What would a real leader do?  This is a question that must be plaguing the Obama Administration right now because they are feeble in their attempts to control the damage caused by that oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.  From all indications this administration is filled with leftist policy wonks who are completely comfortable when they are asked to criticize the country or members of the Republican Party but they are ill-equipped to handle a real problem.   President Obama gives the impression that the leak is an inconvenience to him.  It is interrupting his ability to enjoy the perquisites of his office. 

President Obama, a real leader might do the following:

1. James Carville is right, you should travel to New Orleans to demonstrate that this is a priority to the people who live there and those who must work night and day to resolve this economic and ecological disaster.
2. Appoint someone to be in charge of the problem.  That person should be accountable for what he/she does and must not be a politician.   A petroleum engineer, a geologist, someone who knows and understands the currents of the Gulf of Mexico and who can weigh the cost of delay or of doing nothing should be assigned responsibility.  Hire a Project Manager.    
3. The Project Manager must be empowered to delegate both responsibility and authority to at least three people.
   1. A manager empowered to resolve the oil leak.
   2. A manager empowered to handle the cleanup
   3. A manager empowered to protect the coast.
4. Manager A should logically be an engineer from British Petroleum.  It is their well and they must be assumed to be the experts on how to resolve a problem of this nature.  You aren't expected to know how to do this and neither does anyone in your Administration.   People who can calculate the physics involved of a gushing oil reserve and who know the equipment and technologies that are available to work the problem need to handle the problem.     
5. Manager B must understand the Gulf currents and be able to identify a means to burn/collect/destroy the growing oil slick on the surface and under the surface of the Gulf.  Perhaps the Coast Guard would be best utilized here.  This person and the entire group must be insulated from environmentalist pressures and be willing to make hard choices.  
6. Manager C must be empowered to take measures to protect the coast.  He/she must control multiple teams of individuals, some with the responsibility to protect coastal lands and others responsible for protecting wildlife and the delicate marshlands.  This may involve the Army Corps of Engineers, private companies and volunteers.  

There is no question but that these three managers will butt heads on many occasions but they must be able to act independently while keeping the Project Manager informed.  When they do butt heads it would be the job of the Project Manager to resolve issues at regular meetings.  Further, they must be able to control their portion of the overall project and have full power over men and equipment assigned roles.  The Project Manager must keep these groups in synch and working together, not against each other.  

These cannot be figureheads.  These people must be the best and brightest available and no concern can be given to whether an individual with a stellar reputation for ocean currents, oil leaks or marine engineering has a less than stellar reputation on some controversial topic of the day.  It cannot matter whether a marine scientist is a bigot, a sexist or a bore.  Is he/she our best resource is the only concern. 

Manager C must manage many smaller teams of volunteers and ecologists.  This must be treated as an emergency and the President must grant this group the ability to by-pass the EPA or any other regulatory commission and simply do what is prudent.  If this means dredging sand from the floor of the Mississippi Delta and building barrier islands to keep the oil from the marshlands, let Bobby Jindal do it.  Managers A, B and C are there to manage, not to do.  They must set policy and approve plans.   They must let their teams execute these plans with the full support all the way to the president.  

Note, there is no reference in this to the assignment of blame?   None.  This is neither the time to assess blame nor to solicit or deny credit.   If the work of this team is successful there is enough credit to go around and all can bask in that credit, Democrat and Republican alike.   If someone has a good idea, it cannot be ignored because of its source.  It must be weighed and if it looks good, accepted.  The individual and the team can be recognized at a dinner in Washington next year.   Right now the only concern is stopping the flow of oil and protecting the coast and the marine life.

I was particularly disheartened when I heard that Ken Salazar's first response from New Orleans was to assign blame and indicate that his boot was on the neck of BP executives.   This is the wrong message to send.  It is adversarial.  We must be in a partnership to fix this problem.  Secondly, until this leak is plugged and the cause of the explosion can be scientifically determined, we don't really know who is to blame or who should pay for economic damages to the area.   Leave that for the forensic engineers and attorneys to sort out later.  Let's get the horse back in front of the cart and leave all the posturing for a later date.   Let's manage this problem.