Friday, May 21, 2010

Quote of the Day: Rand Paul on "Accidents"

Rand Paul said:

"And I think it's part of this sort of blame-game society in the sense that it's always got to be somebody's fault instead of the fact that maybe sometimes accidents happen."
Rand Paul needs to know that, yes, sometimes accidents happen; but when these accidents involve man-made equipment or human error, it's also always somebody's fault.

5 comments:

slapstick said...

In a utopian world, maybe you would be right. Maybe everything would be black and white, and youd be able to 'blame'someone for every negative event in the world. But we dont live in that world. Nothing Paul said was incorrect. Shit happens. That doesnt mean we should ignore this, but nevertheless, shit happens. You act like BP did this on purpose.


OK, so whose fault is it then?

Is it the govt for not placing quite enough regulation on oil companies?

Is it the liberals, whose incessant whining about drilling has forced companies to have to drill in water a mile deep instead on land?

Is it BP?

Is it Halliburton?

Is it Transocean?


I get the feeling that you dont really care whose fault it is anyway, just as long as some huge corporation pays dearly for this.

Has BP said they wouldnt pay? Why dont you wait until there is evidence of BP, Halliburton, or Transocean brushing off their responsibilities before you throw a tantrum?

It seems to me that you are clueless to the fact that trying to bury a company like BP is akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face. As soon as you start biking or walking everywhere, and using candles for your lights, and close down your blog (which uses an electric computer, made from lots of plastic, among other things), then you should be more careful about what you wish for.

Anonymous said...

Huck, if Paul feels that these type of things are going to just happen even if everyone is doing what they should, then that would imply that the risk-benefit analysis regarding offshore drilling should include the acknowledgment that this type of stuff is going to happen and can't be prevented. With that in mind, can offshore drilling still be considered a viable option by anyone?

Huck said...

Look, slapstick, you can assign blame to whomever you wish. You can even exonerate BP if you like, and blame the government. But, in this case, shit happened that could have, and should have, been prevented. So, it is somebody's fault. I don't think anyone in his right mind would argue otherwise. So Rand Paul's implication that this spill is nothing more than a "shrug-your-shoulder-shit-happens" incident, as if it were nothing more than a rotten tree branch falling and conking someone on the head, is absurd.

And you want to know something? If Halliburton, Transocean, and BP can all do the blame-game circle jerk successfully, who is going to end up picking up the bill for this disaster? You and I and every other taxpayer will be, that's who. So be ready to pony up, and I don't want to hear any complaining when the time comes to raise our taxes to do so. Tell that to Rand Paul so that he and his no tax, small government movement can get ready to get real.

LAMom - That is an excellent question. I think I will need to let the Paulites try to answer that one!

Huck said...

LAMom - I do have any answer. Of course, offshore drilling can still be considered a viable option if the drillers calculate that they'll never have to pay the full costs of these certain eventualities. They can just profit and when these "accidents" happen, then they can just walk away when fixing it just gets too darned expensive!

slapstick said...

I'm disappointed in your retort, Huck.

Neither I, nor R Paul is brushing this off, and you know it.

I also didnt say it was no ones fault...but hell, you know that too. All I said was to let the chips fall and the facts come out before assigning blame. I think it will be a shared responsibility.

If either of these companies dont fulfill their obligations to do a full and complete cleanup, as well as compensate the fisherman who may have lost their livelihoods, THEN we can look for heads to roll.

But people like you want heads to roll NOW, when those very heads are needed to stop a gusher thats still gushing.

My point is simply to back off for a while and let the chips fall and the dust settle.