GULF OIL SPILL INVESTIGATION BY HOLDER DESIGNED TO TAKE HEAT OFF OBAMA

Attorney general Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department will being a criminal investigation of BP as it may relate to the massive Gulf Oil Spill which is still spewing millions of gallons of fresh crude into the Gulf of Mexico. While this type of investigation in not unprecedented for a disaster of this type or magnitude, its timing is highly questionable.

In 1989 when the Exxon Valdez oil spill caused disastrous results in Alaska the Justice Department investigation did not begin until well after the disaster was over and the full extent of the problem and its impact was understood. The timing of Holder's announcement which took place of all places in New Orleans, which I am sure was not an accident, is not as much to go after BP but to take the heat off the Obama administration for its extremely poor handling of the disaster.

I am not suggesting that BP not be held responsible for the disaster and the impact it is having on the Gulf Coast and the thousands of people who depend on the Gulf for their livelihood. The cost of the cleanup and the impact on fishing and other interest in the Gulf should be the responsibility of BP. BP's CEO did not help the situation when he stated in an interview his concern about the spill and its impact on the Gulf region but then added he wanted it over so, "he could get his life back." So would those whose income is gone because of the spill.

So BP is not just an innocent in this matter who is trying to clean up the mess. They must be held accountable for what has and will continue to happen and if any law was broken causing the fire and eventual collapse of the Deep Water Horizon, then that responsibility belongs to BP also. I will add also that the feds must take responsibility for the location of the problem since it is over regulation that caused BP to have drill in such deep water in the first place. But Holder's announcement of a criminal investigation in much to early and to suspicious in it timing in light of the heat that Obama and his administration have been taking over the slow and at times almost non-existent response to the disaster.

An investigation of this type is typically started AFTER the crisis is over and the full impact of the events which took place as a result of the crisis are complete so that the investigation can obtain all of the facts and not just a portion. The well has not even been capped yet and oil is still spewing into the Gulf at a rate which has not decreased since the start of this more than 40 days ago. How can the AG investigate a possible criminal charge when that facts for the case are still on going ?

By announcing at this early stage that a criminal investigation is under way Obama through Holder is attempting to shift the light of blame from his irresponsibility in the crisis and passing the buck to BP. During Obama's visit last Friday to the region he stated that as President the, "buck," stopped with him. Well it seems that the buck only stops with Obama when the cameras are on and he can look tough when behind the scenes ineptness reigns in both Obama and his administration and the,"investigation," will, he hopes take the light off of his own failings. Not likely!

Ken Taylor