Oily Residue Covers President and Hayward

The two principal players in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill saga are vying for the title of "Most Incompetent." President Obama and British Petroleum CEO Tony Hayward have dithered, dallied and danced their way around one of the worst environmental disasters in modern times. As the drama drags on and on, the two leaders have done everything but lead. Their collective ineptitude is staggering.

Let's start with Hayward, BP's beleaguered chief executive officer. His performance has gone from bad to worse since the oil rig explosion on April 20 that killed 11 workers. He was practically invisible in the early days of the crisis. When the heat was turned up on BP, the jaunty Hayward told reporters all the criticism of his company's handling of the spill hadn't fazed him because he maintained a "stiff upper lip." Not exactly comforting words to a world waiting for answers.

Then Hayward proceeded to put both feet in his mouth. Asked by reporters about his schedule, he half-hearted complained the crisis had intruded on his life. That incensed the relatives of the workers killed in the explosion. Hayward may be burning the midnight oil, but their husbands and fathers were gone forever. It didn't play very well on the evening news.

That's when Hayward turned to a "crisis management" firm for help in buffing his image. Their recommendations were standard public relations fare: run a bunch of self-congratulatory ads on the clean-up efforts and use social media to tell the world about BP's laudable record for environmental protection. As the advertising broke, it was greeted with an unanimous chorus of boos from everyone, including the President. Hayward had blown another opportunity for leadership.

By comparison, Hayward actually comes off better than President Obama. Fearing a Katrina-like backlash, the President has made numerous appearances in the affected states and flown over the disabled oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The news footage has shown a deeply troubled president, his shirtsleeves rolled up as he examines the damage. He has looked the part of a leader. But that's where any similarities with leadership have ended.

Instead of putting the entire resources of the federal government and military at BP's disposal, Obama laid sole responsibility for stopping the leaking oil on BP's doorstep. He adopted a hands-off attitude. Then he named a retired Coast Guard admiral as the official government point man instead of a cabinet-level person with more clout.

As the crisis dragged on, Obama quickly resorted to name calling like a school yard bully. He said he was "angry and frustrated". A lynch mob mentality gripped the administration. Attorney General Holder skipped the formalities of due process and announced his office was preparing to file criminal charges against BP. Forget quaint ideas like innocent until proven guilty.

That started a feeding frenzy in Congress where committees began competing to see which one could launch hearings the fastest. Television coverage in an election year was just the tonic that senators and representatives needed to boost their flagging popularity with voters. The President called for BP to set up an escrow account to pay for damages. A figure of $20 billion was bandied about. Congress drafted a letter to Hayward essentially repeating the President's demands. Then the President upped the ante, saying he wasn't worried about BP's profitability.

That ticked off our friends in Britain. The Mayor of London called the "anti-British" rhetoric unseemly and urged cooler heads rather than name-calling. He complained that this "great British company is being continually beaten up on the airwaves." Meanwhile, there is a growing backlash against Prime Minister David Cameron's failure to intervene with Obama on behalf of the petroleum giant. That led to a hastily arranged telephone conversation between the leaders.

Despite all the words, the posturing and finger-pointing, oil continues to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. Every day brings a new promise of a fix. That is followed by another disappointment. The rhetoric ratchets up another notch, but solutions are as hard to find as effective leadership.

Instead of school yard bantering, Hayward and Obama should have met face-to-face on Day 2 of the spill, pledging all their collective resources to stop the well from spewing oil. They needed to present a united front to the public. A high-ranking government official, reporting to the President and Hayward, should have been tapped to lead the cleanup effort. Then the government and the oil industry should have mobilized all their resources and mapped a plan for best case and worst case scenarios.

Hayward should have left the cushy comfort of his offices in the United Kingdom and set up a BP crisis center in the gulf region. His on site directing of BP's efforts would have at least given the appearance that he was engaged and in charge. Instead he sought shelter in his offices across the pond. That didn't exactly inspire confidence.

For his part, the President spent all his energy haranguing BP, its CEO and the oil business in general. Apparently, his advisers think the public would rather hear him beat up on Big Business rather than actually solve the catastrophe. His sporadic flyovers along the Gulf Coast have been nothing more than PR stunts. Where are the town meetings with affected businesses that he has become so famous for? Perhaps, the President doesn't want to face the music.

Even worse, the President has turned a deaf ear to offers from other nations and oil industry businesses that have offered ships, oil dredging equipment, well-capping services and similar resources to help stem the leak. It is almost as if he would rather watch BP fail at any cost than lend a hand.

The two bumbling leaders have covered themselves in words while the crisis remains unchecked. According to the latest government estimates, 40 to 100 million gallons of oil have already gushed into the Gulf of Mexico. As the crisis has worsened, BP has lost $140 billion in stock market value as investors try to assess the forthcoming damage to the company's earnings. The President's approval ratings are sinking too as voters become more frustrated with the lack of progress.

Looks like it is a tie between Obama and Hayward for the "Most Incompetent" title. However, American voters and the board of British Petroleum will have the last word on their leadership performance. That can't be a comforting thought for either man.