In 1968, during the Vietnam War, Walter Cronkite was reported to have said the war was unwinnable. President Lyndon Johnson said to an aide, "If we've lost Walter, then we've lost the war."
If Barack Obama has lost James Carville, Chris Matthews, and Donna Brazile then his Presidency may be lost.
In the last week James Carville and Chris Matthews, whom the liberal "New York Magazine" called "normally unwavering Obama fanboys," both took shots at the President and his Administration for its inability and/or inattention to the BP oil spill which occurred on April 20 and which has been pouring oil into the Gulf of Mexico ever since.
According to Politico:
James Carville, a stalwart Obama defender, and Louisiana native, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Friday, "They are risking everything by this 'go along with BP' strategy they have that seems like, lackadaisical on this.
"They seem like they're inconvenienced by this, this is some giant thing getting in their way and somehow or another, if you let BP handle it, it'll all go away. It's not going away. It's growing out there. It is a disaster of the first magnitude, and they've got to go to Plan B."
Ouch.
Then Chris Matthews who was on Jay Leno to … I don't know why he was on Jay Leno other than the suits at NBC/Universal told Leno that he needed to throw a lifeline to Matthews who's MSNBC numbers have been in the tank since just after the tank was filled with water … said that Obama's response to the oil spill, "scares me. He's been acting a little like a Vatican Observer here. When is he actually going to do something?"
As I am the least sophisticated person in the room - in any room that I happen to be in - I have no what that "Vatican Observer" line means, but I'm pretty sure it's not a compliment.
James was a Hillary supporter during the primary season in 2008 but Donna Brazile was an Obama supporter. She is quoted in "The Hill" newspaper as saying,
"One of the problems I have with the [Obama] administration is that they're not tough enough. They are waiting for BP to say, 'oh, we've got a new plan to stop the oil leak.' They need to stop it, contain it, clean it up, and try to help us conserve our coastal wetlands," said Brazile, who is from New Orleans, on ABC's "This Week."
On Friday, at the regular press briefing, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs got smacked around by CBS' White House Correspondent Chip Reid as reported on the CBS website:
"They're [BP] not getting the job done," Reid told Gibbs. "Does the government just stand there as a spectator and hope for the best?"
"Chip, Chip, there's nothing that would denote that the federal government has stood there and hoped for the best," Gibbs said.
Gibbs says the Obama administration has been aggressive, prodding BP and "asking" it for more data and information.
"Why don't you order them to do it rather than ask them to do that?" Reid asked.
"Because you can't do that from a private company," Gibbs said.
"You took over AIG," one reporter said.
"Well we -- the company is largely in receivership," Gibbs said.
Oh, my. If we've lost Katie Couric we've lost, well, nothing but, let's move on.
Ok, who thinks the Obama Administration is screwing this up: Chris Matthews (NBC), James Carville (CNN), Donna Brazile (ABC), and Chip Reid (CBS). If that's not a rouge's gallery of right wingers, then I don't know what is.
Am I missing anyone? Oh, Fox.
What? Fox isn't jumping on Obama with both feet? They're giving him a pass? Does this mean we'll be seeing a round of one-on-ones with Obama and Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly?
According to Obama's most fervent defenders his Administration's reaction to the oil spill in the Gulf is an abomination - an Obama-Nation.