Obama Knew Early How Bad It Would Be

The White House knew from the start that the blown well would probably continue gushing into August and cause unprecedented environmental damage, reports Richard Wolfe of the Daily Beast. Carol Browner warned the president at one of the earliest briefings that it would be nearly impossible to temporarily cap the well. The story refutes the general notion that the White House was caught off guard by the scope of the problem and "might help explain the sense of fatalism that has infused Obama's team from the start," writes Wolfe.

The story also portrays White House officials as ticked off at James Carville because they see him as more interested in making a public spectacle than in helping find tangible solutions. The Coast Guard's Thad Allen reportedly phoned Carville after his first TV tirade, but Carville did not return the call.
(More Gulf oil spill stories.)