RUSH: Remember the audio sound bites we had yesterday, James Carville all upset, a lack of response from Obama? Remember, this was yesterday morning on Good Morning America.
CARVILLE, MAY 26, 2010: The president of the United States coulda come down here. He could have been involved with the families of these 11 people. He coulda commandeered the — the — the things. They could be deploying people to the coast right now. He could be with the Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard with these people in Plaquemines Parish doing something about these regulations. These people are crying! They’re begging for something down here and he just looks like he’s not involved in this! Man, you got to get down here and take control of this, put somebody in charge of this thing and get this thing moving. We’re about to die down here!
RUSH: That was yesterday morning on Good Morning America. By last night, the tone had changed significantly. On Anderson Cooper 175, Anderson Cooper said, ‘The president, Mr. Carville, is coming on Friday. What does he need to see down there?’
CARVILLE, MAY 27, 2010: The president, if he comes down here and does this right, he’s going to see that people have not been candid with him, that BP has not been candid with him, that certain people on his staff and maybe people in his cabinet are not being candid with him. He needs to go investigate this and find out what it is, and when he does, I think we’re going to get a lot of action. I think it’s a man who cares.
COOPER: You think the president is not getting the real word of what’s happening here?
CARVILLE, MAY 27, 2010: I don’t think so. No, sir. It’s inexplicable that this man — as smart as he is, as talented as he is — would have the real world saw — we saw today and not be furious and not tell people to get into action now.
RUSH: Okay. So now he’s surrounded by a bunch of people that are lying to him. He’s surrounded by people are not telling him the truth. BP’s not being candid with him. ‘Certain people on his staff, maybe some people in his cabinet have not been candid with him. He needs to go investigate this and find out what it is and what he does we’ll get a lot of action. I think that’s a man who cares.’ By the way, that’s a media mantra. Let’s go back, we got a little montage here, grab sound bite number six. Short little montage here but this is the latest media mantra on Obama as they try to cover for his lack of concern about this.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX: This administration, A, cares about this.
CARVILLE: This is a man who cares.
PLAQUEMINES PARISH PRESIDENT: I truly believe he cares.
DIANA SAWYER: …to show that he cares.
DAVID GERGEN: President Obama clearly cares.
RUSH: Yes, he cares. Carville says (impression), ‘He cares a lot! The president, I know he cares but he’s being lied to down there. A lot of people not telling him the truth. Not being candid with him,’ and then here’s James Carville this morning. So in 24 hours it’s gone from, ‘Come on, man, get down here! You gotta take charge! The people are dying down here. You gotta do something about it,’ 24 hours later: It’s Bush’s fault.
CARVILLE, MAY 27, 2010: One thing I think the president needs to do and — and find out and I don’t know what — what the performance has been, but — but how would the MMS be operating without enhanced —
REPORTER: Mmmn!
CARVILLE, MAY 27, 2010: — without people knowing, without more investigations where they were this far into the administration? Now, I’m told that they tried to change it last July, they made some changes, but I would be — want to be satisfied that those in — changes were in line with what I believe to be the criminality of this that was going on during the Bush administration.
REPORTER: (snickers) Yeah! Huh.
CARVILLE, MAY 27, 2010: A lot of the — one of the things we have not done.
REPORTER: Yeah.
CARVILLE, MAY 27, 2010: A lot of this stuff started when — when the Bush people took over this MMS and made it an extension of the oil companies.
RUSH: All right, so MMS — run by an Obama acolyte from Harvard — was taken over by the Bush administration and turned into a criminal enterprise and basically just ‘an extension of the oil companies.’ So yesterday morning, Mr. Carville was all over the place, being critical of the president. (impression) ‘You gotta get down here, man! People are dying down here! I can’t believe this president is not coming down here to look at it! I can’t believe you’re not coming down here taking charge! Can’t believe it! Can’t believe it! Come on down here! You gotta get down here and do something, man! I can’t believe you’re not doing anything! Gotta get down here! People are dying down here,’ and now, ‘It’s Bush’s fault! You got criminal activity! The MMS, they just a — a extension of oil company!’ So clearly, clearly some people got hold of Carville. ‘What are you doing? What are you saying?’ It’s interesting that when it’s your backyard that is being hammered, in this case Louisiana, the way your perspective changes on things. But somebody obviously convince Mr. Carville his focus needed to change. Last night on CNN’s Situation Room Wolf Blitzer was talking to The Forehead, Paul Begala. Blitzer said, ‘Friday, the president’s going to go down there?’
BEGALA: It’s why a good mayor goes to a fire, right? The Mayor can’t put out the fire. It’s important to be there, uh, but also to agitate. I mean, you saw Governor Jindal again and again saying, ‘Give us an answer.’
RUSH: So Begala wants Obama to go down there and agitate, which is a reasonable suggestion because that’s what Obama does well. Obama agitates! He’s a community agitator. Mayors go down there, they can’t put out the fire. They’re all asking, ‘Where’s Obama?’ It’s fascinating to look at all this stuff before the press conference took place, and you can see the reaction from all sides in the State-Controlled Media. He wasn’t doing anything. He wasn’t engaged. He’s doing fundraisers. He didn’t go to the memorial service. He didn’t seem to care about any of this. He was just saying, ‘Plug the hole!’ He even said at the press conference, he got up today and his daughter said, ‘Daddy, did you plug the hole yet?’ He actually said that. He got up this morning and his little girl said to him, ‘Daddy, did you plug the hole?’
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I have a question. This just hit me. If you have to say the president cares, doesn’t it mean that there is a question about it? So all these media people, ‘I think the president cares, I think the president cares, he obviously cares.’ David Gergen: ‘The president clearly cares.’ Why do you have to even say that? It’s because it’s not obvious. It’s not obvious that he cares. So he’s having lunch with the Duke basketball team or a meeting with them, he’s having lunch with Bill, he’s going on vacation, all of this while the spill’s going on, while saying he’s on top of things and is directing all the efforts. I don’t think it’s out of bounds to ask the question, ‘Does he care?’ And the only reason I’m bringing this up is because all these other people are telling us that he does. They’re having to tell us, ‘It’s clear the president cares.’ Why say that? They’re saying that ’cause it looks like he doesn’t. It looks like this is not a priority to him. He had to call this press conference today to quell the notion that he doesn’t care about it. I think he cares, but I think he cares mostly about it as a political opportunity. He cares mostly about it as a means of slamming the oil industry again.