Obama's Modesty: At Least I Never Said 'Drill, Baby, Drill'

During his press conference today on the BP oil spill, President Obama claimed "responsibility" to stop the leak, but he couldn't resist taking a shot at his immodest political opponents who had uttered phrase "drill, baby, drill."

After announcing a six-month moratorium on new wells and that he was shutting down 33 deep-water wells pending review, President Obama was asked if he regretted his decision just weeks before the oil rig explosion to allow expanded off-shore drilling.

Obama replied: "I continue to believe what I said at that time, which was that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall energy mix." But, Obama acknowledged, "where I was wrong was in my belief that the oil companies had their act together when it came to worst- case scenarios."

He went on to make a "broader point" about energy policy:

The fact that oil companies now have to go a mile underwater and then drill another three miles below that in order to hit oil tells us something about the direction of the oil industry. Extraction is more expensive, and it is going to be inherently more risky. And so that's part of the reason you never heard me say, "Drill, baby, drill," because we can't drill our way out of the problem. It may be part of the mix as a bridge to a transition to new technologies and new energy sources, but we should be pretty modest in understanding that the easily accessible oil has already been sucked up out of the ground.

Nevermind that there's a place called ANWR--where it's much safer to drill--that Obama wants to keep off limits. And nevermind that those calling for more domestic drilling back in 2008 made the exact same argument as Obama does today--that drilling is just part of the "overall energy mix" and we need to get more energy from other sources, such as nuclear power. What's important is that, although he came around to the same policy position on drilling off-shore as Sarah Palin just weeks prior to the disaster, Obama is much too "modest"--if he does say so himself--to ever say anything as mindless as "drill, baby, drill."