The Spin Of The Oil Spill

I was watching Kevin Costner testify the other day about the spin machine that could be an answer to the horrific tragedy in the Gulf. Hopefully, there will be some solutions soon. Until then, it seems like the spin masters have gone into overdrive. It seems to be running on the insurance company mantra of Delay, Deny, Defend. We got some amazing stuff:

Delay

BP is spending their money to buy Google terms that could be used in any search about the spill. Maybe, if they can link enough corporate friendly websites to the searches, they can make us forget about what happened.

Let’s see maybe search oil covered beaches or sea life and get:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNpQMVBRsEg

Deny

"This is not an environmental disaster, and I will say that again and again."
– Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) speaking about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

That doesn’t seem to hold up under any review and apparently he is even now backing off and trying to rewrite what he said.

Defend

There is Michele Bachman with:

White House has misplaced priorities, instead of sending more engineers and experts, we are sending down trial lawyers to determine possible punitive damages.

This one is interesting because it seems to be based on the United States Attorney General going down there. Sure it’s using the Bush/Rove mantra of "Attack the Layers" , but really is that the best they’ve got? Don’t you think BP already has lawyers there? The WSJ blog says:

For BP, a whole army of lawyers from Kirkland & Ellis is working on the matter, including several high-priced partners, like Richard Godfrey, Andrew Langan, John Hickey Jr., and Mark Filip. Kirkland lawyers are, among other things, coordinating the company’s interaction with the Justice Department and its civil litigation strategy.

If Delay, Defend, Deny doesn’t get it done : Let’s not Forget: Shifting of Responsibility:

We have The US Chamber

Tom Donohue, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ". . . Everybody is going to contribute to this clean up. We are all going to have to do it. We are going to have to get the money from the government and from the companies and we will figure out a way to do that."

and a Congressman who should know better now calling for the Government to bail everyone out:

House Minority Leader John Boehner :

"I think the people responsible in the oil spill–BP and the federal government–should take full responsibility for what’s happening there," Boehner said at his weekly press conference this morning.

This is the same guy who said this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hec_kUhYCbw&feature=player_embedded

It is classic work of people who have to be forced to take responsibility and to pay for all of the damage they caused.

Couple of Injuryboard posts worth reading :

9 Years of Litigation, Jon Lewis | July 02, 2010 8:19 AM

The BP Oil Spill Disaster, Government Regulation and the Civil Justice System, Christopher Nace | June 19, 2010 9:55 AM

If You Spill It, He Will Come…To The Hill – Kevin Costner Explains Oil Clean Up Device To Congress, Brett Emison | June 09, 2010 6:06 PM

Houstonians Protest BP Over Oil Spill, Scott Kappes | June 09, 2010 6:15 PM

Oil Hits Florida Beaches, Joe Saunders | June 05, 2010 10:46 AM

BP Oil Spill – Waiting and Waiting, Robert Blanchard | June 02, 2010 3:55 PM

BP Spill Surpasses Exxon-Valdez, Dottie Perry | May 27, 2010 6:25 PM

BP Fiasco: The Case Against Tort Reform, Mark Bello | May 21, 2010 9:15 AM

Accidents Happen? What the BP spill and Massey explosion reveal, Danny Feldman | May 25, 2010 1:20 PM