MATTHEW HINTON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Dolphins swim in oil sheen near East Grand Terre Island Sunday June 20, 2010.

The BP oil disaster might be the start of a political war within the United States.  Never before in my lifetime do I recall a group of politicians being so against something that would protect and assist regular working Americans and eventually humans everywhere.  Some Republican members of Congress seem to have chained themselves together in solidarity to support the oil industry and oppose efforts by President Obama to clean up the Gulf, make sure oil spills don’t happen again, and hold BP financially responsible for their own Oil Volcano under the sea.   There seems to be no rhyme or reason to this opposition other than purely political.  Is that how this minority group of politicians want to go down in history — as being in opposition to preserving and protecting the U.S. mainland from an onslaught of oil from a foreign oil company?

That is not the path most Americans would choose.  British Petroleum is not a popular corporation in the United States anymore, and neither is the coal industry, or most of the oil industry, as they are correctly seen as incredibly greedy and driven by nothing but profits.  But certain members of Congress seem completely unaware of this public perception and continue to defend these corporate fossil fuel interests over those of the American people.  It’s astounding.

The people in the Gulf region of the United States are hurting very badly right now.  Right-wing politicians want to remedy BP’s crime by forcing those people, whose businesses have been destroyed by oil, to go through a long, expensive court battle to get their rightful compensation from the corporation that destroyed their lives.  Instead, Obama, mindful that distribution of damages and wages, etc., were not being distributed in a timely manner, set up an escrow account that BP willingly put $20 billion dollars into for those damaged by their oil.  Why would anyone have a problem with that?  Oh, but they do.  See Representative Michele Bachmann (C for Crazy — MN) as she complains about the “pot of money” Obama has created, in her mind, to dole out as he pleases. She makes it sound like his personal bank account.  Obviously, there are some delusions going around about this escrow account.  The following is from Think Progress:  It’s full of links, but you don’t have to follow them all to get the gist of the story.

THE GULF COAST VS. BIG OIL:

The Obama administration, concerned that BP may try to avoid giving full, prompt compensation to all the people its oil disaster hurt, negotiated a $20 billion escrow fund that the company will set up to compensate Gulf Coast residents. Yet instead of supporting the administration’s efforts to hold BP accountable, Barton, the top Republican on the Energy Committee, apologized to Hayward during the CEO’s testimony, saying, “I’m ashamed [...]