When Congressmen cry over spilt oil
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During a Congressional hearing on the Gulf oil spill, Rep. Charlie Melancon -who represents much of the coastal areas of Louisiana affected buy the spill- lost his composure and began to cry.
I’d like to remind my collegues … that the recovery phase is just as critical as the response phase. Everything that I know and love is at risk.
Via Yahoo News
At that point, the Congressman lost his struggle with his emotions and left the hearing, embarrassed by his inability to control his feelings.
Even for the most cynical among us, there can be no question that Rep. Melancon’s emotion was very real. What’s more, it spoke volumes about a part of this disaster that those of us living outside the impact zone simply cannot hope to grasp- the tragedy of seeing one’s home town and surroundings completely trashed by an entity that cared more about saving some money than protecting someone’s home.
In case you haven’t seen what took place, here’s the video -
I live in earthquake territory. When a shaker hits and an apartment building comes tumbling down, we look to the builder of that apartment building to see if the rules were followed or if corners were cut to save some money. If we find the corners were cut, people start going to jail.
How are the events on the offending oil rig any different? We’ve heard all about the arguments that took place on the rig over safety issues – arguments that were resolved by BP executives in favor of saving money. We’ve heard about how warnings of danger that had been received on the rig in the hours preceeding the explosion were simply ignored.
The result of this event was not only the death of 11 people who, presumably, were constituents of Rep. Melancon, but the ruination of the surroundings that are an important part of Melancon’s life.
Rep. Melancon should not be embarrassed in the least over his loss of emotional control.
While the congressman represents some 600,000 people who have been severely harmed by BP’s negligence and will continue to suffer damage for many years into the future, I think that at the moment when the congressman lost his composure it was not his constituents that were in his mind.
This is a man who clearly feels a ‘connection’ to the wetlands and beaches that are not only a part of his Congressional district but a very important part of his life and history. His loss of control was not about politics and, because of that, his tears were as refreshing as they were sad.
Typically, when I reference a member of Congress in an article, I follow the name with a disclosure of that individual’s party affiliation. If I don’t already know the party membership of the person I’m discussing, I look it up – along with any other salient details which might provide insight into the politician upon which I am focusing.
I don’t know if Rep. Melancon is a Democrat or a Republican – and I did not look it up. I don’t know because I don’t want to know and I don’t want to know because, for once, this man’s party affiliation is of absolutely no consequence. I could not care less if he is a Democrat or a Republican.
Here is what I do know.
When I’m looking for someone to serve as guide on how this matter should be handled going forward, I’ll be looking in the direction of Congressman Charlie Melancon for that guidance. And I will do so with a clear predisposition to believe what he has to say.
If Congress can satisfy Charlie Melancon, then it’s going to be all good with me.
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That was a very moving moment. I found myself choking up as Rep. Melancon struggled to speak.
On the other hand, I gotta’ say, the south has traditionally been the biggest supporters of the Reagan/Bush worship of the private sector and disdain for government, federal regulations, environmental protections, etc.
This horrendous spill is a direct result of the Republican’s faith in allowing the private sector to do whatever it wants in its pursuit of profits, unhindered by any meaningful government oversight or regulation. I suspect MMS became a rubber stamp for the oil companies at the direction of the Bush/Cheney administration.
The south has been the biggest enabler of this pro-business/anti-government/anti-regulation attitude, and someone, someday has got to get up and make the case that actions have consequences.
That’s down the road of course. Right now we all just hope BR can stop the spill and we can find a way to clean the water and wetlands as quickly as possible.
Rick, I was born in Louisiana and spent a good part of my life there. I got choked up myself watching that.
I can already guess right wing radio ranters will ridicule him, but that wasn’t for show. If it had been, he would not have so quickly stopped and submitted it for the record.
What gets me angrier than anything about this mess is that only after the oil reached shore did higher ups start demanding that the leak be stopped RIGHT NOW. I think they knew stopping the leak this way was going to cost BP a lot of money, so they held off until public outrage became strong — i.,e., when the oil reached the shore. The engineers at BP are professionals; it’s not like five weeks in, they suddenly think, “Hey, let’s try this ‘top kill’ thingy.”
And we still don’t know if the top kill thingy is going to work.
In response to another comment. See in context »because i follow politics (maybe because i lived within the DC beltway for 30+ years), i knew which party Rep Melancon is affiliated with. when i saw this happen, i didn’t care which party was represented. he spoke from the heart, and that always impresses this bleeding heart.
the region has really taken a hit over the years and we need to HELP our fellow Americans – even if it means an increase in taxes, personal and corporate.
the corporate world needs to acknowledge their responsibility if they do business – make your profits but not so obscene that it hurts the workers who help make your corporation successful.
i agree with this blog post, written by Harvard Business Review blogger, Umair Haque (oh, noes!! it’s a foreign name!!) the Generation M Manifesto.
Rick, your columns today were like the tale of two dudes. One dude was a total douche, and the other dude was a righteous dude. I’m leaving my comment on the good guy’s post, not because I have much to say, but I like to be reminded that there are still righteous dudes out there, and I think we should talk more about guys like Rep. Melancon. Thanks for shining a light on a good guy.
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