And, In Other News...

We are now 60 days into the fiasco in the Gulf of Mexico. Two full months have passed, and oil is still gushing from a mile beneath the sea. I am bewildered by the fact that BP doesn’t (never did?) have realistic, researched and practiced methods to stop what they started. And the techniques they’ve tried, to date, seem so rudimentary in comparison to the high technology needed to initially drill.

I ascertain that BP executives formulated their ideas to stop the gusher, by consulting with kindergartners, with names like Top Hat and Top Kill (Dr. Seuss, for sure). From this dog’s perspective, that scenario plays out more truly than the visual of a boardroom, full of stuffed shirt stiffs, headed by Hayward.

I can hear it now: “Mr. Hayward, the handful of untested schemes we’ve tried, have not been successful in quelling our tiny spill.” And, in complete earnest, Tony the Tiger responds; “I am shocked that the top hat and cane didn’t work. Or the cut and paste. Or the assassin in a beret. When I played with those concepts on my etch-a-sketch, they seemed flawless. New idea’s anyone?”

A bloated (possibly gout-ridden), BP executive chimes in with, “I have a brilliant hypothesis! I think, if we stuff the pipe with garbage and concrete, and maybe even some golfballs, we can plug the leak. It’s a sure thing, I tell you!”. Dear readers, this is where everyone in the room should howl with laughter, right? I mean, that is pretty darned funny and outrageous, and humor is a good way of diffusing a tense moment. But, no! This was one of the real solutions provided by the experts running BP.

Yes, friends, my fantasy scenario happened last month, when we were weeks into the “spill”. We are now at the two month mark, and no better solutions have come from the corporation(s) that caused this travesty.

I was titillated watching the BP executives yesterday, most notably Mr. Hayward, squirming under Congress’s interrogation. There is some comfort in knowing they will pay for their crimes against the U.S. and the environment, but that does little to rectify the damage already done, not to mention the oil flood has not ceased.

As the hearings progressed, I was really feeling fed-up with Mr. Hayward’s blanket answer of “I don’t recall”. It appeared that most of Congress was feeling as I was, until the tedium was broken by one Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tx). God bless his greedy, heartless little soul! Rep. Barton sure perked up the room when, with complete resolve and confidence, he apologized to the offender! Un-freaking-believable, even to this savvy pup!

Mr. Barton was voted into office by the people of Texas, not the executives at BP, Transocean, or Halliburton. Yet, his loyalties clearly lie with big oil, defending their big mistake and big profits, not with the people of the big state of Texas. What is the disconnect with Republicans from southern states?

Dear readers, this week we have heard; BP’s Chairman of the Board (that Swedish cat with the aristocratic name) identify the Gulf Coast residents as “small people”. Barton defend big oil, and in the same breath vilify our President and administration. CEO Hayward giving zero tangible answers. And, in the other news...the oil continues to erupt into the Gulf...