Shypocrisy

The court case to decide compensation for the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has been postponed for a few days, raising expectations that the main defendant, BP, may be about to settle out of court. Watching from a distance, one of the amazing things that strikes the observer is how BP -- or rather, BRITISH Petroleum, as it has been universally referred to in the American media ever since the rig caught fire,  has emerged as the sole villain of the piece. It was never the sole owner or the main operator -- giant US corporations including Anadarko,  Transocean and the ever-popular Halliburton were all deeply involved.

No matter.  Everyone from Wolf Blitzer to Jay Leno piled in on BRITISH Petroleum as the principal owners of the rig, and the company's own partners in the enterprise were all quick to run for cover.  There's still a blog somewhere out on the 'net calling for the US government to "seize the assets of British Petroleum" right now.

So it seems only fair to point out that both the Costa Concordia and Costa Allegra cruise ships are ultimately American-owned (by Carnival Cruise Lines). Just to jog your memory, the Costa Concordia ran aground near Sardinia in mid-January, with the loss of at least 25 lives (compared to 11 on the Deepwater Horizon, not that that's especially relevant).  And just this week the Costa Allegra has suffered a catastrophic power failure, leaving over 1,000 people drifting in the pirate-infested waters of the Indian Ocean. Sure, the officers are mostly Italian and the crews are from all around the world, but the ultimate ownership is American, and that's what counts in these things. Right, Wolf? Right, Jay?