As if news of an increasingly threatening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico isn’t bad enough on its own, we now get to revel in the inane plans to stop the spill conjured up by BP:
“British firm BP will make a second attempt this week to seal the oil well.
An attempt to drop a huge box on to the leak failed at the weekend and BP will now try to cap it with a smaller box.
The energy giant is also expected to try to plug the well using rubbish like tyres and golf balls,” (BBC 5/11/10)
And, for our added delight, we can also observe the child-like bickering of each responsible party (BP, Halliburton, Transocean), as they appeared before the Senate this morning, each of which apparently figures that their best course of action is to shift blame to someone else:
“The Deepwater Horizon rig that blew up in the Gulf of Mexico on 20 April was owned and operated by drilling firm Transocean, but leased by BP.
The head of BP America told the Senate hearing he had reason to believe a critical safety device called a blowout protector had been modified, reports news agency Reuters.
Lamar McKay also noted the 450-tonne device was owned by Transocean.
But Transocean’s boss said there was no reason to believe its blowout protector had been at fault, as he pointed the finger at BP.
“Offshore oil and gas production projects begin and end with the operator, in this case BP,” said chief executive Steven Newman.
He also pinned blame on the failure of a cement oil-well casing, built by BP contractor Halliburton.
But Halliburton executive Tim Probert argued his firm had followed all requirements set out by BP and industry practices.”
What amazes me is not the unique nature of this oil spill, or the originality of these executive’s techniques in front of a pissed-off Congress, rather, I’m amazed by the fact that Halliburton continues to get jobs while millions of Americans and thousands of other American businesses languish – I mean, if a group of scoundrels (KBR) that were oh so willing to defraud the government during a war are still being hired to do “honest” work, what hope is there for the American economy? Well, to refine that, what hope is there for the integrity of the American economy? And furthermore, why aren’t the tea partiers jumping down these bastard’s throats? For all of their outrage in the past year, they seem to blankly stare at the face of corporate corruption.
This example of the oil executive’s willingness to game the system, cover their asses and cut their losses shows how predominant laissez-faire remains within our country’s and government’s consciousness. It isn’t even a risk for these cats to put on a straight face and tell whatever version of the facts they wish, because they have extremely-well paid lawyers on their side who coach them in precisely how to best pull the blanket over Congress’ head. Its just like with Goldman Sachs recently. Where even though it was painfully obvious that the corporation’s lawyer had instructed their clients to stall, meander, play dumb and otherwise waste Congress’ (and the taxpayer’s) time, they stayed within the legal bounds of how one can lie under oath.
Congress and the American people know this to be the case. Sen. Susan Collins asserted during the Goldman Sachs hearing that she was certain the bank execs strategy was one of running out the clock. Today, Sen. John Barrasso reacts to BP, Halliburton and Transocean’s Congressional testimony as such, “”I hear one message – don’t blame me. Shifting the blame game doesn’t get us very far.”
We know these tactics to be tried and true for Corporate America, but we continue to give them a platform upon which to be upheld as honest and truthful, and our media continues to disseminate the corporate talking points impartially and under the guise that each news story has to have fair and balanced view points represented. This is not only frustrating as an observer and quasi-participant in the system, but as a human being. Corporations are not people and should receive no special treatment or deference, nor should the people who run corporations be upheld as inherently valuable or irreplaceable for that matter. Privilege should not beget priority in our system, but it often does.
The critical question in examining how our country can move beyond patronage is one that focuses on Congress: will they punish those whose transgressions befell enormous consequences for the larger population, or will they just as soon yield their own power to those with privilege?
