In the latest attempt to prove the federal government is entirely incompetent, the U.S. Coast Guard decided to stop barges from cleaning up spilled crude from the Gulf of Mexico. Governor Bobby Jindal (R) of Louisiana had ordered the barges to start cleaning up the Gulf eight days ago.

After sitting idle for 24 hours and following pressure from Governor Jindal, the Coast Guard finally relented and allowed the barges to return to work. Why were they stopped in the first place?

“The Coast Guard came and shut them down,” Jindal said. “You got men on the barges in the oil, and they have been told by the Coast Guard, ‘Cease and desist. Stop sucking up that oil.’”…

But the Coast Guard ordered the stoppage because of reasons that Jindal found frustrating. The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble contacting the people who built the barges.

Oil is gushing into the Gulf, plant and animal life is severely threatened, we still don’t know the exact negative impact on the Gulf economy…and the Coast Guard is stopping oil-sucking barges until it can have a chat with the builders.

A Coast Guard representative told ABC News today that it shares the same goal as the governor.

“We are all in this together. The enemy is the oil,” said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Dan Lauer.

The Coast Guard only permitted the barges to continue their work after pressure from Jindal and imminent mainstream press coverage. The barges were working and the state-level competence was on course to make the incompetent Obama Administration look bad. It seems the federal government was more concerned with CYA than fighting the oil spill.