Washington ? First he was going to make BP pay for the Gulf oil mess. Then he declared himself in charge. Now he’s trying to find out “whose ass to kick” and making clear he’d fire BP’s chief if only he could.

President Barack Obama is talking ever tougher as the Gulf oil spill crisis drags on, the public’s patience wears thin and the peril to his presidency increases. With pressure building on Obama to fix the crisis, the White House said he’ll be heading back to the scene, spending next Monday and Tuesday inspecting oil damage in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

Obama’s salty comments broadcast on NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday raised questions about his escalating anger and angst — are they real or calculated for political effect?

Long viewed as a political positive, Obama’s unflappable temperament may be working against him now. Despite his claims of being on top of things from Day One, Obama has come under fire even within his own party, accused of being slow to recognize the political danger of the spill and for appearing somewhat detached.

“I think it’s hard for him to get angry. His anger obviously is motivated by the fact that there’s increasing anger in the country,” said Thomas E. Cronin, a political scientist at Colorado College and co-author of a book “The Paradoxes of the American Presidency” that examines how difficult it is for presidents to live up to expectations.