I was listening last night to two guys on talk radio debating Obama's absence at the Memorial for the 11 workers on the rig who died.

Personally I think he should have made an appearance. It would have been a nice gesture.

What do you guys think?

Were they taking up donations to his re-election campaign?

When was the memorial? Was he busy?> He can't be everywhere.

I don't know when it was. I just heard them talking about the fact that he wasn't there. I don't think he had to be there, I just think it would have been a nice gesture.

If he was totally indifferent about it, at least showing up would have helped his image with the people down there....could have used it as a political move. Wouldn't be the first time a politician did something like just for the image sake.

I was just curious what everyone else thought

Of course it would have been a nice gesture, but don't we have a country that need to be run? I am sure he is not setting in the oval office playing solitaires.

I have a gesture for him, but it isn't so nice...

If he chooses to go on a family vacation rather than honoring our military on Memorial Day, I think showing up at this memorial service would be a really bad political move.

^ that was a bad move

Were they taking up donations to his re-election campaign?

Enough with the gestures & PR. Get the job done, BHO.

I knew he was an empty suit since his debates with Alan Keyes.

Bush was about the same. Plenty of photo ops at Walter Reed with amputees but he still insisted on Miranda-like rights for Iraquis as these same young men went house to house searching for the enemy. To add insult to injury he allowed the prosecution of young Marines who didn't follow the letter of the law & instead used common sense to survive (same thing with his legal persecution of border guards doing their jobs).

^

All true.

So, bloody, what you're basically saying is that Idi Amin Jr. is pretty much Bush 43 redux?

It was always planned that way.

Status quo rules the day once again!

were the execs from BP there?

Thats a good question....I dont know. Like I said, I just heard two guys debating Obama and him not showing up and was curious what others thoughts were about that

Were they taking up donations to his re-election campaign?

#1 C'mon. He shows up there, and an equal number of people would bitch about how he's using the site and disaster for personal gain, to boost opinion poll ratings.

One thing that any, and I mean ANY president can expect is that whatever he or she does, someone will bitch incessantly that it should have been done a different way.

I have thought long and hard about whether or not it would be an appropriate gesture for the President to show his face at the memorial for the lost oil men.

And I decided that I don't give a ****.

(which was my first impression......I should have known better than to second guess myself).

While the BP oil geyser pumps millions of gallons of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama and members of Congress may have to answer for the millions in campaign contributions they’ve taken from the oil and gas giant over the years.

BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals.

On top of that, the oil giant has spent millions each year on lobbying — including $15.9 million last year alone — as it has tried to influence energy policy.

During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.

politico