"How the hell are we going to get past this with the minimum damage to our agenda." Out come the lawyers, and the propaganda machine, and the public relations effort. Spin, Baby Spin.

The crime is not that the accident happened, accidents do happen, but that there was no preparation or backup plan in place, and what preparations were in place were obviously inadequate, or not drilled and followed up. As in Exxon Valdez, where emergency crews and equipment existed, but were laid off or in drydock at the time of the accident because of "financial considerations". And of course, now we are assured the damages there were "not all that bad".

After all, Deep Horizon was not a routine operation, of the type we are assured is so safe because it has been done so many times before. This was a state-of-the-art, cutting-edge exploration at the very edge of the envelope. These people were drilling in an environment that was unknown, under extreme physical conditions, where we had little or no experience, in an area where the risks to the environment and other people's lives and property were enormous. Already we are hearing rumors of corners being cut and shortcuts being taken, of corporate interference in field operations and site management. And the lobbyists and attorneys and the corporate shills are hard at work, laying the groundwork for a defense. Even here on the Zone.

Sure, rumors are just that, and they must be properly investigated, but I suspect no hearing or court will ever satisfy the TBs of this world, who cavalierly dismiss any evidence against their corporate heroes as political conspiracy, whose sole purpose in life seems to be making excuses and covering up for their cultural role models and rushing about accumulating irrelevant factoids designed to divert attention from what actually happened. It's a pattern we've seen repeated in Iraq, with WMDs, with torture, and the economic meltdown. An excuse for every screw-up. The dog always ate their homework and the teacher always has it in for them.

What actually happened is that a great multinational corporation, engaging in a risky but potentially very profitable activity, has a colossal accident for which they were obviously not prepared. Whether the damage they have unleashed on the Gulf can be mitigated is now in the hands of technical expertise only they understand and control. They stood to profit if it had worked, they must be prepared to accept responsibility for what happened when it failed. Not "limited liabilty" or "litigation caps" or political spin, or earnest-sounding spokesmen in slick TV commercials; they have to accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions. And their apologists need to shut up and listen. Maybe they'll learn something.