No solutions are out there on the horizon to resolve the economic and environmental disaster in the Gulf, so thought I had better solve it myself.
The first step is to arrest the CEOs of British Petroleum, Halliburton and TransOcean. Appropriate their personal assets to compensate the families of the 11 workers who were killed in the explosion. Seize the assets of the corporations and use the money to stop the ongoing tragedy, clean up the environmental mess and compensate the people whose lives and businesses have been devastated. No government bailouts, subsidies or no bid contracts to the corporations.
Place a moratorium on all offshore drilling.Fire the federal regulators, specifically those in Mineral Management Service (MMS), who exempted BP from producing a legally mandated environmental impact study for the site where Deepwater Horizon drilled. Obama was warned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that MMS studies approving offshore drilling were not reliable.
Discontinue Congressional hearings, which provide a platform for the “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil” CEOs to pass the buck and a cover for Congressmen to pretend they are conducting investigations. Require all government officials in the administration and Congress to visibly display on their bodies the amount of money they have received from BP, Halliburton and TransOcean.
Deny access of lobbyists from the oil industry, Halliburton and TransOcean to public officials.
Stop the hemorrhage of oil in the Gulf and clean up the environment.
Contract with problem-solving engineers and technicians who are not affiliated with the corporate establishment. Attach no financial constraints on their efforts. The bill will be paid by the three primary offenders.
Send public officials, lobbyists and corporate personnel implicated in creating this disaster to the Gulf to repair the damage. Assign the National Guard and the Border Patrol to supervise the perpetrators who have caused infinitely more damage than all the migrants.
Conduct a trial in a people’s court after the catastrophe has been resolved satisfactorily. Transportation to Louisiana for anyone who wants to participate on the jury will be provided with the seized corporate assets. No attorneys, no police and no homeland security officials will be allowed to participate. The CEO perpetrators must speak for themselves. Ramsay Clark will be the trial judge and present the case against the CEOs. The jury of the people will vote up or down on guilt or innocence and on the penalties if the CEOs are found guilty as charged.
Or, we could resort to the decades of “deregulation” which proclaimed that the “free market” could regulate itself. Worked well for the financial, auto and telecommunication systems. Bail out those responsible – the financial elite – and leave the working class to foot the bill. Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor.
– Sue Bastian, Bend
This article appears in May 20-26, 2010.
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It sometimes is difficult to take suggestions such as Bastion’s as other than what they appear: tongue in cheek, hyperbole, or righteoous statements of frustration from someone who is fed up with the way things are and is willing to state the outrageous to invoke some kind of response from someone–anyone!
Then I visit americangrandjury.org/we-the-people-the-columbia-trial-starts-today and realize that I’m wrong. People who make radical suggestions are probably serious.
We are a nation of laws–and although the pendulum can swing far from where it should be, it returns sooner or later.
The historical instances of ‘peoples’ courts have always resulted in a breakdown of the rule of lawand chaos–the French Revolution and the Chinese Cultural Revolution are two examples.
Vigilantes are wrong–and it should never be acceptable. Rants from those on the right and left should always remain just that. They are dismally poor calls to action. Witness the Tea Party of today.
I would pretty much have to agree with Sue’s comments above and I too feel her pain. Obviously there would need to be much more though into what should actually be done, but she sums it up pretty well. We are not bleeding heart liberals, if you will, we are empathetic individuals that feel a connection to our planet and realize that NOTHING is worth what has happened to the Gulf. If you don’t feel a connection to what Sue wrote in this letter you probably do not feel a strong appreciation/respect for the environment and probably put the economy and corporate success in the front. Sue and I obviously have come to the realization that things have gotten way out of hand and that we, as humans, have already done horrible, damage to the environment that will and already is coming back to haunt us. Things will continue to get worse until most folks are ready to put the environment first and find a way to capitalize on it, i.e., building a sustainable economy.
Regards,
Jeff P