David Underhill of the Mobile Alabama Sierra Club protests BP in Panama City, Florida
Legal Analysis
by Glynn Wilson
David Underhill of the Mobile Alabama Sierra Club, who recently protested a public forum sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Interior by wearing duct tape over his mouth since citizens were not allowed to speak like they should have been in a real democratic town hall public hearing, was also party to a stakeholders meeting August 17 with officials from national and local government agencies and environmental groups as well as the British Petroleum corporation.
There were already so many public complaints about the lethargic nature of BP’s response to paying claims to individuals and businesses along the Gulf Coast that the Obama administration stepped in June 15 and seized $20 billion of the oil company’s money, to make sure people receive compensation for losses suffered due to the largest and worst environmental disaster in American history.
By June 16, less than two months after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew up in the Gulf of Mexico April 20, killing 11 workers and spreading it’s crude all over the Gulf from the Louisiana marshes to the beaches of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, President Barack Obama appointed Washington attorney Kenneth Feinberg to act as the arbitrator to lead an independent team to oversee paying out claims from the new $20 billion escrow fund.
But the question on Underhill’s mind at the August 17 meeting was whether Feinberg could truly be independent and fair if he is being paid by BP. So he tried to get an answer from one of the BP representatives at the meeting, Gary Willis. Clearly there is not much trust of BP on the Gulf Coast, since the company has lied time and time again about the amount of oil leaking into the Gulf, about the use of chemical dispersants, even about who has the power to control access to oiled beaches.
The answer Underhill got from the BP official was “fuzzy,” he said, so he and Casi Callaway of the Mobile Baykeeper did a followup interview with BP public relations representative Sam J. Sacco.
In an e-mail exchange obtained exclusively by The Locust Fork News-Journal, Sacco said: “A question was asked by one of your members at the Aug. 17 COAST meeting as to whether BP was paying the appointed claims administrator, Mr. Feinberg,” Sacco said. “The answer to that question is yes.”
During a live broadcast of CNN’s “Larry King Live” in 2006, Bill Maher suggested to that Mehlman was gay. Nearly four years later, Mehlman confirmed it.
“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”
- Sir Walter Scott
The President calls out Republicans for blocking campaign finance reforms that would address last year’s Supreme Court decision opening the floodgates of corporate money into elections.
MoveOn.Org’s ad featuring a demonstration against Target due to the retail company’s campaign contributions mostly to Republicans was refused by MSNBC, which declined to air the ad. In the video, you can see it discusses the boycott on Target by gay marriage supporters.
So much for the idea that corporations would not abuse their new rights guaranteed by the Bush-Roberts Supreme Court to give unlimited amounts to conservative Republican political campaigns.
A few Target and Best Buy shareholders weighed in Thursday on the flap over the companies’ political donations in Minnesota, urging the boards of both retailers to increase their oversight of campaign contributions. Target gave $150,000 and Best Buy $100,000 to a business-focused political fund helping a conservative Republican gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota, triggering a national backlash from gay rights groups and liberals.
The companies made the donations after a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling freed them to spend corporate funds on elections.
Last week right-wing radio entertainer Rush Limbaugh said non-profit organization employees are “lazy idiots” and “rapists in terms of finance and economy.”
Hmmm. Watch this video to see who he might be talking about.
Fred Thompson now represents an independent group of rich Republicans called The League of American Voters who lie about political issues to raise money and influence the political debate.
The right is good at this. Remember the lying Swift Boat Veterans for ‘Truth’?
The left needs to get into this business, big time.
An excerpt from the video of George Carlin’s comedy routine called “Life Is Worth Losing.”
There’s a reason education sux and will never get better…
“Because the owners of this country don’t want that, the real owners, the big wealthy business owners who own everything and make all the important decisions.”
Key Line: “Forget the politicians. Politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have no choice. You have owners…”
“It’s called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”
The House was debating a bill last night that would provide up to $7.4 billion in health care aid to rescue workers who have faced health problems in the wake of the September 11 attacks in New York. The bill ultimately failed to get the needed two-thirds majority, 255-159.
In expressing his outrage about the Republicans show voted against it, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) engaged in a two-miunute tirade, in which he called Republicans “cowardly” for voting against the bill because of “procedure.”
“It’s Republicans wrapping their arms around Republicans, rather than doing the right thing on behalf of the heroes,” Weiner exclaimed.
Weiner attacked those who “stand up and say, ‘Oh, if only we had a different process we’d vote yes’,: he said. :You vote yes if you believe yes! You vote in favor of something if you believe it’s the right thing! If you believe it’s the wrong thing, you vote no!”
During the Bush years, we specialized in covering the politicization of the U.S. justice system as much as any news organization. Our archives are about the most comprehensive for anyone researching the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, and the original case against Richard Scrushy, which Glynn Wilson covered for The New York Times.
