If these photos don't make you sick to your stomach, I don't want to know you. This is part of the inevitable consequences of our addiction to oil... we can regulate, we can take safety measures, we can punish the negligent, but spills will happen. I can see how we got here, I can see how hard it will be to get away from it, but I'm heartbroken with where we are.
That first one, I couldn't even tell it was a bird.
Those pictures should be posted on every blog and should run 24/7 on all TV channels for as long as the gusher is gushing.
ReplyDeleteIf these don't make the extent of BP's clusterfuck understandable to every viewer, you could write them off as a repug.
Thanks for posting some reality about the disaster.
I disagree with the previous comment, in that the people responsible for all this aren't going to be reading Lockwood's blog, or my blog or even Think Progress and Crooks & Liars (both places that posted the pics above "the fold").
ReplyDeleteI do not want or need to see the photos, nor do many others, to reach the proper level of outrage. In fact, the viewing of them can cause one to totally "tune out" -- as I did last night after scrolling down the main page at TP and seeing them -- because there's not a goddamn thing I can do to save those poor creatures.
So thanks, Lockwood, for using a link instead of reposting the photos.
I do think, though, that those responsible should be shown the photos on an endless loop, a la Clockwork Orange.
ReplyDeleteWhile slowly being covered in oil.
And maybe a plague or two of locusts or fire ants or something.
Yeah, the people who need to see those photos aren't going to see them here. I make no bones about the fact I'm more squeamish than most others... stuff like this does evoke a powerful physical reaction in me. Whether it's a person, animal, or simply environmental desecration, I can feel a real sense of nausea, and sometimes end up actually crying- my eyes were definitely welling up with these photos. When I have that powerful a reaction, I have to make a case by case decision regarding whether to confront readers with the same experience. As I've said before, news is not what I want to know, it's what I need to know. These were not pictures I wanted to look at... but I needed to.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of pain in the world; some, I have to just let roll off. Some, I have to decide, "this is just too important to avoid." I think readers should have the same choice. Though sometimes- see the iconic photos label- I feel an image is just so important that however anguishing it is to me, I look at it again and feel that others should too.
It's not always an easy choice, but regular visitors, I suppose, come to trust my judgment. That trust gives me enormous satisfaction and sense of pride. Thanks for the kind words.