from the Guardian. This liberal publication accurately sees US-Anglo authorities scrambling to provide damage control to contain public anger resulting from the oil spill disaster in the Gulf. The effort, of course, is to contain the damage to BP and the oil industry as a whole, and certainly to head off any notions of a government expropriation of BP and any other oil companies.
In a world where every single minute of a president's time is accounted for, it is a huge investment of political capital. Obama's advisers hope the TV cameras and huge pool of White House reporters that follow his every movement will portray him as someone in control of the situation.
Even the World Soccer tournament match between England and the US is brought into damage control in this article. Yes, the blasted limeys have the gall to suggest that the goalie deliberately flubbed the ball to calm the anger of Americans! ;-)
Those who value Anglo-American relations should send a small (very small) bouquet to the fumbling Mr Green. The World Cup draw, one might say, has poured oil on troubled waters. The goal Robert Green let in is a salve to the American inferiority complex about English soccer (and maybe the English accent etc).