I don't know if it's so much a lack of intellectual honesty as it is a misguided instance of public appeasement.

The public keeps crying for the president to do something, but there's absolutely nothing he can do at this point. This isn't a natural disaster like a hurricane, it's an industrial accident through negligence. Therefore, it's industry's responsibility to fix it.

The most the president can honestly do right now is start the process to investigate what happened in order to develop policies to prevent similar disasters in the future. In other words, more corporate regulation and oversight.

Speaking of an industrial accident causing an ecological disaster, is this a good time to talk about tort reform again?