I haven't commented on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I haven't commented on anything for some time. But something has been bothering me.
All the news -- well, most of it, anyway -- has focused on the environmental impact of the spill. Pictures and stories about animals with oil on them were all over the Internet... before there were any animals found with oil on them; they used pictures from past incidents. And recent stories about dolphins and turtles dying have been tied to the spill, even though they may be from other reasons.
And, while I do think that oily animals are bad -- especially oily animals that haven't been anywhere near an oil spill -- I haven't heard a lot about the first group of animals that was impacted by the accident in the Gulf: humans.
Eleven people died. That bothers me. Those are people. And people are more important than birds or turtles or dolphins.
To me anyway. But not, it seems, to news outlets. The worst thing about the spill, to read the news, is the environmental disaster. They don't all call it "environmental disaster." Some just call it a "disaster." But all the bad stuff mentioned in the stories are all about the environmental impact. They seem to gloss over the fact that eleven people died.
Of course, being a conservative, I'm naturally more likely to think that the death of people is worse than oil on a duck. Silly me.
If those 11 had been "undocumented" the press would salivate. Normal hard-working Americans? Not newsworthy.
ReplyDeleteTrue dat.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that the biggest tragedy is the loss of 11 lives. Now regarding the oily wildlife - do you remember the commercial for Dawn dishwashing liquid where they "bragged" about cleaning up the animals impacted by the Exxon Valdez spill? I'm just curious why there aren't truckloads of Dawn being shipped down there so the animals can be caught and washed up. It certainly works on the grease/oil stains on my laundry - and that pumping foam Dawn works even better!
ReplyDelete