Obama Attempts to Change the Narrative From Katrina to 9/11

When comparisons of the Gulf Oil Spill and Obama's reaction to Katrina started popping up Obama became very defensive.  Conventional wisdom tells us that Katrina was a failure of the President and the administration, though in reality the failures occurred at the local and state level leaving President Bush with a mess that no president could easily clean up.

However, that story will probably never be told accurately so Katrina will continue to be Bush's big failure.  Obama doesn't want to be tagged with a similar failure, so rather than jump in and get serious about solving the oil spill problem he's decided to change the narrative by comparing this event to one in which great presidential leadership was shown:

Sounding reflective as he heads into a bruising electoral season, President Barack Obama told POLITICO columnist Roger Simon that the Gulf disaster “echoes 9/11” because it will change the nation’s psyche for years to come.

Obama — facing mounting criticism of his handling of the BP gusher, even from longtime allies — vowed to make a “bold” push for a new energy law even as the calamity continues to unfold. And he said he will use the rest of his presidency to try to put the United States on a course toward a “new way of doing business when it comes to energy.”

“In the same way that our view of our vulnerabilities and our foreign policy was shaped profoundly by 9/11,” the president said in an Oval Office interview on Friday, “I think this disaster is going to shape how we think about the environment and energy for many years to come.”

Seriously?? 9/11?? Hardly.

While the Gulf Oil Spill will have some long-lasting repercussions, I doubt the effect on the American psyche will be any more changed than it was after the Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska. Nobody likes oil wildlife and fouled beaches, but eventually it will be cleaned up and we'll all move on.  The images of oiled-up pelicans are disturbing, but will never have the shock value of the sight of airliners crashing into the World Trade Center and the shock to our national sense of security that caused.

This is a political move, orchestrated by his political advisors, to imply that his failed leadership on this issue is acceptable.

It's not.