In Blackworld, there are a whole lot of things that you don't discuss because doing so is the equivalent of touching the Third Rail on a railroad track: you're going to get shocked to death and it's usually not worth it.

There are two thoughts about the president's no show at the convention. One he's adhering to his avowed, cautious, goal of doing and saying nothing that belies his race neutral stance as the president of all the people.

In his televised address, President Obama again sternly warned that the nation must break its dependency on oil. He again called on Congress to pass an energy bill that would vastly expand our hunt for and use of alternative and renewable energy sources.

From the satellite images, the spill becomes a massive bruise on the skin of the earth, 4,000 square miles of blood pooling just below the surface; at sea level, a creeping, seeping elephantine toxic blob, antithetical to life, spreads into the wetlands and onto the shoreline consuming everything in its path.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell minced no words in a talk with ABC News. Powell said President Obama should muscle BP aside and move in with "decisive force." The general had one thing in mind, and that's a military type response to and seizure of the operation.

Beyond overseeing the crisis and ensuring that BP is deploying the necessary resources to stop the flow of oil and clean-up the damaged beaches and marshlands, there is precious little President Obama can do to clean up the mess.