Before I share today's opinion, let me state clearly and sincerely that for the record, I could not be more appalled at the oil gushing into the sea from the BP disaster.  It is a cataclysm environmentally and as my favorite pastime is fishing, I am just sick at the effect this will have on what is a great fishing ground.  It will devastate lives and careers of everyone connected to tourism and recreation and commercial fishing.  It is just ghastly.

Okay, now that we are clear that I share the general revulsion of just about everyone on the oil leak (a term which does not do the disaster justice), I am sitting here shaking my head at the scandal that erupted over the past few days over comments made by the President of  BP, the company responsible.  When asked if he was frustrated over the spill and its effects as well as BP's inability to stop it so far, he said emphatically yes.  And to further demonstrate his empathy for the human and environmental impact of all of this, he shared that he knew that lives had been disrupted and that BP was doing everything in its power to fix the leak so that regular people could get their lives back.  So far, so good, but then he said what evidently was a horrible thing.  He said, after stating very clearly that he understood the impact on others, that he wanted his life back too.  I have no doubt that this is true as regardless of the obvious responsibility of BP in the disaster, this man has got to be stressed out of  his mind in dealing with it and of course he would like to get his life back.  Heck, logically I am glad he feels that way as that is great motivation to keep on trying things to get this done.  However, evidently expressing your own revulsion and desire to return to normal for yourself is some sort of unforgiveable crime from the reaction of politicians and press around the country.  They are pillorying this man for the comment, and I have to tell you, I just don't get it.

Look, I think that there are lots of things to be learned from this crisis from prevention to emergency measures to regulation.  I am positive that when the dust settles there are going to be a lot of changes in how we drill in deep water and the measures we take to insure safety.   All of that is a very good thing and it is horrible that it took an event of this magnitude to do what ought to have been common sense.  That said, what kind of world do we live in where an innocent and really inoffensive comment is taken out of context and a man beaten up for it? Man oh man, we have got to get a grip on our indignation and save it for use on the truly despicable like denouncing genocide or racism or any other intentionally evil act committed by some evil louse.  Saying that you understand the suffering of others and want everyone's life including your own to return to normal does NOT rise to the level of, well, anything bad!  Maybe I just don't get it.  If one of you reading this blog can explain it to me, I really would be interested to know.  Am I obtuse or is the world going crazy?  Help!