Gone to the dogs.

Mitt Romney* in USA Today:

...
So far, it has been the CEO of BP who has been managing the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The president surely can't rely on BP — its track record is suspect at best: Its management of this crisis has been characterized by obfuscation and lack of preparation. And BP's responsibilities to its shareholders conflict with the greater responsibility to the nation and to the planet.

The president must personally lead the effort to solve the crisis. He cannot delegate this quintessential responsibility of his presidency in the way he delegated the stimulus bill, the cap-and-trade bill and the health care bill. It may be an instance of learning on the job, but it is a job only he can do.

The first rule of turnarounds is to focus time, energy and resources on what matters most. The president simply cannot treat this crisis like another of his many problems. The oil disaster could hurt millions of families, slam the regional economy, kill untold numbers of non-human lives and irreparably damage the planet. Among other things, he must not hold more rock concerts at the White House...

Finding fault is easier than finding answers. And worse, it paralyzes many of the very people who may be needed to solve a crisis. When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast states, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco went on the attack; Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour went to work. His state's recovery is textbook; hers is not.

President Obama's instigation of criminal investigations of BP at this juncture is classic diversion politics — and worse, it will engender bunker mentality at a time when collaboration and openness are most critical. BP's actions and inactions are reprehensible; it must be made to pay the billions upon billions of dollars that this spill will ultimately cost. But call out the phalanx of lawyers later — solve the crisis today.

The president can learn a good deal from the crisis leadership of men and women in government and in business. Giuliani is a notable example, but so too are Washington, Adams, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Reagan and Kennedy. In a time of national crisis, we look to our president to acknowledge, as Harry Truman did, that it is at his desk where the buck stops.

And even at Day 52, it's better late than never.

* Remember Mitt? He'd been brought up in political circles, learning it as the family business, even had a bit of executive experience under his belt leading a liberal state and salvaging the Salt Lake City Olympics business plan.

Why'd we discount him again? Oh yeah. Bad pet parenting practices 30 years ago, when he put the dog carrier atop the car because there was no room in the station wagon on the family vacation...

Wonder why all those columnists who became so protective, in retrospect, at the treatment of Seamus the Irish setter, weren't screeching too, in retrospect, that he dared take that vacation with all those boys unbuckled in the back. Where is the sense, retrospectively, of safety norms? Good thing Seamus -- and the boys -- survived such a cruel, cruel family vacation planned by das kruel father leader, eh?