No Leadership, No Solutions, No Clue:
Obama Speech Resurrects Jimmy Carter Era About two-thirds of the way through President Obama’s speech, leaves and twigs twitched erratically amid late-spring gusts of wind outside the windows of the Oval Office. Symbolism is integral to a presidential address, and Tuesday night was no exception, with solemn flags standing behind the history-heavy and timber-laden Resolute desk . But faltering branches was not the imagery desired for the moment. In his opening comments, the president reassured the public: From the very beginning of this crisis, the federal government has been in charge of the largest environmental cleanup effort in our nation’s history. It hasn’t felt that way. Obama didn’t personally visit the Gulf until May 2 , more than 10 days after the Deepwater Horizon explosion and the catastrophic mile-deep oil gusher. Original estimates on the extent of the oil spill drastically underestimated the enormity of the damage: in late April the National Oceanic and Atmos...