# Brits tell US to lay off the oil spill rhetoric **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 11, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726 "2010-06-11T00:58:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/61 "2010-06-11T13:27:17Z")
> [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](#): > > In trying to figure out what was going on I read [this Telegraph article](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7815713/Barack-Obamas-attacks-on-BP-hurting-British-pensioners.html) and came off angry at Brits where I hadn’t been before. Now you know why foreigners think US conservatives are nuts: other people’s conservatives are always horrible to read. They only make sense within one’s own borders. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/62 "2010-06-11T13:30:14Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > I just came back from a boozy lunch to look at your retail sails fail. I’m about to go out to pub again. > > Tonight I’m gonna tell you what I really think. > > Well, you know what I really think. > > but I’m gonna be less polite. Happy Poster is now [Little E’](http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2815) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/63 "2010-06-11T13:30:57Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > No argument there.Because they’re also conveniently ignoring Halliburton and Transocean. I can’t say if they are or aren’t, but ultimately, BP does have responsibility for the work performed by their subcontractors. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/64 "2010-06-11T13:32:48Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Not I. Nor the BBC correspondent. I’m sorry, that was poorly juxtaposed on my part. I was referring to the people in this thread who seem to be making that argument. [QUOTE=jjimm] Now you know why foreigners think US conservatives are nuts: other people’s conservatives are always horrible to read. They only make sense within one’s own borders. [/QUOTE] No, I think you’re mistaken here. We think our conservatives are nuts, too. ---
**Author:** ![Camus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba8739/32.png) [@Camus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Camus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/65 "2010-06-11T13:33:16Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Really, I think only Reagan qualified there. But Obama is the first American president in a very long time who is actually anti-British and shows it. Obama does not seem to be particularly enamored with Britain or the rest of Europe like recent presidents, but to call him anti-British is preposterous and just plain stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/66 "2010-06-11T13:36:40Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Now you know why foreigners think US conservatives are nuts: other people’s conservatives are always horrible to read. They only make sense within one’s own borders. Ha, I guess that’s how ours sound to you! Then again, that’s mostly how they sound to me too. That other article just makes me laugh, especially with the photograph of How Every American Tends To Think An Englishman Looks, We’re Pretty Sure He’s Wearing Tweed And Has A Cup Of Tea Hidden Below Frame, It’s Always Either Him Or Sid Vicious. I suppose it’s ungentlemanly to mention loudly that a friend has shit in your refrigerator and insisting he clean it up since it’s befouled your leftover sushi. Then again, the British are ever so well known for their politeness, demure manners, and exacting etiquette. What, then, ought we have said? “Terribly sorry to intrude, old chap, but it appears you might have a touch of the ol’ Olestra Squirts?” Right, now I have two groups to be annoyed with. All the companies that were in on this (including our own regulatory committees, which I’m just as angry with if not more so than with BP), and conservative Brits who whine like soppy babies when they get a sniff that this problem might affect them personally. Were they upset with the company in which they held stock that they’ve manfully destroyed the breadbasket of a friendly nation? Apparently not: they’re just upset with the people who are upset about it. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/67 "2010-06-11T13:42:13Z")
> [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](#): > > I am really freaking confused. Then again, I get my news from NPR. > > … I think the imbroglio is centred around Obama repeatedly saying “British Petroleum”, which hasn’t been the name of the company in over a decade, and sounds awkward, given the actual name of the company is “BP”, two letters, and a lot shorter and easier to say than “British Petroleum”. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/68 "2010-06-11T13:46:34Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I can’t say if they are or aren’t, but ultimately, BP does have responsibility for the work performed by their subcontractors. Uh, no. Their subcontractors have responsibility for their own work. If BP contracted Halliburton and TransOcean to perform work which was _inherently_ unsafe, you might have a point. This is much like the Ford/Firestone tread separation controvery - except that at least Firestone also got sued for that. ---
**Author:** ![PaperBlob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@PaperBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperBlob)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/69 "2010-06-11T13:48:03Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > Our major protest is the way that your president, for naked political advantage, is trying to shift responsibility for the reckless actions of Americans across the Atlantic onto us. By “onto us” go you mean “onto the British?” If so, then could you point to what Obama has said or done to try to “shift responsibility” onto the British? Maybe my google-fu is weak today, but I’m not seeing it. Are you referring to his talk about wanting to know “whose ass to kick” or him saying that he would fire the CEO of BP for the remarks he made? Seems to me those comments are aimed squarely at the appropriate targets: BP and whatever other companies/regulators contributed to the disaster, and the CEO of BP. Are you saying that Obama has been referring to BP as “British Petroleum,” to emphasize the “British” part? I’m not saying he’s not, but I couldn’t find quotes that showed him doing this at all, let alone consistently enough for it to mean something. FWIW, I can easily believe that a lot of US citizens are unaware that BP no longer stands for British Petroleum. I’ve read the news every day for the last 35 years, and I somehow missed this change, probably because a corporation changing the meaning of its name is not exactly big news. Of course, the President and the Speaker of the House have staff to make sure they know these things. I think that **jjimm** has it right, though at this point I disagree with the bolded part: > [@](#): > > Attacks on the above companies are legitimate. Attacks on the country of incorporation of the above companies are irrelevant. > > **It seems, but perhaps it’s just paranoia, that many of the public criticisms of BP are implying that it’s shit because it’s British, or are attempts to deflect the true source of responsibility away from anything whatsoever to do with the US.