Majia here: Management of public outrage over the financial and BP oil crises has been expert, smooth, and sociopathic.
We see in the BP oil spill the use of scapegoating of low level employees, who surely bear some responsibility, but are merely the foot soldiers of a culture of greed and arrogance.
We see in the financial crisis erasure of personal culpability altogether, as corporate cultures seeped in corruption are euphemistically referred to as "risk seeking."
The examples below are illustrative, beginning with two articles on the criminal prosecutions of BP engineers:
In BP Indictments, U.S. Shifts to Hold Individuals Accountable by Clifford Krauss Nov 15, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/business/energy-environment/in-bp-indictments-us-shifts-to-hold-individuals-accountable.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121116
Engineers Deny Charges in BP Spill: Two Who Oversaw Safety Test Are Set to Appear in US Court on Seaman's Manslaughter Counts. The Wall Street Journal Nov 19, 2012 p. A6
[Excerpted] "It's still a surprise that the Department of Justice would pin the entire incident on just these two 60-year-old guys who were actually working on the rig" said Jimmy Ardoin, a criminal defense lawyer in HOuston....
...Assitant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said Thursday after unsealing the indictments that the accident was caused by 'BP's culture of privileging profit over prudence." BP has denied it has such a culture.
David Ulhmann, a Univ. of Michigan law professor who previously led the Justice Department's environmental crimes unit, said the issue of BP's culture is likely to come up at trial.
"It raises the question if it is fair to charge these individuals who had no influence or authority over those policies and this culture," Mr. Uhlmann said. [end excerpt]
Majia here: The two engineers no doubt had some level of culpability, but the trial should focus on the EXECUTIVES who produced this BP culture that disregards safety, legality, and human decency.
Please see my extended post here about the BP oil spill and the use of the toxic dispersant, corexit.
It is worth noting that in 2010 BP had a huge toxic atmospheric release in Texas, as well: here
The BP oil spill was a result of gross negligence and greed. There is no doubt. So, why focus on two lowly engineers, unless you are looking for safe scapegoats?
Now let us consider the financial crisis. No criminal charges have been leveled against any of the Wall Street banksters working for the banks holding the most responsibility for the crisis, including Goldman Sachs, J. P. Morgan Chase, Bank of American, etc. See my posts on this subject below.
The financial crisis gets described by the mainstream press as caused by a risk-taking culture and legal loopholes, despite the obvious criminal fraud at the heart of the crisis, from liars loans to fraud infused securitization processes.
No criminal charges at all for any banksters at the largest financial institutions.
In both instances -- the BP oil spill and the financial crisis -- we are witnessing miscarriages of justice.
In the case of BP, rank and file employees are made to pay for the culture of greed that came down from the top executive eschelons. Scapegoating occurs.
In the case of the financial crisis no criminal charges for the banksters, although a few ponzi operations get taken down for the crowd.
There is no justice here...
Jul 26, 2012
The
fraud, corruption, and weaponization of financial instruments at the
heart of the crisis have continued years after the recession was
declared over. Two brief examples illustrate the power of the financial
industry to acquire ...
Aug 11, 2012
It
is unusual for federal and state prosecutors to bring criminal charges
against a defendant connected to the same set of facts. The Fifth
Amendment of the Constitution prohibits double jeopardy, or being tried
twice for the ...
Nov 16, 2012
Media
Report NO Criminal Charges in MF Global Expected. The New York Times
and Washington Post emphasize a "risk taking" culture fostered by
Corzine and a failure of regulators in the MF Global scam. Neither news ...
Apr 20, 2010
She
argues that criminal charges should occur because these investment
banks and commercial banks were fundamentally involved in criminal
activities. She states they were "supplying money for fraudulent lending
and ...
May 22, 2010
Today
the Washington Post reports that no criminal charges will be filed
against AIG executives: "The executives, who worked at a unit of AIG
called Financial Products, were instrumental in designing complex
contracts known ...
PREVIOUS POSTS ON GULF OIL SPILL
Aug 21, 2011
This
decision against a ruling of gross negligence is hard to understand
given BP's safety record. BP's corporate culture has promoted
deal-making over safety (Chezan “BP's Safety Drive”, 2011, A1). BP's
Prudhoe Bay ...
Mar 20, 2012
[excerpted]
"A whistleblower is alleging for the first time in a yearslong lawsuit
against BP that its massive Atlantis oil platform operation off the
Louisiana coast faces present and imminent danger... He reported to a BP
...
Mar 05, 2012
[excerpted]
"As BP settles out of court for the first phase of thousands of
lawsuits that could cost the company tens of billions of dollars, Al
Jazeera has spotted a large oil sheen near the infamous Macondo 252
well.
Oct 11, 2012
Matt
Simmons Warned Us. Thur Oct 11 BP Close to Spill Settlement:
Multibillion Dollar Deal with U.S. Would Combine Civil, Criminal
Liabilities. By Daniel Gilbert p. A2. [Paraphrasing] The article states
that the US government ...
Aug 09, 2010
I'm
not implying that I believe everything Simmons said was true, or that I
thought that nuking the well was a good idea. However, BP is lying
about the condition of the ocean floor. The government's own data show
lots of ...
Jul 25, 2010
BP
Oil: Is There a 2nd Major Leak? Matt Simmons has been saying for months
that there is a second leak, coming not from the riser but from a large
fracture in the ocean floor. There is some evidence to support his
claim about ...
Aug 19, 2010
Additionally,
he tells Washington's Blog he does not know if the other well drilled
by BP is leaking or not, but there are unsubstantiated reports of 2
leaks to the west, one about 400 feet away and one several miles away.
Dr. Bea also confirms that although a methane release is unlikely to be
dangerous, there does exist the real danger of hydrogen sulfites being
released. Dr. Bea's interview lends support for and/or confirms a lot of
Matthew Simmons's claims.
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