The Bluest of Collars pt.2
by Sudhama Ranganathan Tuesday, Jun. 22, 2010 at 9:23 AM
uconnharassment@gmail.com

Whenever a national tragedy strikes, especially close to elections, it must be difficult for political leaders to know the right things to say. It would seem obvious to be respectful of those who have suffered through the worst, but when one feels things are balancing on a precipice some may get nervous. When it feels like the very livelihood you’ve come to rely on is potentially threatened it’s normal to experience moments of weakness and insecurity. When people feel threatened they sometimes resort to a kind of survival mentality and aren’t quite sure exactly which way to go.

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As the tragedy continually unfolds in the wake of the deepwater horizon aftermath politicians and other people in positions of power are thrust into positions they may not wish to be in, may find uncomfortable or do not relish. These are areas rife with the opportunities for embarrassing moments, slip ups and gaffes. Perhaps it can be difficult.

If we think it’s difficult for those suffering some indignities, awkward moments or who’ve said inappropriate things being recorded and played back in the media ad infinitum, imagine the way folks on the Gulf Coast felt when they realized the position they were in. Imagine how it felt for people when they realized this year’s entire income may be halved, reduced by two thirds or completely eliminated. Imagine how it felt for the small business owners who stayed up day and night sweating trying to figure how to keep their people employed.

Imagine the heartbreak when the realization sunk in that it was no longer a matter of how to save employees, but had become saving the entire business they built with their own two hands through no fault of their own. These were businesses that kept the paychecks rolling in; ensuring employees could pay bills and put food on the table. These were businesses which allowed owners to attain a tiny piece of the American dream. These were businesses in some cases that had been passed on for generations.

We have watched as shrimpers’ businesses, other fishermen and women, tourist attractions, restaurants that have been in business since before many can remember fall victim. This of course affects many other forms of businesses as well.

Local politicians who had gotten back into the swing of things just barely since Katrina were now thrown into one more epic catastrophe. If anyone was feeling the sensation of balancing on a precipice it was them. Many rose to become more than politicians and stepped forward into the role of community leaders. If anyone was feeling themselves in an uncomfortable situation it was folks in the gulf, and uncomfortable would be an understatement. If anyone has been thrust into a survival mode it is the residents of affected Gulf States.

For people in that region the idea of being embarrassed by gaffes is a thing of luxury. Politicians have been thrown into the position of trying to put together plans for entire communities to survive. They have had to call on other regional leaders, they have had to work across the isle not as politicians, but as neighbors and fellow human beings. A political statement aimed at trying to keep one’s job this coming election is something for people with time on their hands.

When political leaders in places not directly affected by the spill make political statements aimed at keeping their seats this coming election, making money and making headlines it comes across as slightly disingenuous, selfish and inconsiderate. Sure, it’s a politicians’ job to campaign, but there is a line between politicking and tastelessness.

People in the Gulf Region know who has been most responsible for the mess washing ashore. The estimates as to how much it will cost to clean up the spill increase on an almost daily basis. As yet there is no hard and fast figure. The estimates as to how much of a financial toll the spill will have on the region rise as well. What we do know is the oil is still spilling, thus there will be more to clean up as of tomorrow than there is today.

From the very beginning of the tragedy BP has tried to cover up what was going on. First they sequestered survivors for hours in hotel rooms after making them wait at sea, and coerced them into signing statements releasing BP from liability. They also had to sign statements denying they saw anything.

We have learned shortcuts have been made for years. Safety preventers were shut down when they malfunctioned instead of being fixed. Drilling mud was substituted with sea water, which could not withstand higher pressures, because BP wanted to speed things up. Heads of other drilling companies testified they would not have taken such risks.

The people affected across the region were treated as third rate citizens – expendable - afterthoughts. Their safety was taken for granted and their land will be poisoned for anywhere from years to decades. That simply is more important than how many billion in profits a company stands to lose because of their own reckless behavior. It means livelihoods of entire communities are at stake here - both related to oil and otherwise.

Perhaps in the future when politicians denounce creating a fund which people in the disaster zone have been crying out for, they will do so without the insult of insinuating those people were crying out for a ‘shakedown.’ Perhaps they won’t say “oh let’s stop bullying the giant multinational corporation that has wrecked a way of life for an entire region for what could be decades with the same behavior they have been guilty of in the past.”

Perhaps certain political leaders can stop using this as an opportunity to no so subtly ask for monetary donations or to gain attention. We have been watching businessmen, politicians and even news people from the affected region asking for the money promised to make the cleanup happen. Now the government has stepped in to make sure the money gets to the affected people, and some people are using it as an opportunity to insinuate people in the Gulf Region who have worked so hard their entire lives are running a scam on BP. Perhaps next they’ll suggest a band of shrimpers hatched a black ops plan to blow up the Deepwater Horizon and profit from it.

When BR was bribing government officials, taking shortcuts, failing to reveal what was going on with leaking oil and stalling to pay for cleanup efforts were they running a scam? This is about ordinary people. It’s about hard working American’s rights not multinational corporations. This nation was not founded to inspire servitude to those who have acquired the most monetary wealth no matter what. Isn’t the Tea Party movement against politicians being in the back pockets of big money?

This is a nation of free people. Those free people cried out for this and finally got what they wanted. When certain political leaders say those Americans are attempting to ‘fleece’ BP, that it’s because due to pleas of frustrated Gulf Residents that BP is being ‘demonized,’ that average Joe’s and Jane’s from the Gulf have been asking the government to ‘extort money’ from BP or that Gulf Coast residents have been advocating for ‘Chicago style shakedowns of BP’ it is insulting to all they have been suffering through and will have to because the money did not get there sooner. (http://www2.seattlepi.com/articles/422014.html)

We live in a Democracy so we all have a say, and we have fought wars to maintain that right and to help others share in our experience however misguided the actions of those who sent our sons and daughters into harm’s way may or may not have been. We don’t need to be told when we are knocked down we are scam artists envious of those in another class or income bracket. If we commit a crime we have to pay. If we commit a wrong it is our responsibility to make it right. When we crash our car whatever the repercussions of that crash we are responsible for them entirely. So should it be for BP as it is for us. It’s how it should be regardless of income bracket, class or political ties.

To read about my inspiration for this article go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.

www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com

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