From TPM Reader VJ …
In 1960 when your dad and I were in the Army blacks had only been integrated in the services for 12 years.
Sounds like a long time, but there were members of the “old” Army — from WW2 and the South mostly — who had never gotten used to it. — even after 12 years and they made it clear when no blacks were present and after a few beers.
But — big but — they smiled, sucked it up and never dared showed any open dislike for their black comrades. To do so meant to face serious discipline. And the blacks wouldn’t put up with it anyway.
I foresee a parallel situation when DADT gets implemented. Career people won’t risk it with openly hostile behavior.
Sometimes we get a reader email that I think is valuable enough that I reprint it even though it requires some redacting. In this case, at TPM Reader ML’s request, I’ve redacted the portion of the email where he talks about his knowledge of and involvement with various aspects of drilling technology. Suffice it to say, he has a resume with a lot of relevant knowledge …
I wasn’t going to write in, but the first two responses you published made me feel that I had to. As my background [redacted] … It’s tough being an Obama supporter in the oilfield, especially in Houston.
First, BP is not tackling this mess alone. The entire drilling industry is involved, including Exxon (who has a great record when it comes to offshore drilling, not oil shipping). It’s not like only BP engineers are calling the shots, all sorts of experts are involved.
There’s a poll out from USAToday about the oil spill situation. Obama doesn’t come out very well, though better than the government in general and much better than BP. But contrary to what I said below, an overwhelming majority of the public seems to want BP is stay in charge of the clean up rather than having the government take over.
Earlier today, we had claims that gay soldiers would be too ferocious and mean. Now we have the Family Research Council’s angle on keeping DADT. They had a conference call this afternoon to announce their new ‘report’ claiming that ending DADT will lead to a precipitous rise in gay rape in the US Armed Forces.
From TPM Reader KP …
My relatives live in Baton Rouge. I live in Pensacola. Suffice it to say I have been following every tidbit about the oil spill. I have listened from day one to people blame the administration for not responding to the spill to other organizations constructing a time line showing us that the administration have indeed responded from day one. What I think people want this president to do is get on television and show what I heard Lawrence O’Donnell called real “outrage” in front of the cameras.
TPM Reader BP has a different take on the matter …
As I understand it, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 places full responsibility for clean-up in the hands of the oil co., with the federal government in the role of oversight.
The LA Times had an article last Fri., that stated that hundreds of engineers, scientists, rival oil companies, and different federal agencies are all working together in Houston at the BP headqtrs.
From TPM Reader DB, who appears to be from NOLA …
What’s been eating at me has been: 1) Why wasn’t the Obama administration more effective at getting accurate estimates of the oil flow rate?
From TPM Reader CW …
I live in Monterey, home of the Navy Post Graduate School and many national Oceanography centers and have been speaking with friends and neighbors in those centers.
There is a near concensus that there is too little sense of urgency. For example, a specialized submarine from MBARI is just now being readied to be dispatched to take water samples that might help determine the size of the underwater plume; why wasn’t that shipped within a week?
There’s a rising tide of criticism from Republicans about the president’s management of the Gulf oil spill catastrophe. But it’s not just Republicans. On the one hand, I’ve tended to dismiss the criticism since obviously the system of offshore drilling and regulation isn’t something he or this administration had anything to do with. And the idea that Obama is too close to the oil business seems silly. Wall Street, there’s a decent case for that. And on the Health Insurance industry too, though that’s more complicated. But not the oil industry. I also think there’s a decent argument that as frustrating as it is, it’s the people who actually run these rigs who know best how to stop them and how they run. So it’s like the president can just tell BP to go take a hike and call in the Navy to plug the thing up. Read More