Move Along Federal Government and Let the Locals Work

A while back, not long after this oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began to get some attention from the press, I was talking to this girl I know. Now this girl is as common as a common person can get. She's a product of the public schools and a consistent diet of mindless television and the news propaganda networks. She surprised me when she told me I had been influencing her thinking, then she asked me what I thought about what was going on in the gulf. I told her that I didn't know, that it seemed a bit suspicious to me, and then asked her what she thought.

Once again, she surprised me. She told me that it seemed to her that they (they being those who were in charge of mitigating the disaster) were purposely making the disaster worse. My jaw about dropped when I heard this. Here was someone who normally just regurgitated the "facts" as reported by the network talking heads expressing an opinion contrary to what was being reported. I had to ask myself, is this gulf fiasco being handled in such a grotesquely negligent fashion as to make it appear obvious that they are more than just negligent, they are actually trying to make it worse?

She wanted to know whether I thought that BP or someone had actually blown the rig on purpose. I told her that I didn't know, but that it wouldn't surprise me either way. I agreed with her that it certainly seemed they were doing their best to make the disaster as bad as it could be. I told her I couldn't see how anyone could possibly benefit from this disaster, but that maybe I just didn't know enough yet. That was a few weeks back.

Well, I still don't know enough about this disaster to form an opinion on whether it was a true accident or not. If it was done on purpose, I have to wonder what those making the decisions were thinking. More likely it was due to extreme negligence in an effort to save money. I do believe, however, that this disaster has been mishandled from the beginning. I say it is a disaster, but calling it a catastrophe might be a better description. In fact, I believe the federal government has helped in taking this disaster and making it into a catastrophe.

This much I know, government, and especially the federal government, fails miserably at nearly everything it does. It specializes in failing. Many times, it fails so spectacularly as to make it almost entertaining. This is one of those times. If it wasn't so serious, the failure here would almost be funny. It fails, and then it claims it needs more money and more power to prevent the failure from happening again. Of course, when given more money and power, the federal government sets itself up for even more massive and spectacular failures.

I know, it looks like BP and other companies failed here, but let's consider a few things. First off, the companies responsible, like BP and Halliburton, are federal government favorites. Why the feds continue to use Halliburton, Blackwater, etc., after all the controversy they've caused is beyond me. Perhaps it has something to do with campaign contributions and lobbying bribes, I mean pressure. I've also heard that Mr. Obama actually waived some of the requirements for BP to do the exploratory drilling it was doing. Imagine how shocked I was to hear that. I heard that required safety measures were also waived. The big companies seem to get all the breaks while the little companies who can least afford it must pay through the nose just to get into the business, which chills competition to the big boys. Can you say big business influence in government?

I think it's important to remember that accidents do happen. Natural disasters happen. Man made disasters happen. With this in mind, it is also important to remember that after the fact it doesn't so much matter who caused the disaster, what matters is who reacts to the disaster, how fast and how that reaction effects it. In this respect, the federal government has, as usual, failed miserably. Blame can be settled later, but as this catastrophe continues the attempts to minimize its impact need to move forward without delay. Unfortunately, that's not how things are working out.

The federal government has a propensity for creating disasters or making them worse. From the Kennedy assassination, to the events of 9/11, to the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, errors made at the federal level can be pointed at as reasons the disasters happened or were made worse. The hurricane Katrina is a great example of this. The feds took too long to respond. They wouldn't allow private vendors to bring life saving water in to alleviate suffering even though they didn't have enough. Instead, they ran around confiscating guns of people who were doing a fine job taking care of themselves and defending their own property. They wouldn't let the people just walk away from the super dome and cross a bridge to leave the city. In short, the feds increased suffering and likely the death toll as a result of their actions rather than helping the situation.

How many more times will we allow this to happen? How much longer can we afford to support such ineptitude? Now the same thing is happening with the oil situation in the gulf. State governments have been told not to bring out booms or use other methods that could protect their coastlines and safeguard their wetlands and other fragile environments. They were told that the feds would handle everything. The feds obviously don't know what they're doing. They haven't handled a thing. They've simply hemmed and hawed and have done nothing to protect the coastline. BP evidently has taken the hint from the feds and it seems they also don't know what they're doing. Either that, or they're purposely making matters worse. We can't say for sure, because press coverage has been banned from areas affected and no independent source has been able to report or film the true extent of the catastrophe.

It's time to tell the feds to get lost. It's time to show them how things should be done. I've heard many great ideas that can be tried but have been summarily dismissed. I've heard of tried and true methods that have been used in the past that the feds won't consider. The federal government isn't helping, it's making matters worse. It's trying to position itself in such a way that it becomes everything to everyone so that soon we won't be able to wipe our butts without its permission. It's time to show them how real people react to real problems and get them solved. It's time to get out there with the solutions and start using them, and to challenge those federal officials who are seeking to prevent such solutions from being implemented. Make them arrest those trying to help. Record their actions. Show the public how tyrannical they have become. Smear their reputations, which are already questionable, as they have smeared wildlife with their crude. They have no right trying to prevent anybody from implementing protection methods that will likely help.

Step out of the way, feds, and let those who know act. Let those with real concern help. Let those who have made plans implement them. You have shown that you are nothing more than a bunch of elitists spewing hot air. You have shown that your control and your lies are far more toxic and caustic than any oil disaster could ever be. You have shown that your involvement in any disaster is more dangerous to our liberties and our lives than any act of God could ever hope to be. You should be no longer welcome and your solutions should be shunned.

Worst of all is going to be the excuses. When all is said and done, the federal government will admit that mistakes were made and that they are somewhat to blame. They will commence an investigation that will take years and cost millions. They will then come up with recommendations to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. Those solutions will amount to implementing new taxes, more money and more power for the federal government. We've heard that before. We've seen that song and dance. It's time to say no. It's time to tell them they've had their chance. In fact, they've had more than enough chances. We need other alternatives. We need to give our money to people who will do what they promise to do. We need a free market where someone who mucks things up as much as the feds have will be fired or will go out of business. This big government monopoly and their big business friends have screwed us over one too many times.

As for the blame, I think not only should BP and the businesses involved pay for 100% of the clean up, I think they should be 100% liable for any lawsuits that come from this catastrophe. Tax payers should pay nothing. I think if any of them go out of business, well that's just too bad. Maybe the small businesses that spring up to fill that void will do a better job in the future. In fact, I think that the owners of these companies should be held personally responsible. I think that Queen Elizabeth of England and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands should have to pay from their personal wealth to the extent of the amount of BP they own. They do, after all, enjoy the benefits of ownership, they should have to share in the risks as well.

The too big to fail mantra has gone too far. Government protection of corporations has cost humanity too much. Until and unless this type of practice is stopped we will continue to see abuse of regulations and restrictions. If those who own these businesses were subject to competition, if they knew they could end up losing all their wealth, especially in the case of gross negligence, then these types of accidents would be far less likely to occur. The same is true of agents of the governments. Until they can also be held personally accountable corruption will flourish. Until such a time, the least these entities can do is to let anyone who can help clean up their messes do so, especially since government and their big business friends seem too incompetent to be trusted.