Can we arrest someone yet?

The news about BP's Gusher in the Gulf just keeps getting more depressing and it's increasingly clear this was a case of gross negligence:

"In the days after an oil well spun out of control in the Gulf of Mexico, BP engineers tried to activate a huge piece of underwater safety equipment but failed because the device had been so altered that diagrams BP got from the equipment's owner didn't match the supposedly failsafe device's configuration, congressional investigators said Wednesday."

And much as I hate to link to WaPo, they have a whole list of other construction safety violations that could have prevented this tragedy had they only followed proper procedures. I have much more at my DetNews post if you have the stomach for it.

Ultimately this was a clear case of corporate greed and government cronyism that put profit ahead of public safety. Meanwhile millions of lives will be ruined and almost incomprehensible environmental damage will linger on along the Gulf coast for over a generation. I can't even think of a punishment that would be fitting for this crime. Maybe making them live on a lifeboat in the middle of that mess until it's cleaned up.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]