As mentioned in an earlier post, we've been here before: BP is just Exxon with a prettier logo. The sticky fingerprints on this tragedy appear to be left by faulty construction by Haliburton (who will no doubt in turn find some way to profit from this disaster), and, lurking in the background, a literally foul legacy stemming from Cheney's dismantling of industry regulations.
And pardon me if I, along with many slightly jaded and cynical Alaskans, don't believe CEO Tony Hayward's promise to pay for cleaning up the mess: sounds just a little too familiar. The unmitigated gall to complain "what the hell did we do to deserve this" in the face of an estimated $5 million paycheck, not to mention BP's $6+ billion in profit, speaks volumes about their carefully cultivated media image of stewardship and responsibility.
Remember: the State of Alaska and its key politicians have all rallied in recent protest against the designation of Cook Inlet as critical habitat for the endangered beluga whale. Their greedy moral prostitution patches over any inconvenient blind spots that point out it's not a matter of "if" but "when" it will happen, again and again and again.
An interesting aside with this panel: when submitted, the editor liked the doubling of the BP logo with the "boom" - which I hadn't even been aware of, as the bad gag between said corporate profits and the contrasting reality of ineffective deployment of futile containment measures was my initial point. And much as I like to occasionally capitalize on full-color, recasting the sunny, cheerful logo in dull gray seems appropriate. Also see the Frozen Grin's take.
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