It's easy to blame BP for what's happening in my backyard. After all they were the ones drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. It might also be easy to blame President Obama for not standing by his campaign promise of no more drilling in the Gulf. Rest assured I do cast blame on BP but in the end they were just doing their job. It's not a job I agree with but nevertheless it was their job. And yes I do point some of the blame on our President but I mean come on how naive must I have been to think a politician would actually keep his word. Some of you might think I'm crazy for what I am going to say next but @ least hear me out. Do you know who I blame more than BP & Obama? The American people!
I remember talking with someone long before the oil spill & voicing my concerns about offshore drilling & my fear that it was only a matter of time before we as a nation began drilling in the Alaskan Wildlife Refugee. I told this person that I would gladly pay $50 a gallon for gas if it would stop drilling in the Gulf & prevent drilling in Alasksa. This person's response? "No way! There's nothing wrong with drilling in the Gulf." Really? Nothing wrong?! I beg to differ. Because so many people weren't willing to pay a little more @ the pump then we are suffering monumental consequences now. Where was the outrage before BP began turning our sugar sand beaches black? Where was the outrage when President Bush pitched his plan for turning the pure white snow of Alaska black with oil because we were too dependent on foreign oil?
In case you didn't know, we profess to be the most powerful nation in the world. What a joke?! Such a powerful nation that we can't stop our dependence on foreign oil. Such a powerful nation that we can't figure out how to stop oil from becoming more prevalent in the Gulf than grouper. We put a man on the moon! We helped bring down communist Russia & helped unite a divided Germany. We are the freaking United States of America for Christ sake & we can't stop thousands of animals from dying every day or beach town after beach town from shutting down in the height of summer because no one wants to sit on a beach that's covered in oil & dead dolphins. Five countries offered massive amounts of help to the U.S. within 10 days of the spill. Our response? "While there is no need right now that the U.S. cannot meet, the U.S. Coast Guard is assessing these offers of assistance to see if there will be something which we will need in the near future." No need we cannot meet!!! Are you kidding me? I am beginning to question if there's even one need our Government can meet. WE NEED HELP! Asking for help doesn't make us any "less powerful." It makes us human. This is not a time for ego but rather a time to set bravado aside & stop giving other countries even more reason to think we Americans are a bunch of arrogant pricks. But you know something? I can't argue with any other country about our level of arrogance. Afterall we feel the need to be involved in everyone's business. Religious wars in the Middle East? Yep, we're there. Civil war in Africa? Of course we'll impose our will on you even though you never asked for our help.
This crisis is bigger than an oil spill but right now I don't care about religous wars in the Middle East or civil wars in Africa. Call me selfish but right now I want my backyard cleaned up before we go piss on another countries inadequacies. Did you know that it might actually be possible to stop the spill tomorrow? Apparently there is a way to cap this spill so that no more oil will spew into our waters & onto our beaches. The dilemna? If we utilize this method the oil in this particular well will be shut off for good. Yes you read that right. There is actually a debate that's going something like this. "Sure countless animals are dying every day. And yes more people are losing their jobs because our waters are being shut down which elminates the need for commercial fishing & tourism is almost non-exsistent. But come on. If we shut this thing off entirely we will never be able to get oil from this well again. We didn't become rich & powerful by giving a damn about animals or people so screw them! Let's hope we can get this under control & then we can use the oil that continues to flow so we can make even more money." I'm sorry did I say debate? Debates usually have two opposing sides & in this case I don't see anyone with authority offering a counter perspective. Please stop the oil! Please BP & the federal Government act like you give a damn!
Now how do you feel about drilling in Alaska? Have I gotten your attention? Imagine turning on your TV tomorrow & replacing the images of oil soaked pelicans with oil covered polar bears. Does that make you feel any better? Of course it doesn't. I am going on record right now that if we have to continue to be dependant on foreign oil to avoid something like this from ever happening again, I'm good with that. Are you?
I know I am being selfish with my requests but I don't care. I want my beaches white again. I want to see dolphins playing in the Gulf not washing out of it. I want to have to wait 2 hours again to eat @ my favorite Gulf side restaurant because it's so damn crowded; not walk in, have my pick of tables & then wonder where the "fresh seafood" is really from. I will pay $50 a gallon if it means I never have to worry about seeing another oil soaked bird or dolphin ever again. The question now is, "will you?"
