TPMDC Thad Allen
Gulf Coast Oil Spill
Thad Allen Dishes On Oil Spill: Sparring With The Press, BP And Nuking The Well
U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, National Incident Commander
Remember when people thought it might a good idea to nuke the well at the height of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico this summer?
Yeah, that was never gonna happen. But not for lack of interest.
So says retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the man who ran the government response to the devastating spill. Allen addressed an audience at the Center For Strategic and International Studies in Washington Tuesday evening, where he laid out the trials and tribulations of being the public face of the efforts to clean up the largest ecological disaster in US history. One of those trials, Allen said, was trying to explain why a military designed to fight wars didn't have the right equipment to stop an oil spill.
"I had many, many conversations about why the Department of Defense wasn't brought in to solve this problem," he said. "I got asked at least on five occasions throughout the course of this thing why we didn't think about using a nuclear weapon on the well, ok?"
The uncomfortable truth, Allen said, was that the only people who had the equipment to stop the oil spill were the companies that pull the oil out of the ground in the first place.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: BP, Gulf Coast Oil Spill, Thad Allen
Roundup
TPMDC Sunday Roundup
Boehner: BP 'Should Be Held Responsible For Every Dime'
Appearing on This Week, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said that he would support completely lifting the liability cap on the oil spill for BP. "Absolutely," said Boehner. "They should be held responsible for every dime of this cost."
Hoyer: GOP is 'Holding Up Lifting The Cap In The Senate'
Also on This Week, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) shot back at Boehner. "First of all, the Republicans have been holding up lifting the cap in the Senate from the $75 million, minuscule sum, as we see, to $10 billion," said Hoyer, who also cast blame on the Bush administration for years of lax regulation: "The psychology of neglect in terms of regulatory oversight that was pursued in the Bush administration, which led to the banking failure, insurance prices going way up, and oil companies thinking they could do whatever they wanted because the "drill, baby, drill" crowd, all they wanted them to do was to drill."
Topics: 2010 elections, BP, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Bob Riley, CA-SEN, Carly Fiorina, Charlie Crist, David Axelrod, FL-SEN, Gulf Coast Oil Spill, John Boehner, Oil Spill, Roundup, Steny Hoyer, Thad Allen
Sunday Shows
The Sunday Show Line-Ups
U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, National Incident Commander
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Adm. Thad Allen, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).
• CBS, Face The Nation: Adm. Thad Allen, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL).
• CNN, State Of The Union: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), Sen. David Vitter (R-LA).
• Fox News Sunday: Adm. Thad Allen, Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS), Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren.
• NBC, Meet The Press: Will not air, due to coverage of the French Open.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: BP, Bill Nelson, David Vitter, Gulf Coast Oil Spill, Haley Barbour, Israel, Israel/Palestine, Jim Webb, John Cornyn, John Kerry, Michael Oren, Mike Mullen, Oil Spill, Sunday Shows, Thad Allen
Roundup
TPMDC Sunday Roundup
Cornyn: Rand Paul Did 'The Right Thing' Canceling Meet The Press Appearance
Appearing on Meet The Press, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (R-TX) said: "Well, Dr. Paul's new to running for public office, and I think it's Bob's [Menendez] experience, I'm sure my experience, that you see novice candidates occasionally stumble on questions. I think he's clarified his position. But I think he's done the right thing. As much fun as this is, David [Gregory], to be here with you, I think he needs to be talking to the voters back in Kentucky, the people who actually will be able to cast a ballot on whether he's elected as the next United States senator or not."
Palin: Media Seizing An Opportunity To Get Rand Paul Like They Did Me
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Sarah Palin defended Senate nominee Rand Paul (R-KY) over his comments opposing portions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, saying that the media was out to get him in the same way they targeted herself: "One thing that we can learn in this lesson that I have learned and Rand Paul is learning now is don't assume that you can engage in a hypothetical discussion about constitutional impacts with a reporter or a media personality who has an agenda, who may be prejudiced before they even get into the interview in regards to what your answer may be -- and then the opportunity that they seize to get you."
Topics: BP, Civil Rights Act, John Cornyn, KY-SEN, Michael Steele, Oil Spill, Rand Paul, Richard Blumenthal, Robert Gibbs, Roundup, Sarah Palin, Sunday Shows, Thad Allen, Tim Kaine
Sunday Shows
The Sunday Show Line-Ups
Attorney General Eric Holder
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Attorney General Eric Holder, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R).
• CBS, Face The Nation: Senior White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Adm. Thad Allen.
• CNN, State Of The Union: Senior White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL).
• Fox News Sunday: Senior White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Rep. Peter King (R-NY).
• NBC, Meet The Press: Attorney General Eric Holder.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Bill Nelson, Chris Dodd, Eric Holder, Joe Lieberman, John Brennan, Peter King, Richard Shelby, Sunday Shows, Thad Allen
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