B.O. ~ He said, “Yes we can…”

Like most Americans who proudly watched our nation’s man of hope and change deliver his election winning speech in Chicago back in November 2008—I’m disappointed.

We all remember the tear streaked faces of his most ardent supporters who braved the chilly November night in Grant Park.

They stood shoulder to shoulder to hear a newly elected Mr. Obama give the first of his now famous 10th-grade level speeches—a speech that he punctuated with his trademarked line, “Yes, we can.”

A “line” the crowd repeated like hypnotized drones for the entire seventeen minute speech.

While Americans have reluctantly had to accept the excuses for his failures over the last eighteen months--the BP blowout has been Mr. Obama’s first real world test at leading this nation out of a disaster occurring on his watch.

This catastrophe and lack of response has proven there’s no leadership at the top, no leadership in the middle and no substance in the agency staffing at the bottom of the Obama administration.

The administration’s critical failure has been “since day one” when it was discovered that a mandated piece of equipment—an oil fire boom—was not owned by the government agency responsible for a quick response.

When the leadership of the responsible agencies finally surfaced eight days after the deaths of eleven men—they made the rounds on the Sunday morning news shows in a media mop up of their mess by reassuring the nation they’d been on top of the event “since day one.”

You’ll notice that since that weekend of them eating their feet on television--which was followed by a couple of brief appearances on the Gulf Coast—the DHS, DOI and EPA heads have been relatively unseen—swept into the closet to allow the President to appear and “take control.”

That control, or lack of it, was readily apparent in the speech delivered from the Oval Office last Tuesday night.

In using the Oval Office, a setting reserved to deliver only the most important of messages to the American people—Obama chose to redeliver his politically motivated eco-agenda and eliminated any leadership or solutions in his message to those in peril along the Gulf Coast.

His words were as empty as his suit.

In the weeks prior to the BP blowout, Mr. Obama admitted to our nation that the responsible agencies under his leadership, were incapable of responding to a terrorist driven nuclear attack of any size—and the BP oil spill reaffirmed our national level of preparedness to be weak at best.

What Obama’s proven good at is convening divisive committees who argue party lines, filing lawsuits, and layering bureaucracy so thick that nothing—I repeat NOTHING--can be done without pain to save our Gulf Coast.

In my opinion—it’s by design—to allow him to push his Obama “green economy” and his unaffordable cap-and-trade bill—-in other words, his agenda.

What better way to win the hearts and minds of the Grant Park “Yes-we-can” Club, than with pictures of oily beaches, oily dead birds and the oil-broken lives of ruined people?

The real leadership in the Gulf has proven to be the locals—just watch Governor Bobby Jindal or Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nunguesser during their interviews—they have a plan, they want to act and instead of helping lead—the President and his henchmen and women are in the way, purposely.

I wonder if those same tear streaked faces of the Grant Park group are watching the heartbreak along the Gulf Coast from their air conditioned living rooms—where are the Hollywood stars, the Jesse’s, the Al’s, the Oprah’s—they’ve been incredibly silent since April 20th.

Perhaps the multitudes who stood there in Grant Park and were so moved to mimic the chant, have realized what many of us knew before they voted for him—when it comes to leading us and our nation, through this or any other major disaster—“No, he can’t.”

The Fisherman's Wife...a voice from the bayou

Monday, May 25th I took the opportunity to reach out to one of the many people already affected by BP PLC’s oil spill who has made comments on my blog via Facebook.

Our emails became a couple of candid phone calls that have given me insight and a “voice” from within this disaster.

Respecting my new found friend’s fears of corporate retribution--against her husband, the Captain of a 65’ fishing boat currently at sea under contract with BP—I’ve chosen to identify her only as--the fisherman’s wife.

The fisherman’s wife is a native of the bayou with that certain most unmistaken drawl of Louisiana. She’s also a mother who like most American moms is involved with her kids in Little League and school--and like many of my friends whose lives depend on the sea—she’s sturdy and steadfast.

