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On Good Morning America today, President Obama’s Interior Sec. Ken Salazar was questioned about criticism he received during a Congressional hearing for the federal government’s slow response to the Gulf Coast oil spill.  When asked about Rep. John Mica’s comments that the Department of the Interior failed to properly inspect the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, Salazar responded, “I think Congressman Mica should understand that this is not about finger-pointing. It's about solving an immediate problem.” 

If he thinks “this is not about finger-pointing,” though, Sec. Salazar needs to check in with his boss at The White House.  Since day one, the Obama administration has repeatedly resorted to finger pointing and passing the buck in their mismanaged attempt at resolving the tragic disaster in the gulf.  On April 29, President Obama came out swinging at BP saying the oil company was “responsible for this leak [and] will be paying the bill.”  Then, just last week, the President lambasted oil companies for what he called a “ridiculous spectacle,” even stating that he “will not tolerate more finger pointing or irresponsibility.”  

It turns out this aggressive PR campaign was nothing more than an attempt to redirect attention from his own administration’s culpability for events leading up to the catastrophic explosion.  As George Stephanopoulos points out in the interview, the Department of the Interior had provided BP with categorical exemptions that omitted them from closer vetting and even failed to inspect the rig as routinely as they had claimed.  The Interior’s Chief of Staff and Assistant Sec. of Fish and Wildlife and Parks, Tom Strickland, even went whitewater rafting with his wife days after the spill.

Considering the mounting evidence of his department’s mismanagement of the spill, Salazar’s and Obama’s concern over finger pointing must be on account of the fact that all the fingers are starting to point towards them.