** I am putting forward the proposition that it’s shit because it’s a huge soulless corporation that will do whatever it can get away with where there isn’t enough regulation, or even act illegally, because that’s what huge soulless corporations do, regardless of their country of incorporation. Furthermore, the people at the operational end - in this case American workers and contractors, but in Bhopal, Indians and at the Piper Alpha, Brits - need to assume some responsibility too. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/70 "2010-06-11T13:51:17Z")
> [@PaperBlob](#): > > FWIW, I can easily believe that a lot of US citizens are unaware that BP no longer stands for British Petroleum. I’ve read the news every day for the last 35 years, and I somehow missed this change, probably because a corporation changing the meaning of its name is not exactly big news. Of course, the President and the Speaker of the House have staff to make sure they know these things. It’s not that BP doesn’t stand for British Petroleum. It’s that the name of the company is now just BP, which doesn’t officially stand for anything. Remember that time you saved 15% by switching to Government Employees Insurance Company? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/71 "2010-06-11T13:52:31Z")
Dear U.S., Please continue all rhetoric bashing BP. I am waiting for their shares to hit $25 before I grab those motherfuckers up. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/72 "2010-06-11T13:53:08Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > I think the imbroglio is centred around Obama repeatedly saying “British Petroleum”, which hasn’t been the name of the company in over a decade, and sounds awkward, given the actual name of the company is “BP”, two letters, and a lot shorter and easier to say than “British Petroleum”. We’re actually weirdly formal in some ways here in the US. Some things get to keep their acronyms. Let’s take AIDS and HIV as examples. When they first came out onto the media mainstream, they would always get extra-explained at the beginning of a news story and then referred to by their acronym with the rest. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “HIV-the-virus-that-causes-AIDS” long after everyone should know this. It’s strongly ingrained in school that we should never use acronyms in formal correspondence, so whenever we find one we always try to ferret out what it means and figure we’re being more ‘correct’ when we do so. Apparently they’re Beyond Petroleum now, but really I doubt anyone actually uses that name, and BP just… just feels wrong. So while I get what you’re saying, but the notion that this is anti-British is laughable. Especially because people would still be upset that the stock prices were going down. This is a bit like complaining that Billy-Bob Redman set fire to your house and hearing in return that you’re only upset because he has red hair. We largely don’t care that the company’s British. We care that it shit on our shrimp. Also, this entertains me. From the article I linked before, the last line: "On Monday, The Daily Telegraph disclosed that the Foreign Office was concerned that the criticism of BP was harming Anglo-US relations. " I love it when news outlets make a statement and then report that other people heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/73 "2010-06-11T13:53:44Z")
Yeah, I was saying to my flatmate last night how I’ll have to invest in some BP shares soon. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/74 "2010-06-11T14:59:06Z")
You want an American to be pissed at? [Here you go.](http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/06/boehner-government--ie-taxpayers--should-help-pay-for-oil-spill.php?ref=fpb) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/75 "2010-06-11T15:03:56Z")
[http://www.alternet.org/story/147155/years\_of\_internal\_bp\_probes\_warned\_that\_neglect\_could\_lead\_to\_accidents](http://www.alternet.org/story/147155/years_of_internal_bp_probes_warned_that_neglect_could_lead_to_accidents) There has been a very poor attitude at BP in regards to safety. Internal memos say there was infighting in the company over their risky behavior. Some divisions predicted a serious accident if they continued flaunting safety. BP is preventing workers from being interviewed. They lied about the flow rate over and over. They kept the high res movies away from the government departments who were to make a determination of the flow. The dislike of BP is their own damn fault. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/76 "2010-06-11T15:17:46Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > flaunting Flouting. “Flaunting” means showing it off, which clearly they didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/77 "2010-06-11T15:19:10Z")
> [@C3](#): > > That editorial is right on. The only people I’ve seen making this a US vs UK issue are British. It’s obvious that this is some sort of issue being whipped up in your press or among your politicians. It doesn’t exist here. The fury is at BP. > > It’s also interesting how you all are equating badmouthing of BP with badmouthing of the UK, then in the next breath, telling us how BP isn’t a British company. BP is the company that gave us those “Beyond Petroleum” TV commercials, in which actors pretending to be Sincere American Yuppies blathered on about the environment. Then the mellow voiceover exclaimed about all the good BP was doing. The spots were damage control, after BP’s really dismal safety record had become well known. Mostly in the wake of their [Texas City refinery explosion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_Refinery_explosion) that killed 15 & wounded may more. Various investigations revealed serious problems with the company’s handling of safety issues. Now BP’s latest screwup has been getting very bad press. And _some_ of the people losing money are British. Time for more Damage Control! Explain that everybody badmouthing BP is actually criticizing Old England. Valteron just invoked Winnie Churchill in his current disastrous thread; BP’s spokesmodels will follow suit in describing the Second Battle of Britain. Sorry, I’ll continue to say anything I want about BP. Nothing personal against the Brits. (Although I may backslide a bit during tomorrow’s game.) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/78 "2010-06-11T15:31:15Z")
[never mind] ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/79 "2010-06-11T15:35:36Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > BP is the company that gave us those “Beyond Petroleum” TV commercials, in which actors pretending to be Sincere American Yuppies blathered on about the environment. Then the mellow voiceover exclaimed about all the good BP was doing. Now _that’s_ flaunting. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/80 "2010-06-11T15:49:26Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > BP is the company that gave us those “Beyond Petroleum” TV commercials, in which actors pretending to be Sincere American Yuppies blathered on about the environment. Then the mellow voiceover exclaimed about all the good BP was doing. The spots were damage control, after BP’s really dismal safety record had become well known. Mostly in the wake of their [Texas City refinery explosion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_Refinery_explosion) that killed 15 & wounded may more. Bullshit. The “Beyond Petroleum” campaign dates to at least 2001, four years before the Texas refinery explosion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726.md?page=5)