“I just wanna share for a minute, as some of you know I'm taking this crisis with BP and spreading the word to everyone I can. We are all frustrated, saddened, and growing impatient."—the fisherman’s wife

“Frustrated, saddened and growing impatient.” Her words reflect that of everyone on the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida—and with any hopes, in Washington, D.C.

The fisherman’s wife explained to me that after BP’s attempt to get the fishermen to sign “Indemnity and Hold Harmless Waivers” was “thrown out by a Federal judge”, her family’s boat along with those of many others was contracted by the $92 million dollar-a-day earning BP to go deploy oil booms at wages that equal “good money in the off season” to the fishermen.

Unfortunately, May/June in the Gulf of Mexico is not the “off season”.

BP’s DHR Vessels of Opportunity website states “crews on vessels scheduled for day-work will receive eight hours of pay and crews on vessels scheduled to perform nighttime operations will be paid for 12 hours of work. If vessels are scheduled and are not used, the day rate will still be paid.” The website doesn’t give exact figures, but says the daily rates are based on the vessel’s length.

“This is a disaster that is going to do what no hurricane has ever done. The oil spill damage we face is one thing, the lack of interest and nonsupport is another. If I've learned nothing else in the years I've lived here it's that the people of our community are resilient, determined, hardworking, heartfelt people.”—the fisherman’s wife

The shrimpers, crabbers and fishermen of the Parrish all answered the call, as have many others along the Gulf Coast. Only a few of the many were hired.

Two weeks ago, the men gathered the required personal protective gear, fueled and provisioned their boats—with money out of their own pockets—before gathering in a circle on the docks to say a prayer.

They then set off to do battle in the rough oily waters of the Gulf of Mexico in a Hail Mary attempt at saving their fishing grounds, their livelihoods and their neighborhoods.

Those who stayed behind to “hold down the fort” were given BP’s Claims Hotline phone number, BP’s online claims website, and individual claims account numbers to prove they’ve filed.

“It’s like going to the IRS. They don’t make nothing easy. The want proof of everything. How big is your boat? How long have you been fishing? What do you fish for? How much have you earned in the past? What did you expect to earn this year? They make you feel as if you’ve done something wrong for making a claim.”—the fisherman’s wife

Instead of seeing checks, the people of Louisiana have seen organized chaos. One quote from the fisherman’s wife’s Facebook page says that one Captain is “catching hell” in the confusion of working with BP off Grand Isle.

“That will not change! We have a saying called "Cajun ingenuity" and it's time we show it. We need to take charge, complaining is not getting results, we need to step up and do this.”

“We need to show up in our shrimp boots and gloves and start placing boom, we need to walk into our officials offices and TELL, not ask them what we want, we need to demand in person what BP needs to do here, and out there for our fishermen. My heart goes out to each of you and I know we are all praying.”--the fisherman’s wife

The fishermen that live, and work in the Gulf know those waters better than any corporate “suit” yet they’re being restricted on where they can work, what they can do, and how they can do it--and they’ve been silenced from sharing their experiences--being told “not to be within a mile of the media”.

Many in the Parrish have not seen their loved ones since they left. Ship to shore communications with family members have been sparse sparing the occasional cell phone call “when they can get service on the boats”, VHF radio messages relayed via neighbors and for some, satellite phones that are costly to operate.

There’s no way to bring the boats back to port because the hulls are contaminated with oil. BP promised “car wash type deal” that was to be used to decontaminate the vessels at sea, but that has not materialized either, and there’s no telling of what the long term effects of the oil will do to the boat hulls.

“For now we’ve been depending on each other and Kim and David at Mariah Jade Shrimp Company, they’ve made things happen. Kim’s been organizing what BP doesn’t seem to be able to do and David has been helping get groceries, fuel and transportation for the guys that need to come to shore. Her boats and her sons are out there working the oil too. They’ve organized, delivered and continue everyday to get things done.”

"We are voicing our concerns that seem to be in vain. Some of us our concerned about what the oil spill will to to our fishing economy, others our communities,or ecosystem and wildlife. Regardless of whatever our fears and anger is for,we will all be affected."—the fisherman’s wife

“We will all be affected.” Truer words have never been spoken and they’re not in vain, they're those of--the fisherman's wife.