There is an appalling lack of knowledge about the BP disaster [View All]

in evidence here. I posted this in another thread, but several people have asked that I make it an OP. Let me start by saying something:

This operation should never have been allowed to begin, since there is no effective means for handling a blowout, as we have seen.

That said, the incident occurred, and the proof of my previous statement is in evidence.

1. As some have already said, the relief wells are probably going to be the only thing that ends this. Kevin Costner's device may help clean up the oil that has been spilled and will continue to be spilled, but, based on the dimensions of it, it would take hundreds, if not thousands of the devices to do the job of cleaning up multiple millions of gallons of contaminated seawater.

2. The US goverment has no technology capable of dealing with this situation. The only such technology, such as it is, is in the hands of the oil drilling companies. We do have submersibles in the Navy and at NOAA that can reach those depths, but so do the oil drilling companies, and those submersibles are already in place and are designed for the manipulations needed in this situation. The Navy's and NOAA's submersibles are not designed to deal with this type of work. Further, the US military has no expertise in offshore oil drilling technology, and can do nothing to fix the problem.

2. President Obama has spoken about this situation every day, despite erroneous claims to the contrary. I've heard and seen him do so. Given the inability of the Federal goverment to actually do anything to ameliorate the problem, there is little else he can do. What he is doing out of the public view is another matter, and is not public.

3. We cannot "nationalize" BP. There is no mechanism available to do so. That is a ridiculous suggestion, since it cannot be done.

4. We cannot penalize BP without due process. In the meantime, they have the responsibility for stopping the leak, cleaning up the mess, and paying for all they caused. Legal action in this regard will go on for years, if not decades.

5. We are not going to "nuke" the site. That would probably cause even more widespread leaking, and such actions have never been tested at these depths. To do so would be incredibly foolish.

6. This blowout is unprecedented, due to its depth and the depth of the actual well.

7. Hand-waving and blame-placing will do nothing to solve the problem. It will only serve to create distractions from the actual job at hand.

8. This blowout will not be fixed today, tomorrow, or next month, in all probability. It is going to take months to be put under control, and there's not a damn thing we can do about that. We can hope that the top kill operation will have some success, but it's a long shot. Be prepared to be disappointed with the results.

9. No amount of pontificating from academics who have no deep-sea oil operating experience will have any effect on this disaster. In fact, nobody but those working in this field directly can end the leakage. The best experts in this field work directly in this area and have the grease under their fingernails to prove it. Anyone can say anything he or she wishes but, without direct knowledge of this specific field, they're just blabbering.

Finally, again: This well should never have been allowed in the first place. It was, and the process was well underway when President Obama took office. We can all agree that it is a bad idea to do deep-water drilling when the technology for fixing things when it goes wrong doesn't exist. We're paying for that, and for our inattention for the past 20 or so years. Drill, Baby, Drill is a bad idea if we're going to drill without the proper precautions or knowledge. Perhaps we'll do better in the future. Perhaps not.

But, this is not President Obama's disaster. It is BP's disaster. President Obama cannot reverse what happened. Despite his powers, he can't pull a Superman deal and fly around the Earth and turn back time. If you think you are frustrated, imagine how much more frustrated he is. He can actually do nothing to hurry the fix up. The only people capable of doing so are the very people who caused the accident through their own negligence, and there's not a damn thing we can do about that, since they're the only ones with the equipment and skills required to fix it.

So, please, BACK THE FUCK OFF OBAMA! Save your scorn for those responsible for this. Blame those who are culpable. Don't write untruths about the situation. Study it and learn what is being done and what is possible. Take advice only from those who understand deep sea operations, not from academics with manicures. The guys with grease under their fingernails are the ones who are going to fix this, even though they're the same ones who caused it. There is no other option.