Obama compares BP spill to 9/11

Is that wise? The high point of Bush's presidency was his reaction to 9/11. It galvanized him and led to his Bullhorn Moment at Ground Zero. No matter how much you despised Bush, drawing comparisons between Obama's handling of this crisis with Bush's reaction to 9/11 can't be good for Obama. It also reminds us of how we're still faced with a major terrorism problem that he hasn't handled all that well either.

But what really is scary is this:

Obama — facing mounting criticism of his handling of the BP gusher, even from longtime allies — vowed to make a “bold” push for a new energy law even as the calamity continues to unfold. And he said he will use the rest of his presidency to try to put the United States on a course toward a “new way of doing business when it comes to energy.”

Bad idea.

When your impulse is to push for major new reform laws, after what we witnessed with Health Care, you just haven't learned your lesson. We have laws on the books that would have prevented this fiasco had they been enforced and followed. Adding new ones won't prevent another disaster, only make it more maddening when it fails.

Furthermore, it should be remembered that we allowed drilling at 5000 feet down because we have placed other, less risky oil reserves off limits. There are already more than 5000 operating offshore oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico that are critical to our economy. Abandoning oil before we have something to take its place would be a truly foolish and impetuous move.

UPDATE: After declaring the spill to be like 9/11, Obama went golfing. I don't begrudge him recreation, but does he have no sense at all?