Whatever happened to "drill, baby, drill!"?

So...

Just how bad is this BP oil spill mess? I know someone in Louisiana right now helping process the Insurance claims resulting from the BP disaster and she says it is far worse than we see on TV. BP has actually closed off many of areas of the beach to the general public and also to news crews (for "safety purposes") so that they can't see some of the worst damage to the coastline. The sections they have opened they have taken to cleaning up before photo ops and going so far as to cover up their spill by bringing in fresh sand to dump over the tarballs washing up onshore. This is clearly an attempt to hide the evidence, if you will. Also, she said the TV is simply unable to capture the awful smell of the beaches now present, which she equated to being at a gas station after someone has let the pump run way over the amount their tank allows, spilling onto the ground and soaking the air with a foul, pungent gasoline scent.

What makes the ordeal worse than just the sights and smells of the spill is how politicians are dealing with it, or it some cases not dealing with it. It bugs me when they latch onto a disaster like this one and use it to advance their chances of reelection or in many, many cases take pot shots at the current administration, rather than simply diving in and getting the job done. Take Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. He has made no efforts to hide his political affiliation and Presidential aspirations. Clearly, if the Republicans were back in power it would help his career goals. So rather than work with the Federal Government, he criticizes and attacks them all day long for things that aren't even under their control, like his accusations that they aren't sending enough National Guardsmen, when in fact he is the one not using the over 2,000 troops at his disposal, and stages cheap photo ops that show him on the beach cleaning the oil or riding out in the boats to investigate the marshes. It's really quite pathetic to see him use this tragedy to advance the Republican and his cause so heavily.

I'm not saying I'm pro or anti Democrat here, but I don't think anyone wants to see this mess turn into another talking point. The Republicans blame Obama for not acting fast enough and compare his handling of the oil spill to Bush's handling of Katrina. Clearly, they are just bitter about all the flak they took for Katrina and are reaching for something... anything they can use to attack the Democrats in the same manner. No one can be ignorant enough to see any similarities between the BP disaster and Katrina. First of all, we knew Katrina was coming. The White House watched it hit and then watched the aftermath... and still took over 3 days to respond even as footage was coming back of people struggling to make it out of New Orleans alive. With the BP spill it was more sudden, and I do agree that the White House should have responded faster and stronger, but with Katrina it was far easier to send in troops to rescue people than with the spill, where people don't need physical rescue, but financial reassurance that their livelihood isn't gone along with the fish. I'm not saying Obama is perfect, if anything this shows the failure with which he selected his cabinet and those surrounding him in the West Wing, such as Rahm Emmanuel, his Chief of Staff, who should never have been hired in the first place. I also feel that this is one area where experience would have helped in the White House, and had Hilary been elected she would have brought a stronger temperament in the Government's response to BP execs. Bottom line, what I don't want to see is Republicans hindering the Democrat's efforts to clean up this mess and help the people of Louisiana. It's not right, and even though the Democrat's came out against Bush for Katrina, they still fought to help deal with it.

I wish that instead of taking a "no, no, no" attitude toward everything Obama wants to do, the Republicans would instead step up to the plate and say they are willing to work with anyone, even the (dun, dun, dun) dreaded Democrats, for the good of the American people. It's called compromise, and we sent you to Washington to figure out a way to help us, not hinder the President. If Obama's policies fail, they will be his policies, and you guys can fall back on that. At least you would have tried something.

Instead, the GOP is acting like cowards, not taking chances simply because they got booted out of office in 2008. They have a policy of do nothing so that Obama is unable to do anything, figuring the American people will get frustrated and kick him out of office during the next election cycle. It's so obvious, too, which makes it that more upsetting. I wish the Republicans would take some responsibility, instead of complaining that all Obama does is blame things on Bush (which he doesn't, at least, not nearly enough considering Bush is responsible for most of the messes the US faces today) and making every little thing a political face-off. By the same token, I wish Obama would stand up and actually do something to get his policies enacted, rather than letting everyone walk all over him. That's where a good Chief of Staff would come in handy in help facilitate all this.

But back to the oil spill, there's sadly nothing we can really do about this one except wait it out and hope BP manages to beat the odds and build a successful relief well. Part of me is afraid we won't have learned out lesson and will soon be back to the "drill, baby, drill!" mentality that got us here in the first place. Already, we have Republican Senators apologizes to BP (thanks a lot, Joe Barton) and quietly remaining pro deep sea drilling, which has clearly proven to be a dangerous, unstable endeavor. What we should be asking is why are countries like China so far ahead of us in terms of energy and alternative fuel sources? Aren't Communists supposed to be the bad guys... why are they getting this right, yet we can't?

I'm also worried that sub-consciously the fact that BP is a British company is an excuse not to make any substantial changes with the oil industry. If it was Exxon or Chevron or Shell who was behind this spill, which I hope people realize it could have easily been, then maybe we would be quicker to put forth stronger sanctions and regulations against the oil companies. But because it's a British company, maybe without even realizing it, I wonder if there is the sort of thought process that this would not have happened had it been an American corporation?

I hope I'm wrong.