WashPo, By Jonathan Capehart | May 27, 2010; 2:30 PM ET

"Obama didn't know MMS chief resigned?!

Let me get this straight. President Obama didn't known whether Elizabeth Birnbaum, the once invisible and now former head of the Minerals Management Service, was fired or whether she resigned? The news broke she was leaving an hour or so before he strode into the East Room of the White House. When a disaster such as the BP explosion happens and the subsequent catastrophe ensues, folks want to see heads roll and want to know the president wielded the ax. That's why Obama's admission that he was clueless on this question was shocking.

Perhaps he was being polite. Not wanting to draw attention to the sacking of an individual the American people didn't realize was even there. But by not proactively announcing Birnbaum's departure and then being caught flat-footed on what happened to her, Obama will fuel the narrative that he is a cool chief executive who is not only aloof but also unaware of the machinations of his own administration.

"The federal government is fully engaged," the president said at the conclusion of the press conference. "I am fully engaged." His ignorance of what happened to the MMS chief undercuts that assertion. "