It sounds like the President isn't all that impressed with BP's Tony Hayward. With regard to the now-famous interview with Matt Lauer where he looks for "asses to kick", MSNBC also reports the following remarks:
The BP executive last month complained about the amount of time he is spending dealing with the disaster, saying "I would like my life back," and also played down the spill's effect. The Gulf was "a big ocean," he said, adding "the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest."
"He wouldn't be working for me after any of those statements," Obama told TODAY.
The president also defended not having spoken to Hayward since the disaster began 50 days ago.
"I have not spoken to him directly," he told Lauer. "Here's the reason. Because my experience is, when you talk to a guy like a BP CEO, he's gonna say all the right things to me. I'm not interested in words. I'm interested in actions."
Works for me. I encourage the President to start kicking ass by handing out some high-level pink slips.
As long as I'm posting a little bit of fluffy quoting around the Gulf disaster, perhaps a roundup of our most recent posts about it might be helpful, given how much news there is about so many different aspects of the disaster.
Here we go:
Expert Simmons says well may be gushing between 100-150 barrels per day. Cheryl Attkisson at CBS confirms lowball leak estimates.
Ever-cognizant of Maureen Dowd's dreams, President Obama looks for asses to kick. The sun shines on BP and the Bush administration as more information comes to light about how BP was able to fast-track their drilling permits, thanks to the Gang of Four (aka Bush, Cheney, DeLay, and Barton).
Dick Cheney hides behind daughter Liz Cheney's skirts and lets her fight his battles. Adm. Thad Allen describes the oil as "an insidious enemy," BP employees weren't sure who was in charge, and Haley Barbour visits the River Denial.
Since we're not an all-oil, all-the-time blog, posts on Gaza, Elena Kagan, unemployment, and the right-wing noise machine are also good reads.
Bonus: My inner history wonk sings when I see Newstalgia posts like this one. Take a minute to walk back to the 70's and listen to the Silent Majority: Mexican-Americans in the 70's.
