President Barack Obama on Friday at the White House.

Washington ? Declaring himself as angry as the rest of the nation, President Barack Obama assailed oil drillers and his own administration Friday as he ordered extra scrutiny of drilling permits to head off any repeat of the sickening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Engineers worked desperately to stop the leak that’s belching out at least 210,000 gallons of crude a day.

As Louisiana wildlife officials reported huge tar balls littering a beach, BP PLC technicians labored to accomplish an engineering feat a mile below the water surface. They were gingerly moving joysticks to guide deep-sea robots and thread a mile-long, 6-inch tube with a rubber stopper into the 21-inch pipe gushing oil from the ocean floor.

It’s the latest scheme to stop the flow after all others have failed, more than three weeks since the oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers and set off the disastrous leak.

Obama, whose comments until now have been measured, heatedly condemned a “ridiculous spectacle” of oil executives shifting blame in congressional hearings and denounced a “cozy relationship” between their companies and the federal government.

“I will not tolerate more finger-pointing or irresponsibility,” Obama said in the White House Rose Garden, flanked by members of his Cabinet.

“The system failed, and it failed badly. And for that, there is enough responsibility to go around. And all parties should be willing to accept it,” he said.

Obama’s tone was a marked departure from the deliberate approach and mild chiding that had characterized his response since the huge rig went up in flames April 20 and later sank 5,000 feet to the ocean floor. Then came the leaking crude, the endangered wildlife, the livelihoods of fishermen at risk.

The magnitude of the disaster has grown clearer by the day and with it the apparent need for a presidential response to choke off any comparison to the Bush administration’s bungled handling of Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama had been growing increasingly frustrated with the situation, and the congressional hearings hardened that sentiment and prompted the president’s more forceful tone Friday.