As much as I don't want to believe it, things in the Gulf are going pretty much as expected:
All emotion aside, if that's possible, you can understand why BP is doing as it's doing. They may be lousy at environmental protection or shutting off runaway oil wells but they do understand the world in which we find ourselves and they know how to make money and preserve capital.
They know down to the penny how much money they have paid to a large number of politicians from both parties. They have looked at what happened to Exxon when it came to actually paying for the Exxon Valdez disaster. I am sure they realize that one of the major parties wants to get rid of the EPA altogether. BP is looking at the situation and weighing the consequences of each and every action and what it boils down to is the best business decision for them is do whatever they want because, fuck all, they and the rest of corporate America have insured that there will be little or no consequence for corporate malfeasance. They know their shareholders will look the other way. They know that same day sales at their thousands of company owned gas stations is unaffected by the disaster and their lack of effective action. They know that their bought and paid for politicians might make bellicose speeches damning them to hell for the disaster but who won't, in the end, do anything about it. Finally, they know they have better and more lawyers than the any shrimper or oyster-man along the Gulf coast.
The hard truth is that companies like BP and all the rest have created a corporate oligarchy where the corporation is king. Look at the recent Supreme Court decision of campaign financing if you are in doubt. If you still question that reality then look at the true agenda behind the 'tea party' movement. The so called fight for 'individual rights' and 'small government' is in actuality a not so subtle effort to free businesses and corporations from any government oversight whatsoever and make the oligarchy complete. That's the way it is folks and other than a major class revolution I don't know how to do anything about it. We have no one to blame but ourselves. In our ever endless search for more, better, and shinier we have sold our souls to the devils and the contract is signed in blood. Oh! And that's not your blood but the blood of your children and their children.
The effort to stanch the vast oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was mired by setbacks on Monday as state and federal officials feuded with BP over its failure to meet deadlines and its refusal to stop spraying a toxic dispersant. The oil company had indicated that it could stem the flow of oil on Tuesday by trying a procedure known as a top kill, in which heavy fluid would be pumped into the well. But on Monday morning the company’s chief operating officer said the procedure would be delayed until Wednesday. At the same time, BP was locked in a tense standoff with the Environmental Protection Agency, which had ordered the company to stop using a toxic chemical dispersant called Corexit by Sunday. But BP continued spraying the chemical on Monday, despite the E.P.A.’s demand that it use a less toxic dispersant to break up the oil. The company told the agency that no better alternative was available.The EPA says stop and BP says fuck off. Let me explain, if I may, why BP thinks it can get away with this.
At a news conference Monday in Louisiana, state and federal officials continued to hammer BP over its response to the spill.
“BP in my mind no longer stands for British Petroleum — it stands for Beyond Patience,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. “People have been waiting 34 days for British Petroleum to cap this well and stop the damage that’s happening across the Gulf of Mexico.”
“What we need to tell BP,” he added, “is excuses don’t count anymore. You caused this mess, now stop the damage and clean up the mess. It’s your responsibility.”
All emotion aside, if that's possible, you can understand why BP is doing as it's doing. They may be lousy at environmental protection or shutting off runaway oil wells but they do understand the world in which we find ourselves and they know how to make money and preserve capital.
They know down to the penny how much money they have paid to a large number of politicians from both parties. They have looked at what happened to Exxon when it came to actually paying for the Exxon Valdez disaster. I am sure they realize that one of the major parties wants to get rid of the EPA altogether. BP is looking at the situation and weighing the consequences of each and every action and what it boils down to is the best business decision for them is do whatever they want because, fuck all, they and the rest of corporate America have insured that there will be little or no consequence for corporate malfeasance. They know their shareholders will look the other way. They know that same day sales at their thousands of company owned gas stations is unaffected by the disaster and their lack of effective action. They know that their bought and paid for politicians might make bellicose speeches damning them to hell for the disaster but who won't, in the end, do anything about it. Finally, they know they have better and more lawyers than the any shrimper or oyster-man along the Gulf coast.
The hard truth is that companies like BP and all the rest have created a corporate oligarchy where the corporation is king. Look at the recent Supreme Court decision of campaign financing if you are in doubt. If you still question that reality then look at the true agenda behind the 'tea party' movement. The so called fight for 'individual rights' and 'small government' is in actuality a not so subtle effort to free businesses and corporations from any government oversight whatsoever and make the oligarchy complete. That's the way it is folks and other than a major class revolution I don't know how to do anything about it. We have no one to blame but ourselves. In our ever endless search for more, better, and shinier we have sold our souls to the devils and the contract is signed in blood. Oh! And that's not your blood but the blood of your children and their children.
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