Huffington Post editorializes:

By contrast, one suspects the American public would be much happier if Allen — or Obama, for that matter — simply said: No, we don’t trust BP. They have proven they are not to be trusted. We have no choice but to work with them, but we are making it clear in every interaction that their assertions are being verified, their facts are being double-checked, their motives are suspect, and we are the ones setting the priorities, not they.

The Admiral’s mistake is being tone-deaf to politics; he’s a commander of ships at sea. Besides, the Coast Guard has ordered BP to step up the cleanup:

The dispute escalated on the same day that ominous new signs of the tragedy emerged on the beaches of Alabama. Waves of unsightly brown surf hit the shores in Orange Beach, leaving stinking, dark piles of oil that dried in the hot sun and extended up to 12 feet from the water’s edge for as far as the eye could see.

Arianna says that Obama is “still not in charge.” She’s right: Obama is holding a big meeting next Thursday at which he will announce his decisions about the milkshake. Call it his “second inaugural.” Prediction: wingnuts will scream. (Yes, that’s a safe bet, I know, but you get my point.) After that meeting, the future of the milkshake and cleanup costs will be clarified. So will be the chain of responsibility.

In other words: the president will once again grab the ball from the center. The Republicans are leaving the middle wide open again.

And those aren’t tar balls washing up on Alabama’s sugar-white shores. Those are the wreckage of conservatism.