Current news alert via Reuters...
WHITE HOUSE SAYS NO OIL DRILLING IN NEW AREAS WILL GO FORWARD UNTIL REVIEW OF CAUSE OF OIL SPILL
"No additional drilling has been authorized and none will until we find out what happened here and whether there was something unique and preventable here," White House adviser David Axelrod said on ABC's "Good Morning America" show. "No domestic drilling in new areas is going to go forward until there is a adequate review of what's happened here and of what is being proposed elsewhere."
I will add more if this alert turns into a more comprehensive news story. But the alert nature seems to imply this was intentionally inserted into the news ecosystem.
I watched the morning shows this morning, and the Coast Guard spokesman had a very difficult time addressing questions on at least 2 networks about whether the Administration response was too slow. Rear Admiral Brice-O'hara was unable to say they immediately responded because they deferred to BP.
I don't see anything wrong with that initially as long as they were steadily verifying the information from a party with an obvious motive to not be totally forthcoming. This seems to have been the case. But the answers to such questions have to be crisp, and they were not this morning. That is how memes start. Unfortunately, the Administration must also deal with the first official response from the WH.
"In all honesty, I doubt this is the first accident that has happened and I doubt it will be the last," Gibbs told reporters.
That is why this statement is now being made. The Admin has to defuse two things. The media narrative being formed, and questions about the President's March decision. They know they need the base on this one, and particularly environmentalists. They have to get in front of the "easy" story that reporters will write. I suspect the walkback will become more forceful over the next few days as pressure mounts. (One would think that the spill itself, not the cause, would be enough to get the Administration to use it as an excuse to stop pandering to Republicans for energy votes and not leading against instead of attempting to ride polls saying Democrats also want offshore drilling, but we will see if the walkback intensifies in the near term).
The media is beginning to attempt to imply the Administration was not on top of a crisis and began pulling quotes from the campaign where President Obama stated he would respond aggressively to crisises unlike President Bush and trying to link this to Katrina. That is overboard and way ahead of where we are at, but the CW will set in before you know it. Democrats better not let that happen, and they need to reinforce Republicans wanted more drilling and less regulation.
An interesting turn of events...
Again, I will add more if the breaking news alert is expanded.