Shakedown and Shakeup

Maybe the twenty billion dollars committed by BP to repair the damage BP caused in the Gulf of Mexico came because of a form of government extortion, but few corporations have ever been so cavalier (gravely irresponsible) in their conduct and lives have been lost. The CEO of BP Tony Hayward had become that company's public face in the crisis and had performed miserably with one statement regarding getting his "life back" increasing hostility to the company beyond measure and BP itself has just removed him from managing the crisis. I am not endorsing government strong arming business, but if there was ever a case where government should, this was it. If any were to question whether the government had the legal authority, I have no doubt the Congress would pass a law to be applied retroactively (which is inherently unfair) and that the courts would uphold it (though this is unjust). Any suggestion that Congressional hearings were like a Stalinist show trial are ridiculous. Congress is conducting show trials all right but no one is being executed at the conclusion which was the virtually inevitable outcome in the former Soviet Union when Stalin targeted someone. Tony Hayward was replaced, not taken out and shot.