don’t have anything else to do: You name a commission. That’s not going to stop the oil.

And from Democrat strategist Donna Brazile:

One of the problems I have with the administration is that they’re not tough enough. They are waiting for BP to say, ‘Oh we have a new plan to stop the oil leak.’ They need to stop it, contain it, clean it up and try and help us conserve our coastal wetlands.

Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs is struggling to deflect the blame. According to the Huffington Post:

The tensions peaked during the daily press briefing at the White House on Friday when Gibbs was repeatedly questioned as to what, exactly, the administration was doing to help with the catastrophic spill. The line of inquiry grew so contentious that Gibbs ended up calling reporters after the briefing finished to ask them about their tone.

In this time of high unemployment, the damage to the fishing and tourism industries is especially hurtful. Yet the Obama administration is focused on saving its political reputation, and not on soving the problem.

The situation here is that Barack Obama had no executive experience before taking on the management of this country. Zip. Nada. Not even a MacDonald’s franchise. By contrast, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal is showing real leadership. Despite not having the requested federal approval, he plans to go ahead with construction of sand booms to block the oil offshore:

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said the state will not waiting for federal approval to begin building sand barriers to protect the coastline from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Oil has pushed at least 12 miles into Louisiana’s marshes, with two major pelican rookeries awash in crude….

The governor said he has been forced to protect Louisiana without the approval of the Army Corps of Engineers, which is weighing the ecological impact of the construction of more sand booms. “We are not waiting for them. We are going to build it,” Jindal said.

“….we can fight this oil … on the Barrier Islands 15 to 20 miles off of our coast, or we can face it in thousands of miles of fragmented wetlands,” Gov. Jindal said… “Every day we’re not given approval on this emergency permit to create more of these sand booms is another day when that choice is made for us, as more and more miles of our shore are hit by oil.”

So there you have it. Obama’s lack of leadership in stark contrast to Jindal’s decisive action.

One more note for those who care about the environment — for one month this administration has allowed British Petroleum to use a toxic chemical as an oil dispersant, one that “may cause lasting damage to coastal ecosystems.”

Related:

Michelle Malkin — Louisana Gov. Jindal blasts Obama inaction, moves on sand booms

Hewitt Blog — Obama’s Oily Beaches and Wetlands

Los Angeles Times — White House slammed for oil spill — Obama’s Katrina?

Right Pundits — Sarah Palin Slams Obama, Gulf Oil Spill Enters Fifth Week