Sink Like a Stone

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'...

Still hemorrhage in the Gulf.

The main$tream are calling this what we called it in April.

As in Britain, the Left is joining the Right in this:

We are in the midst of what is probably the worst environmental catastrophe in our nation’s history, and it looks like the damage will continue to worsen for the next few months. Barack Obama may not know this yet, but his credibility and leadership are being destroyed along with the ecosystem of the Gulf Coast. He has come under heavy criticism even from Democratic strategists and analysts in the capitol, usually among his most reliable allies. It has gotten so bad that even wingnut welfare shops have started getting off tough but fair commentary.

When the geyser erupted the right wing half heartedly pushed a “this is HIS Katrina” line, on the anemic logic that both were crises in the Gulf states. As the weeks have gone on the comparison has started to become apt, though. As then, our president pays lip service to the magnitude of the problem but does not seem to truly comprehend it. Bush had his “tidal wave of compassion for hurricane victims,” Obama has his “plug the damn hole.” Bush had an empty, ostentatious announcement from the scene and now Obama has his. It is almost an invitation to reprise Stephen Colbert:

I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message: that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound — with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.

(Speaking of mockery, the following is still on the official White House web site: “President Obama will keep the broken promises to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.”)

Some of his supporters have been frustratingly eager to excuse his lethargic attitude. There has been a sort of defensive “oh yeah? Well why don’t you tell us what he should do” response from bloggers like Jed Lewison and John Cole that show an entirely inverted understanding of how politics is supposed to work. I generally enjoy their writing, but really: It isn’t my job to think up the answers! It’s the job of our leaders to think up the answers! That’s what they are there for! That’s the fucking point of representative democracy! I’ve already got a job, I’m kind of busy here; I’m certainly willing to toss out any suggestions I have, kick in a few bucks for various relief efforts, and generally do what I can given the distance - but coming up with effective policies is what we elect people for!...

Look for the worse-than-ineffective policy to increasingly emerge as the scope of this catastrophe widens.

Look for the response of the locals to get increasingly strident.



Look for the Homeland $ecurity apparatus to target them, leaving the real corporate danger to the security of the nation alone.

And as for what we should do? Here's a beginning:

How about we issue subpoenas against those responsible?
How about finding what that big party on the rig was about before the explosion?
How about NOT allowing BP to gather their own evidence in advance of them being a defendant in a future trial?
How about taking action against the oil thugs that held survivors in captivity for 48 hours while their family members worried about them?
How about taking action against the fatcat bubbas who tried to get residents to sign a “we won’t sue BP” waiver for a $5k payoff?
How about getting adminstration officials on TV who know what the hell they’re talking about?
How about doing away with the last 30 years of laissez-faire regulation for the oil industry?
How about Obama making the decision to start acting like Huey Long instead of Ghandi?

More good ideas:

Kick BP’s ass out of the way

Issue an immediate/emergency appeal, with a humongous cash award, to person/persons who can fix this, inside or outside of BP.

Put all relevant government resources behind the effort NOW.

Criminal arrests NOW, of BP executives.

Criminal arrests NOW, of government “regulators” who allowed lax oversight.

Freeze new drilling permits in the gulf, as well as any additional work on wells already approved but not yet pumping.

Detail the ways in which 8 years of Bush administration oil whoredom led us to this point.

KICK OFF AN IMMEDIATE, MEGA EMERGENCY, MANHATTAN PROJECT-LEVEL NATIONAL PROGRAM TO GET US OFF FOSSIL FUELS.

Raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 per year to pay for this, tax the hell out of the oil, gas and coal industries to pay for this.

Do all of the above very publicly, kicked off with a major hoo hah, night time, prime time speech, followed up with weekly speeches to keep us updated on progress.

And to you losers in comments who keep whining about how Obie cannot DOOOOOOOOO ANYTHIIIIIIIING…what the hell? Why did you bother to vote for him then, if you did? What difference does it make if he can’t do anything when it matters the most? I saw him a couple of days ago doing some lame ass interview/photo op with ES-fucking PN, talking sports and draft pics and what not? WTF? The man has nothing more important to do? It was embarrassing...

It was the product of a culture that values the image of concern, the image of doing something more than actually being concerned and doing something.

It was sinking, like a stone.

Here's another really good idea:

...US government could kill two birds with one stone: offer every unemployed person in the effected states a job on the coast clearing up the oil, and send the full bill to BP...

Yes We Can!