Since the Supreme Court in January declared that "Corporate Personhood" is the law of the land, let's treat British Petroleum like a person and hold them accountable as we would any person for such devastating destruction to the people, land, environment and animals in American and Caribbean waters.
BuzzFlash, in the spirit of Jonathan Swift, offers a modest proposal that applies the concept of corporate personhood. Simply put, the top 5 executives of British Petroleum, Transocean (the operator of the oil rig), and Halliburton (the Dick Cheney subcontractor who was handling things when the deep sea well blew) should all be incarcerated in a federal prison (and not the "camp" kind for white collar criminals) until such time as the volcanic oil well is 100% capped and sealed. That's 15 (we assume white men) behind bars from the three corporations guilty of crimes against the people of the United States and the earth. We think that might precipitate a capping of the well right quick. If not, let them mix with the hardcore felons until they rot.
But we think imprisoning the 15 officials from the three companies would result in a timely stopping of the horrific amounts of oil polluting the Gulf and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. They can't live without their Gucci shoes, Rolexes, and $3000 suits for but a day or two.
Then, when the oil stops spewing out, release the 15 executives -- and as soon as they exit the prison, arrest them again, and only allow them out of jail only when $150 billion is paid in full to the U.S. government for oil clean-up, compensation to those who have lost income or their livelihoods to the spill, long-term damage to the environment and housing, the death of untold creatures of the seas, birds and animals, and the damage to tourism.
This should then become the standard procedure for incidents like this and the EXXON/Valdez: no more cross-fingerpointing "Three Stooges" appearances before Congress. Screw up and pollute -- whether it is under the sea or on land -- and you go to jail until the situation is remedied and paid for in cash.
Somehow, we think that will solve the problem right quick. After all, it's what the law would do to a person for much, much less -- and after all the corporations are people -- the Supreme Court ruled in January -- so let's apply the law as it should be applied under the concept of Corporate Personhood.
BuzzFlash Note: To Read more about the concept of Corporate Personhood, buy Thom Hartmann's "Unequal Protection" from the BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
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