[macpappy]

Lots of interesting comments here. I have a vested interest in this spill because I live in Louisiana - about 30 miles east of New Orleans. I don't find BP to be solely responsible for this spill. They had help in their ineptitude - including from the US Government (Congress, Senate and the White House) who have continually failed to support programs, enforce regulations and hold federal employees responsible for doing their jobs.

The people with MMS should have been investigated and fired a long time ago for being in bed with the oil companies. The Coast Guard has long suffered from a lack of support from Congress and its environmental protection mission was placed on the back burner a long time ago as the government put more emphasis on things like military readiness, anti-drug law enforcement and "homeland security" without giving the Coast Guard a bigger budget. The service has been constantly told, "Do these extra jobs but we're not going to give you more money. That's why the service is facing the cut of 11,000 people in the near future.

Then there is the problem created by large donations to politicians by the oil companies which translates into government agencies being told to "back-off" from criticizing the oil companies and commercial shipping industry. I speak from first hand experience with this point as I served in the Coast Guard for 21 years. There were numerous times we were told that we could release information about what the Coast Guard was doing or what information we had about a spill or accident because it would make the oil companies look bad. We had to stand by while they company spokesmen gave out information that we knew was wrong - like the number of gallons of oil leaking from a well.

Rant over.