The Shameful Antics Of BP

I shouldn't be surprised by now at the uncaring attitudes of some corporations when it comes to taking care of their employees, but I still am. I guess it's because I really don't understand how some people (and corporations are run by people) can care so little about their fellow man. BP is now the corporation that is showing this lack of respect for those who are working for them.

It's not bad enough that BP has fouled the Gulf of Mexico so badly that over 20% of it is now closed to fishing (commercial or otherwise), oil is beginning to foul and will probably affect the coastal environment for years to come, and sea animals are beginning to die because of the oil (not to mention hundreds of birds). Now we learn that the humans involved in trying to contain and clean-up the oily mess are getting sick.

Many of the Gulf fishermen (who can no longer fish for their living thanks to BP) were hired by BP to help with containment and clean-up. BP put them to working with the oil and chemical dispersants and failed to provide them with any protective gear at all (not even gloves). Now many of these fishermen are getting sick and some have had to be hospitalized.

One fisherman relates that he had to be hosed down, and then take several showers before he was even allowed to enter the hospital. Obviously the hospital knows something that BP is not willing to tell the general public. Are they afraid of allowing the toxic dispersants into the hospital where they could affect staff or patients?

Then BP took all the clothing the sick fishermen were wearing and have refused to return them. Of course, this prompts the question -- What are they trying to hide? Are they afraid these clothes contain evidence of the poisonous atmosphere they had these people working in with no protection? If not, why steal these clothes and refuse to return them.

The BP CEO, Tony Hayward (pictured), is saying that the oil fumes and toxic dispersants are not making the fishermen sick. He claims it is "food poisoning". But doctors disagree. Dr. Michael Osterholm says the symptoms (nose bleeds, upset stomach, body aches, etc.) sound more like a respiratory illness.

Meanwhile, the BP CEO says he would like to have his life back. What a maroon! It would be nice if he could think of someone other than himself. I imagine there are a lot of people in the fishing and tourist industries along the Gulf Coast who would be happy to have their lives back also. If BP cares, they have yet to show it.

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In a related story, teabagger queen Michele Bachmann has decided that government intervention may be a good thing after all. Since President Obama came into office, she has opposed everything he has tried to do. She has called his efforts a "government takeover" and "socialism".

She has wanted to do away with the "socialist" government payouts (except those payments that she and her husband receive -- those are OK). Now she gives us even more evidence that she is not really a conservative -- just an anti-Obama opportunist.

After all of her howling about "government takeovers", she now wants to know why the government hasn't seized private boats to deal with the oil crises. She says:

"Where were the boats that could have been commandeered by the government to be sent into this region to deal with that oil plume as it was coming up in the water and destroying marine life? Nowhere to be found. Why? The administration was hands off on this policy."

That sounds like socialism to me. The truth is that Bachmann doesn't really care about socialism or anything else (except her own re-election). President Obama could do everything she has said she wants and she would still find a way to complain about it and oppose him. Like many other teabaggers, her only political principle is to oppose anything the president does.