Roger Ebert: BP's Tree Fell On My Lawn

[Hissyspit]

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/07/bps_tree_fell_on_my_lawn.html

BP's tree fell on my lawn

By Roger Ebert on July 25, 2010 8:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Help me out here. There's something I've been spending a couple of months trying to get my head around. Why does BP enjoy such a peculiar immunity after having apparently been culpable in the Gulf oil spill? What is the nature of its invisible protective shield?

All I know is what you know. Like most other ordinary citizens, I try to keep up the best that I can with the news. I am not, as they say, walking in the corridors of power.

But you know, the more I read, the more I imagine those corridors smelling like those disinfectant cakes you see at the bottoms of urinals.

Here's what I think I know. Correct me if I'm wrong. The oil rig explosion set in motion the greatest man-made environmental disaster in our history. It may have been only a matter of time until that happened. Safety procedures were ignored. A safety device was not used because it would have cost BP $500,000. A Congressional oversight committee went along with that. Persistent trouble signals were not acted on. An alarm system was not operational. Complaints and misgivings by workers on the rig were ignored. There was no proven method to contain a leak should one occur.

Are we in agreement so far?

- snip -

Corporations know no patriotism. They are multi-national. They deal with all markets. It is hard to say just where a big corporation is actually centered. They may have a corporate edifice, but it can be anywhere. Halliburton is in Houston, in theory, but it opened an major office in Dubai, and that is where its chairman, president and CEO lives and works. BP, the fourth largest company in the world, is in London and Houston. Enron seemed to be in Houston, but it turned out not to be a company at all. The largest company in the world is Wal-Mart, which has had great success in China, where its profits will eventually outstrip those in the U.S. It effectively decides the minimum wage in the United States.

- snip -

BP had a very big tree that blew down in the Gulf. It was not looking after it properly. It ignored or evaded safety regulations. It possibly bore criminal responsibility. The tree fell on my property. BP should have to pay to remove that tree, right? What if it enlisted cops to prevent me from even walking over and taking photos of what they were doing on my property? What if they issued statements saying it wasn't such a large tree, and my property would soon recover? What if it landed on my house, and BP said it wasn't much of a house in the first place?

- snip -

Standard Oil was the largest corporation in the world. It was thought to have grown too large. It was the target of such Trust Busters as Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. It was broken up by U.S. courts under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1880. A U. S. Supreme Court decision in 1911 upheld that decision. One of Standard's offshoots was the Chevron Corporation. Another was known as Standard Oil and then Amoco, until Amoco was absorbed by BP. What do you think the chances are today of BP attracting antitrust attention, and modern Trust Busters being upheld by the Supreme Court? See what I mean? Our values have changed.

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[highplainsdem]

1. K&R

[Hydra]

2. Big K&R

Ebert is refreshingly direct and asking the right questions- unlike our media.

[Edweird]

3. Yes, Mr. Ebert, things have indeed changed. What used to be 'republican' is now 'new dem'.

What used to be moderate Dem is now 'far left fringe' or 'fucking retarded'.

[phasma ex machina]

4. Betcha BP's elm tree whacked a woodchuck. nt

[MilesColtrane]

5. Mr. Ebert may have lost his voice, but his "voice" of late is clear and strong.

[GrannyK]

6. K&R

[slay]

7. Ebert missed his calling as a great political commentator

Actually, he didn't - he's doing a hell of a job at it right now! That man is a true inspiration!