Dear Mr. President,
You had me at Yes We Can, sir, but you are about to lose me big-time with multiple reports of media censorship in America's wetlands and along America's Gulf Coast.
Mr. Obama, it would be disturbing enough if media censorship of a major event in this country were imposed by our own government. But for it to be imposed by a FOREIGN-owned corporation is unfathomable. I am not aware of any legal provision that gives standing to foreigners to authorize the arrest of American citizens for any reason, so the obvious question that follows is this: Under whose authority is the threat of arrest for photographing dead and dying animals being issued? Under whose authority, for but one example, was a reporter from WDSU in New Orleans turned away from seeing for himself the havoc being wreaked on his state?
I have found it more than odd, Mr. President, that for quite some time the only images shown on our news programs are simply repeats of footage taken weeks ago. I see scientists talking about the devastation to wildlife, but for some reason I am not allowed to see it for myself.
I find it odd that when reporters approach workers on the beach and attempt to ask questions, those workers say, at most, 'No Comment'. No doubt, BP can impose silence on workers they hire, as a condition of their employment, sir.
But back to my earlier question: Under whose authority can BP deny reporters access to the PLACE in which this catastrophe is unfolding?
Nothing since Obama took office has so enraged me as his continued 'partnership' with BP, when BP has repeatedly lied to him and to us all. I can forgive a lot, I can sit back when I wish he were harder on certain issues with Congress.
But this is bigger, far worse, different in a myriad of ways.
Obama should be remembering:
Fool me once, shame on you. But fool me every damn day
for two months and I start making the rules. You, BP,
can follow them or get the hell out of the way.
Think we can't handle the truth, Mr. President? Think again.
What we really can't handle is our own government's complicity in a coverup ordered by a foreign-owned corporation.
Let the reporters in, let the photographers in, let Americans see what is happening to our land and waters, sir. Otherwise, Yes We Can will take on a whole new meaning - and you won't like it the next time around.