"Kick" as a Presidential Quote

Thanks for comments from Old Scold in Virginia and Mary Anne in Maryland:

So what. President Obama responded to TV interviewer Matt Louer with a "kick ass" statement regarding who should be held most accountable for the Deep Water Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Pundits who criticize the President for his poor choice of words have not answered the question. Who do you fire and remove from power as a result of British Petroleum's (BP's) Deep Water Horizon fire, which is now saturating the Gulf of Mexico with seemingly unstoppable spewing oil?

Opponents of President Obama are desperately trying to pin him with the blame for this environmental fiasco. At least, critics say, his response should be more animated.

Okay. Just whose ass would administration opponents kick if they were in charge right now?

I submit, the blame seekers should be kicking their own asses if they belonged to the "drill baby drill" chorus, led by energy wonks who put profit before safety to find more oil faster.

Here's how I see it. President Obama should be crystal clear about the facts regarding how the Deep Water Horizon fire happened. He must tell Americans the truth. His administration should put extraordinary pressure on BP and on federal regulators to find out how much oil is polluting the Gulf. His administration officials must tell the world how this disaster will affect the oceans of the earth. Furthermore, President Obama should squeeze every dollar his administration can find out of available budgets and BP's cash coffers to pay legitimate claims resulting from this oil spill. Reasonable compensation should be made for the loss of the way of life in Louisiana - which may be gone for the foreseeable future.

Cleaning the Gulf of Mexico will take generations. A multi-generational population of caring, focused people will be needed to fix the Gulf. They cannot loose this moment due to frustration or lack of will to get the job done.

Outside of being accountable for finding dedicated people to help, providing facts and finding money - what else can be done?

What cannot be done includes:

1. President Obama cannot promise unlimited tax resources to fix the Gulf of Mexico.

2. No one can promise a return to normal to either the people or the wild life in the Gulf. In fact, they are all challenged to find a way to live in a "new normal" environment - whatever that entails.

3. President Obama cannot stop current oil drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico because, to put it bluntly, this horse is out of the barn and running wild. To do so will jeopardize even more jobs, stressing the economy of the Gulf region.

4. Americans cannot push back on British Petroleum, when it was our own federal regulators who allowed Deep Water Horizon to be built in the first place.

Louisiana's Governor Jindal wants more oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico because, he says, the operations will just go somewhere else, like South Africa, for example. Well, of course, that's true, but dealing with the graft and corruption of doing business in a third world nation will eat up nearly as much profit as fixing the Gulf of Mexico.

Governor Jindal likes to make political statements without examining the impact of his rhetoric - oil companies don't like dealing with third world nations. Nonetheless, they'll probably do so if they have to, until profits run dry. I suspect BP and other companies would rather get credit for cleaning up the Gulf than work with some third world countries, my opinion.

Governor Jindal's misplaced anger with the White House should be directed within - like, where was he when Deep Water Horizon was licensed?

American people must take charge right now. We must stop political finger pointing. Let's get to the quick and kick ass with alternative energy sources like hydro power, wind, solar and geothermal energies.

Let's kick ass with our own living habits. Let's help to solve the energy access problem by efficiently using mass transit, automobiles, sewage recycling and electric appliances. Making energy sacrifices now may not make our lives easier but the alternative is to suffocate the earth with more environmental disasters. Our high standards of living cannot continue without consequences.

Finally, regardless of how tired pundits put him down, I suspect President Obama's "kick ass" quote will go down in history as one of his best lines.