UPDATED: June 18, 2010
Public relations does not seem to be BP CEO Tony Hayward’s strong point - at least when is comes to his handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Since the beginning of the oil spill crisis on April 20, 2010, Hayward has been accused of being insensitive, unresponsive and not completely forthright when it comes to sharing information on the oil leak that is now destroying America’s wetlands, birds and marine life.
Hayward said, “No one wants this over more than I do... I want my life back.”
On Thursday, Tony Hayward spend much of his time stonewalling members of the US House Energy Panel during evasive testimony, frustrating lawmakers by repeating, “ I didn’t know anything about that,” and, “The blowout preventer is designed to be the ultimate fail-safe mechanism,”
Hayward, who reportedly earns upwards of $10,000 a day as CEO of the 5th most profitable oil company on the planet, may in time get his wish. But for the thousands who have lost their lives and livelihoods, life will never be the same.
As millions helplessly watch the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico turn black in rivers of oil, frustration and anger has begun to manifest itself the weapon of rebellion. BP gas stations are being boycotted all over the country, while BP credit cards are being cut up and burned in effigy.
Beneath the rage there are tears for the 11 lives lost at the start of the crisis, and for the corpses of the animals being collected from the sea of dark goo, with no end in sight.
The symbol of it all is Tony Hayward; a man who seemingly strives to avoid being seen with the stains of oil on his hands.
No doubt there are stories yet to be told about the night the Deepwater Horizon burst into flames, and the 3 days of inferno that preceded the fall to her ocean grave.
As with most disasters, there are unsung heros. Hundreds, if not thousands of people have surely worked tirelessly to try to stop the flow that takes more lives each day. But they are not the image of British Petroleum.
The image of BP is CEO Tony Hayward, who just might be the most hated man in American right now. Not necessarily because of what he has done, but because of what he has not done.
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Comments
If laying blame is the standard here, I will have to apply your quote to one eqaually deserving.
B. Hussein Obama is hated for being consistently "...insensitive, unresponsive and not completely forthright when it comes to sharing information..." on...well...anything.
Yet simultaneously we cannot seem to escape his sneering, superior, condescending visage, staring out of every video monitor spewing empty rhetoric and lies.
Obama wants the oil spill over too. Only difference is he is doing nothing about it except making an occasional speech saying that he "will not rest" until the crisis is resolved.
Meanwhile he is blithely pursuing all manner of inane, useless figure-head appearances and sparing only 30 minutes for Jan Brewer, one of the many people actually taking responsibility for events in the real world precipitated or aggravated by Obama's indifference and flamboyant capriciousness.
All I know is, if the buck stops with Obama, we are all screwed.
Obama didn't leave the broken blow out preventer in the well. You people are amazing - is there anything that's not Obama's fault? While you're at it why don't you blame him for the poor health of fat people, bad breath in dogs and morons in general.
You would win that last prize Transue.
Watch this video and see who may be the worst person in this entire mess!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzllR24e-FY&feature=player_embedded#!
drill this: I'm not blaming Obama for the disaster, HE is taking responsibility for it!
He just can't stop himself when it comes to assuming authority. He's a banker, a car builder, a doctor, and insurer, a nuclear arms expert, a defense strategist and a master of the psychology of eliminating threats by refusing to call them what they are (see Dorothy clicking her heels on that one).
What he forgets in his narcissistic rush to be the center of attention is that assuming authority also means accepting blame.
And once again, when it comes to blame, everyone wants to throw Hayward under the bus, but it was OUR OWN corrupt regulators who took bribes to overlook violations.
THEY should be the first ones on the chopping black.
THEY should get serious jail time.
But no one is talking about them; just Tony Hayward. Hey, he's the boss; he is at least accountable if not directly responsible. But HE didn't negotiate bribes or overlook violations.
So drill that!
What do you want him to do Stan? Get a shovel and go pick the oil off the beach?
Drill this says: "What do you want him to do...Get a shovel and go pick the oil off the beach?"
No. I want him to be honest.
I want him to openly admit that when government assumes the responsibility for protecting public safety, they automatically must accept first blame when things go awry.
Second, I want him to first openly and unequivocally condemn any and all actions by regulators that contributed to this disaster; promising ruthless prosecution against THEIR actions as the primary focus of criminal investigations.
Regardless of any guilt on the part of BP employees, the crime of corruption by regulators is doubly heinous because their sole purpose is to prevent that which happened as a result of their corruption.
Then go after the individual BP employees who helped cover their own failures.
Fianlly, stop making this about the "evil corporations." This was criminal neglegence and conspiracy by individuals.
Government creates corporations, remember?
Bp ceo should be in the oil just like the animals .I hope that the feds take them to court and make them pay.
This was no accident. It was the rersult of using the cheapest method of drilling as opposed to the safest. Transocean wanted the conventional method, but BP pushed for one using a cheaper drill mud, only a casing not casing & liner. Also, the BOP had broken seals. These guys don't care about anything but profit. While we're at it, things started getting lax with inspections during the Bush/Cheney regime. It's not Obama's job to babysit the oil industry, but to steer the country out of 8 years of basically zero government. Hayward desrves all the flack he gets!
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