The President Expresses Himself--Sort Of

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On a day when it was announced that two and a half million gallons of oil a day is currently choking the life out of the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama used the occasion to make his first Oval Office speech.

Ever since the runaway oil spill caused by one of BP's damaged rigs became a national crisis, critics have been calling for the President to show some emotion instead of his usual calm demeanor to express his displeasure in the way the situation has been handled (or mishandled) by the oil company and the government.  Other than telling NBC's "Today" show he was looking for somebody's rear end to kick, Obama's emotions have so far ranged the gamut from A to B.

Tuesday night's speech was not much different.  It wasn't so much a call to action as it was a national pep talk, saying nothing we haven't already heard..  The President said BP will pay for all cleanup and damages, which will be handled by an independent third party.  He also called for a new clean energy policy to pass Congress.  And he asked his audience to pray for the victims of the Gulf Coast disaster, both human and otherwise.  Good luck with all of that.

But let's not wish BP too much ill.  They have made so much money in recent years that they could well afford to pay for the damages.  The government had better hope so, because what's going to happen if the company goes bankrupt?  Will Shell or ExxonMobil be as willing to pay for something that they claimed they could have done a better job on?

The only other time an Oval Office speech was devoted to the topic of energy, it was delivered by President Jimmy Carter in 1979.  Carter was defeated for re-election the following year.  Unless the Gulf cleanup shows some significant progress, history might repeat itself for President Obama.