"Stupid is as stupid does"

Hi, Everyone,

So, like everyone else in the known universe, I've been watching with horrified fascination while oil spills out into the Gulf, creating what could be the single worst environmental disaster of the decade. And, also like everyone else in the known universe, I've been watching with a similar sick fascination while everyone involved points the finger at everyone else. The government says it was the fault of British Petroleum…who says that it was the fault of the company that actually owned the rig, Transocean…who says that it was the fault of a contractor…specifically Halliburton.

It is the last one that's most interesting, of course. Halliburton is the company that used to be headed up by Dick Cheney (i.e., the power behind the Dubya's tottering throne). It was also the company that then went eagerly overseas, remaining incorporated in America but shifting most of its management functions to the United Arab Emirates…a move which made economic sense, but which was a PR disaster. It looked for all the world as if the company were wearing a huge sign that read, "F*ck you, America."

And now Halliburton is involved in an incident which may make the Exxon Valdez look like a tea party…and I'm not talking about the kind where Sarah Palin provides the opening remarks.

So, the question we have to ask, is this just bad luck? Could any company possibly be so often in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or is the company really part of a satanic conspiracy to degrade the environment and overthrow democracy?

Naturally, that's not really a question. There is no satanic conspiracy to degrade the environment and overthrow democracy. Halliburton has just been unlucky.

In other words, it is the corporate analog of Forrest Gump's evil twin. On steroids. With oil rigs.


Onward and upward.



Copyright © 2010 Michael Jay Tucker