Suddenly my last two posts take on a disheartening relevance. The oil spill in the Gulf is exploding daily in its intensity and volume. The latest estimate is 5,000 barrels a day. That’s 250,000 gallons, and I believe that estimates are now growing as the slick becomes larger. The “experts” say that the leak might remain uncapped for as long as months since the leak is more than a mile-and-half beneath the surface. So the story I joked about two posts ago has now assumed daily headline status and appears to be well on its way to being the most environmentally devastating “accident” in U.S. history. Before it is over, it will dwarf the Exxon Valdez incident. And any government agency or oil spokesman who says that the Alaskan catastrophe has been mitigated are lying sacks of public relations shit.

Which brings me to point two, my recently posted Asshole Factor hypothesis. We have before us a textbook example of the factor at work. A few profit-driven people in the corporate world, fully sanctioned and abetted by the good old government and their sleeping watchdog, have just altered the ecology of one of the USA’s largest fisheries, right at the spawning season. The marsh now under attack from the oil slick is a seriously important wetland ecosystem which may not recover from the oil spill for centuries, if ever. The Assholes asserted the impossibility of such an incident. That group includes Mr. Obama, who when recently announcing his permission for new offshore drilling, assured us that the current technology precludes such a mishap. I guess that doesn’t apply to the rigs which are already operating.

I reserve a special place here for those who have been chanting “Drill, Baby, Drill”. Not a single peep out of those assholes now. Not even a fart of recognition of the current situation. Their taunting of opponents of further offshore oil exploration was smug, condescending, and selectively informed. Where, oh where have these assholes gone? Where, oh where can they be? I’ll tell you where they be. They be living the good life, their wealth allowing them to once again evade the consequences of their own destructive decisions. “No shrimp from the Gulf anymore? That’s okay, we’ll buy the imported tiger shrimp from Thailand.” Assholes. When you look up “asshole” in the dictionary, Sarah Palin’s picture is not there. She’s too big an asshole for the available space . Drill, Baby, Drill. Self-serving, short-sighted, out of touch Asshole with a capitalist “A.”