The Cruel Irony of Corporate PR

From BP's website:

A key component of BP's response to the Gulf oil spill is the use of commercial and charter fishing vessels from communities along the Gulf shoreline participating in BP's "Vessel of Opportunity" program.

And from al.com this morning:

FORT MORGAN, Ala. -- An Orange Beach, Ala., charter boat captain shot and killed himself this morning just before his vessel was scheduled to set out to take part in oil cleanup and protection efforts, investigators said...A statement by the Gulf Shores Police Department said Kruse shot himself in the head.

It continues:

Kruse did like to know what was going on and was particularly frustrated with the lack of straight answers coming from BP about the Vessel of Opportunity program and particularly about how he was to be paid once his 2 boats were deployed.

"It's a nightmare with just all of the paperwork and training and then waiting to get hired on top of the fact we're all stressed about losing our entire season anyway," Bell said. "I hate to say it, but I'm surprised something like this hasn't already happened."

Bad Actors

According to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, as reported by MSNBC:

Indeed, the poll shows that only 6 percent have a favorable rating of BP. In the history of the NBC News/Journal poll, Saddam Hussein (3 percent), Fidel Castro (3 percent) and Yasser Arafat (4 percent) have had lower favorable scores, and O.J. Simpson (11 percent) and tobacco-maker Philip Morris (15 percent) have had higher ratings.

Things Cindy McCain Likes

Here is Cindy's Twitter review:

"Toy Story 3. A really fun movie. Catch it if you can. You'll love it!"

When Actors Rant

Jon Voight in today's Washington Times:

Your destruction of this country may never be remedied, and we may never recover. I pray to God you stop, and I hope the people in this great country realize your agenda is not for the betterment of mankind, but for the betterment of your politics.

Well, that's pretty dramatic.

Seems like a long journey from playing an anti-war Vietnam vet opposite Jane Fonda:

The McChrystal Prologue

Yesterday's and likely today's big news show will be filled with almost nothing except the Rolling Stone article on General McChrystal and his subsequent meetings at the Pentagon and with President Obama. The upshot is that McChyrstal is a "Runaway General" as the title of the article suggests and he and his top aides gave disparaging statements about the Obama administration and their prosecution of the war in Afghanistan.

Today, however, on the NY Times NFL blog of all places, the beginning of the McChrystal story is told as it relates to the death of NFL player Pat Tillman. McChrystal is placed front and center at the fraud that took place in covering up the friendly fire death of Tillman. It seems that McChrystal had no problems at that point doing the bidding of the Bush administration in falsifying commendation records in the death of America's most famous soldier. The story of Pat Tillman giving up the life of an NFL star to join the army to fight against terrorism was too great a story to undercut with the truth that Tillman's head was blown off by American soldiers. From the Times:

The Pat Tillman story was always an irresistible one. A man forsakes riches and fame for his country.

His death during his service? It only added to the narrative of duty and sacrifice. It apparently proved too irresistible for military officials not to want to spin it for their purposes; they initially portrayed it as something other than the friendly fire that it was.

The Times than includes numerous video clips revealing the truth revealed during the investigation and gives this warning:

Warning: These old clips may make you mad.

Here is just one of the clips:
There is also a documentary on Tillman's death and coverup--including McChrystal's role--coming in August.

Things Cindy McCain Likes

TV shows? This is her favorite. Who knew?