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<blockquote data-quote="Babagounj" data-source="post: 750739" data-attributes="member: 12952"><a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/later-today-damning-report-on-oil-spill-response-97579464.html" target="_blank">The&nbsp; Washington Examiner</a> reported:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Obama’s ‘Command-and-Control’ An Illusion:&nbsp; Who’s In Charge?&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; “Parish officials maintain that the federal government has not been&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; in control since day one. In four separate interviews, senior-ranking&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Parish officials described how, until the President’s visit on May 28,&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 2010, BP was in charge. According to one official, “until two weeks ago&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; [after the President’s May 28, 2010, visit], BP was in charge and the&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Coast Guard looked to them for direction.” Furthermore, “Coast Guard&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; asks BP,” not vice-versa. When specifically asked to agree or disagree&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; with the assertion that the federal government had been in control&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; since day one, another official firmly disagreed. Mr. Nungesser told&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; staff that “today, I can’t tell you who is in control,” and invited&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; committee investigators to visit the command center to see for&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; themselves.”&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Resources Used as Bargaining Chip to Mute Criticism&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; “In some instances, it appears that equipment is provided simply to&nbsp; quiet public criticism. Mr.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Nungesser, who has frequently appeared on local and national&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; television, was apparently visited by two White House officials at his&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; office on Fathers’ Day. According to Mr. Nungesser, the&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; purpose of their visit was to find a way to keep him from calling&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; attention to the lack of equipment. Specifically, they asked him, “What&nbsp; do we have to do to keep you off tv?” He simply replied, “give me what I&nbsp; need.”&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; On another occasion, Placquemines Parish officials requested 20&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; skimmers at a town hall meeting held by the Coast Guard. According to&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Mr. Nungesser, “They gave us two skimmers to shut us up.” These&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; accounts raise serious questions about whether the Administration is&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; more concerned with fighting a public relations battle than combating&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; the oil spill.”</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Babagounj, post: 750739, member: 12952"] [URL="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/later-today-damning-report-on-oil-spill-response-97579464.html"]The Washington Examiner[/URL] reported: [B]Obama’s ‘Command-and-Control’ An Illusion: Who’s In Charge?[/B] “Parish officials maintain that the federal government has not been in control since day one. In four separate interviews, senior-ranking Parish officials described how, until the President’s visit on May 28, 2010, BP was in charge. According to one official, “until two weeks ago [after the President’s May 28, 2010, visit], BP was in charge and the Coast Guard looked to them for direction.” Furthermore, “Coast Guard asks BP,” not vice-versa. When specifically asked to agree or disagree with the assertion that the federal government had been in control since day one, another official firmly disagreed. Mr. Nungesser told staff that “today, I can’t tell you who is in control,” and invited committee investigators to visit the command center to see for themselves.” [B]Resources Used as Bargaining Chip to Mute Criticism[/B] “In some instances, it appears that equipment is provided simply to quiet public criticism. [B]Mr. Nungesser, who has frequently appeared on local and national television, was apparently visited by two White House officials at his office on Fathers’ Day.[/B] According to Mr. Nungesser, the purpose of their visit was to find a way to keep him from calling attention to the lack of equipment. Specifically, they asked him, [B]“What do we have to do to keep you off tv?” He simply replied, “give me what I need.”[/B] On another occasion, Placquemines Parish officials requested 20 skimmers at a town hall meeting held by the Coast Guard. According to Mr. Nungesser, “They gave us two skimmers to shut us up.” These accounts raise serious questions about whether the Administration is more concerned with fighting a public relations battle than combating the oil spill.” [/QUOTE]

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