re: #48 Macha

Then why, in your opinion, would they even bother to prohibit workers from taking pictures of dead marine and wildlife? The only logical reason is that they are trying to keep public opinion focused on how responsible they are now instead of how negligent they were. Everything is in flux at this time. The leak isn’t stopped, and the damage continues daily. They have spent a bundle trying to manage this leak, but none of the long term damage has been paid for. And might never be. When this stuff gets to court, they want their image to be as squeaky clean as possible.

When this gets to court, it will be in a Gulf of Mexico state (LA, most likely) and BP will be the least favored litigant in the history of the law. They have nothing to look forward to there. That’s why you will see them settle everything they possibly can. So long as plaintiffs aren’t too greedy, BP will just pay. Otherwise, they’ll go into court and BP will get crushed.

So why are they doing this? My guess is that some bonehead flack thought it was a good idea. Or maybe they just want cleanup workers staying on task and doing what they are paid to do. What’s the difference? As I said before, there is no such thing as a meaningfully effective coverup under these circumstances.