In regards to Kentucky Senatorial candidate Ron Paul's (Republican/Tea Party/Libertarian) recent statement that President Obama is being unAmerican for critisizing BP, I submit the following:
Paul is just an insignificant part of this story. He's obviously insensitive to the families of the people who died in the explosion, to the people whose jobs are gone because they are either in the fishing profession or a business that supports it, to the residents of the area whose shorelines have been irreparably harmed for decades to come, and to the plants, fish and other organisms that have and will perish because of BP and its partners. But our constitution says Paul has a right to be insensitive, and it further gives him the right to demonstrate that fact by speaking about it. Paul's crime isn't a crime because our legal system allows people to be stupid and heartless as long as they don't 'act' on it. The crime, and I use that word advisedly, is with BP and its partners.
Our prisons are filled with people who have committed all sorts of crimes, some of them horrible and other that damage no one aside from the prisoners themselves, and of course the taxpayers who have to pay for the judicial system. There are people in jail for petty theft, shoplifting, or for being drug or alcohol addicts, or for much less than that. It doesn't excuse those crimes, but do they rise to the level of a company which willfully and with foreknowledge made decisions that snuffed out the lives of 11 people, not to mention the other elements of this disaster? It becomes more and more obvious as information continues to leak out that ownership and management of BP knew the risks, and decided to take them for one reason only, and that was their profit margin. We are now learning bit by bit, that our legal system contains criminal code that allows us to criminally prosecute those responsible for the lives lost and the damage done. After all, how is this any different from a guy who gets drunk and drives his car into a stop sign and is charged and convicted of not only drunk driving but damage to public property. Or he may well have taken the life of an innocent victim of his 'accident'. Did he mean to do it? No he didn't, but he knew he was breaking the law, and he knew the risk existed he might take a life or damage property. That guy is in jail. Did the BP people and their agents intend to kill people and create devastation? No, they didn't, but they made choices they knew were risky, and unlike the drunk driver, their judgement was ostensibly unimpaired by alcohol or drugs. If anything, the guy in the car is 'less' guilty than BP.
Why isn't there more talk about criminal charges? It's bad enough we are even debating how much BP should pay for the destruction they've done to lives and all the other things I've mentioned. Congress is engaged in a fight just to get BP to take financial responsibility and BP is using all its legal staff to avoid it. There should be no question about them paying for every red cent deserved by the families of those who were killed and otherwise harmed by BP's actions. However, when we live in a culture where the most entitled of us are exempt from criminal prosecution, sentencing and punishment, the corporate suites will continue to put profit ahead of life and morality. After all, even if they have to pay cash penalties, they will simply pass that cost along to their customers and consumers of their products and services. Worst case is they may have a smaller bonus. When you're making millions of dollars a year, a couple hundred grand one way or the other is peanuts. Keep in mind BP's first quarter net profits this year were about 6 billion bucks. Democrats in congress are asking BP be capped at $10 billion for damages, up from the paltry $75 million currently on the books. Even that is too much to bear for Republicans who are fighting the measure. Ten billion is less than six month's worth of net profit to BP. Is that too much of a price to pay for what they've caused? My answer is no, it's not enough! Those responsible at the highest levels should be criminally tried and if found guilty, sentenced and punished.
We let Nixon off the hook when we all know he was not only aware of Watergate, but participated actively in it. John Dean's and others testimony at the Watergate hearings proved that. Yet he was not only not impeached, but President Ford pardoned Nixon even though he had not yet been charged. There were lots of people in the Reagan administration involved in 'arms for hostages', and yet criminal penalties were never brought against those at the very top. We all know the Bush/Cheney White House was completely immersed in the lies that took us into the War against Iraq. Even the least informed of us know everyone from Bush and Cheney down were complicit in 'illegally' getting us into a war that saw over 3,000 (and counting) soldiers and marines die, not to mention those killed in Afghanistan which would not have been necessary if we'd not gone into Iraq and just paid close attention to Afghanistan at a point in time where we could have succeeded quickly. Yes, even the Obama White House has no stomach to prosecute those who are responsible for those deaths, and for the pillaging of the treasury to wage that war at an ever growing cost of trillions of dollars. Where would we be today financially and job-wise if we'd never gone into Iraq, and been allowed to finish the job in Afghanistan when it was much easier? The wars weren't paid for any more than the tax cuts to the rich Bush gave were paid for, any more than the prescription drugs for seniors was paid for. Forget the money though. Over 3,000 American lives were extinguished because of an intentional and willful series of lies that caused those deaths. Tens of thousands of our military have returned with life long injuries. What does that cost? Hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis were killed, and who knows how many were displaced from their homes? What are those costs?
Until and unless we made it crystal clear that NO one is above the law, that even the most socially and financially elevated of us is subject to prosecution and punishment, equal and on a parity of the guy who crashes into a stop sign in an old junker because he can't afford a better car, let alone a big time legion of lawyers, justice will never be served. Politicians and corporate executives will continue to literally squeeze the lives out of human beings because of their greed for money and power. You can't legislate greed is against the law, but you can certainly prosecute responsible parties when that greed results in activities that harm others. Americans are angry as hell right now, and for a multiple of very good reasons. They need to channel that anger into concerted efforts to change the culture so the penalties for the murder and destruction of our citizens and our resources are appropriate to the crimes. Heck, I realize Clinton's only crime was lying to Americans and congress about Monica, but it wouldn't have bothered me to see him serve a couple of days in jail for perjury. We see that happen on TV all the time. Why should Clinton be any different? It's just one more 'Bubba' in a jail cell serving time. Knowing Bill he'd have come out of it smelling like a rose, and his celebrity would be even more than it is today. Plus, he'd have a whole new bunch of buddies who know how to make moonshine from Tang, bread and an electrical outlet.
While what Paul says and thinks is stupid, it's not criminal. Further, if the CEO's and elected officials start going to jail for their crimes, even people like Paul will begin to realize how wrong the system of justice is, and may learn some ethics and morality. We need to start somewhere 'teaching' the 'untouchables' that they are no longer exempt from our anger and our intent to exact justice regardless of status. Now would be a good time to begin that process.
