The BP Oil Spill, President B. Hussein Obama II, and the Death of a Way of Life

SITUATION: If you don’t know about it by now, you must not have a TV or a radio or talk to anyone. On April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, the BP (British Petroleum [NYSE: BP]) oil rig “Deepwater Horizon” exploded. Workers were killed and injured by this event. Perhaps even worse than the loss of life is the massive amount of oil that is shooting out of the broken well. This geyser, as a leak is not a strong enough word, and 200,000+ gallons a day is far more than a leak, is dumping oil by the barrel into the Gulf and destroying hundreds of thousands of lives each hour that passes.      

OPINION:     

Blame is being thrown around and no one is doing anything. President Barack Hussein Obama II (Born: August 4, 1961 / 44th President of the United States) is strong-arming BP  for 20 billion dollars and threatening to figure out “whose ass to kick“. Yet he does nothing of substance. He sits by while lives are destroyed, money is wasted in lost oil, life in the Gulf is obliterated, and 13 countries stand by idly with refused aid in hand. Oil containment booms remain unpurchased. Chemical treatment is out of the question (why? – the animals are already being obliterated and their ecosystem is dead). President B. Hussein Obama II says he can’t “suck it up with a straw”. How about he does something other than try to place the blame and use this disaster to his political advantage. The situation is hard, but this political maneuvering is absolutely ridiculous. The time has come to put your political aspirations aside and do what you said – and here is whose ass your to kick:      

1. Start with your own for not moving faster.
2. Then move on to any political cronies who are making political hay off of this disaster.
3. Then move onto the greedy profiteers who are trying to charge 3000% for oil containment booms.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offers a wealth of information for tracking this disaster in   s l o w   m o t i o n  . How much did that cost and why did they not spend that time and money on getting the “leak” (geyser) capped? Where are they in all of this?      

BP’s (British Petroleum [NYSE: BP]) stock has gone from a 52-week high closing price of 62.32 (January 19, 2010) to a 52-week low of 29.20 (June 1, 2010). This disaster will most likely bankrupt them, leaving naught for the victims of this catastrophe. Even with the strong-arm tactics by our Ass Kicker in Chief, the promised 20 billion simply will not be there. No company means no money means no succor for the destroyed. The saddest part of this is that there is no definitive proof they did anything wrong.      

British Petroleum (BP) Stock Chart from NYSE

 

UPDATE [2010-06-22]:    

US District Court Judge Martin Feldman has shot down President B. Hussein Obama II’s overreaching and self-important moratorium on offshore drilling. Let the profits resume    

A picture of the oil cap leaking 2.5 million gallons of oil a day.

 

 UPDATE [2010-07-10] – 2.5 million gallons a day:  

2.5 million gallons of oil leaking into the gulf each day. The cap is once again going to be removed “to replace it with a better cap”. The skimmers are doing their job, or are they, and more and more oil dumps into the waters. BP has blown over 3 BILLION DOLLARS on cleanup and payouts, and to what advantage? The problem is only getting worse   

 UPDATE [2010-07-18] – Capped:  

The wellhead is finally capped. Pressure tests have confirmed that there are no leaks. This does not indicate that this calamity is done and finished however. There is still hundreds of millions of gallons of oil floating around the gulf. The wildlife is still choking on oil and dying by the millions. People still have no suitable way to earn a living. And we still do not have proof that BP did anything wrong (even if they have “stepped up” and taken “ownership” of this calamity). 

My question is this -

Why is BP so afraid to remove the cap to measure the flow rate?

This will allow the government to determine the actual amount of oil that made it into the gulf. With this, they can then determine the actual impact it will have to the region. Perhaps BP’s “humanitarian” efforts where simply so they could cover up the 2.5 to 5 million gallons a day that was leaking into the gulf. The fine for this would be well over  22 BILLION dollars (or even closer to 30 BILLION dollars). If this is the only reason for their aid, then that in and of itself will crush the company.