# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/161 "2010-06-13T00:32:51Z")
Nah–they’re not ALL insane. Just **Happy Poster**. Don’t want to make sweeping statements about another country, now, do we? We leave that to folks like HP. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/162 "2010-06-13T00:46:07Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Do they not have middles off in Britain, or have they just all been excluded? Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/163 "2010-06-13T00:56:38Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Based on your behavior in this thread, I’m gonna have to go with option #1. Why has obama had to specifically deny it? ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/164 "2010-06-13T00:58:33Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > The pension issue is a red herring. > > We are not (mostly) complaining because of pensions. No one who can’t look after themselves is massively exposed to BP (apart, of course, from their workforce, their suppliers, their contracters, etc, a great number of whom are American and will now be voting Republican). Oh bullshit! The core issue is that it is hitting the British people right in the pocketbook, or wallet, or whatever you call where your money is kept. And if this were AP, (used to be called American Petroleum, but now means All Pretty) you would be dancing on their grave. And demanding payback. Those British pensioners should have diversified more. Screw them. The reality is that British Petroleum (BP) needs to pay, and pay dearly, and it’s going to continue to cause a major decline in the value of British Petroleum stock. As well it should. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/165 "2010-06-13T01:01:48Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > Oh bullshit! > > The core issue is that it is hitting the British people right in the pocketbook, or wallet, or whatever you call where your money is kept. > > And if this were AP, (used to be called American Petroleum, but now means All Pretty) you would be dancing on their grave. And demanding payback. > > Those British pensioners should have diversified more. Screw them. The reality is that British Petroleum (BP) needs to pay, and pay dearly, and it’s going to continue to cause a major decline in the value of British Petroleum stock. > > As well it should. Those British pensionholders **are** diversified. Hence my comment. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/166 "2010-06-13T01:02:25Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Huh? He is accused Happy Poster of falling prey to the fallacy of the excluded middle wherein one declares that only two extremes are possible and ignores the possibility of a more temperate middle ground existing. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/167 "2010-06-13T01:04:45Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > Why has obama had to specifically deny it? Because you lot are being such unbelievably whiny oversensitive crybabies. Which is honestly surprising to me, but here you are, making a fuss over absolutely _nothing_. Jesus, it’s pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/168 "2010-06-13T01:09:47Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Because you lot are being such unbelievably whiny oversensitive crybabies. Which is honestly surprising to me, but here you are, making a fuss over absolutely _nothing_. Jesus, it’s pathetic. Winston Churchill would be crying in his whisky. He’d be saying, “ **Happy Poster** , in the morning I’ll be sober, but you’ll still be a blithering nincompoop.” ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/169 "2010-06-13T01:14:02Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Because you lot are being such unbelievably whiny oversensitive crybabies. Which is honestly surprising to me, but here you are, making a fuss over absolutely _nothing_. Jesus, it’s pathetic. Right, so look at the facts. Suddenly, a country not exactly known for being touchy, is becoming indignant at the behaviour of your politicians. At the very least there’s a cultural clash here. That could be the root of this, perhaps. There’s certainly one obvious culture clash - the way Tony Hayward is being treated, and how he appears to be being perceived, is crazy. However, we are not unfamiliar with American culture, and we are pretty tolerant of unusual behaviour normally. So the more likely explanation to me is that what we perceive is there. And, really, WTF kind of thing is it for a US President to opine that a CEO ought to have his arse kicked? Is that statesmanlike? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/170 "2010-06-13T01:20:53Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Do they not have middles off in Britain, or have they just all been excluded? I think he needs more false with his dichotomy. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/171 "2010-06-13T01:26:12Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > He is accused Happy Poster of falling prey to the fallacy of the excluded middle wherein one declares that only two extremes are possible and ignores the possibility of a more temperate middle ground existing. cheers. I seriously couldn’t parse the sentence. It made no sense to me. It still doesn’t, but what you said does. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/172 "2010-06-13T02:43:00Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > And, really, WTF kind of thing is it for a US President to opine that a CEO ought to have his arse kicked? Is that statesmanlike? I think Obama was speaking a sentiment many feel over here. But saying Hayward should be sacked isn’t anti-British, it’s anti-Hayward. Just as expressing a dislike for Obama is not anti-American, it’s anti-Obama. We’re considerably more blunt spoken on this side of the Atlantic. Other presidents have expressed themselves equally bluntly, you just don’t remember those occasions. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/173 "2010-06-13T10:19:31Z")
Happy Poster - you’re a bit of a fucking muppet to be honest. Try and recognise a desire by the British media to continue with a media-drive narrative from the reality. In other word (a) this entire Us vs. Them argument is 100% bogus and a product of media trying to freshen up a story they fear hasn’t go the legs it did have (just how many oily birds do people want on the news . . . ), and (b) you’re an embarrassing mug. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/174 "2010-06-13T11:37:20Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > But if you want me to, every hour or so I’m awake and can be bothered I’ll start dumping some in, and I’ll make sure I get them from places that this board likes. > > So starting with Huffington Post: [Anthony Weiner: BP Defenders With British Accents Are Lying (VIDEO) | HuffPost New York](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/08/anthony-weiner-bp-defende_n_604445.html) What I see here is Huffington Post making fun of Rep. Anthony Weiner for what he said. I imagine/hope most people watching the show would have the same “WTF?” reaction I did. I’d believe people thinking ANYONE speaking on behalf of BP is lying though - it’s certainly not like the British people have the lying market cornered. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/175 "2010-06-13T15:21:41Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > Happy Poster - you’re a bit of a fucking muppet to be honest. > > Try and recognise a desire by the British media to continue with a media-drive narrative from the reality. > > In other word (a) this entire Us vs. Them argument is 100% bogus and a product of media trying to freshen up a story they fear hasn’t go the legs it did have (just how many oily birds do people want on the news . . . ), and (b) you’re an embarrassing mug. This posts seems to assume that I am the British Ambassador to the SDMB. I’m not, therefore I may look as foolish as I like 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/176 "2010-06-13T18:26:11Z")
> [@](#): > > therefore I may look as foolish as I like Job well done!😉 ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/177 "2010-06-14T16:07:49Z")
[Oil Spill Media Access: BP Officials Continue To Block Reporters (VIDEO) | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/14/oil-spill-media-access-bp_n_611121.html) BPs heavy handed tactics and cover up is the reason for the reaction. People did not just decide this is a good day to hate BP. BP has covered up and lied over and over. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/178 "2010-06-14T17:46:20Z")
Oh no! A multi-national corporation demonstrates amorality - call the fucking Internet police! ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/179 "2010-06-15T15:20:17Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > Oh no! A multi-national corporation demonstrates amorality - call the fucking Internet police! So you are at peace with that. I think corporations should act responsibly. Imagine that. It now comes out that the rig was declared a vessel and licensed in the Marshall Islands. I find their actions weaselly and immoral. I also think crap like that should not be acceptable. [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-inspection-20100615,0,3043517,full.story](http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-inspection-20100615,0,3043517,full.story) ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/180 "2010-06-15T15:41:50Z")
So I take it everyone is now “tired” of hearing about the oil spill, and it’s now out of fashion to blame BP for spilling millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf. OIC. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726.md?page=10)