It's amazing what can happen when you don't have a kangaroo court. Oh well, at least they have a US Supreme Court who worries about their welfare in other big cases.
Wouldn't it be nice if the Supreme Court cared a little more about corporate responsibility and average Americans instead of the stress of corporate execs who are making a few hundred million dollars? Sheesh. The best democracy money can buy.
Exxon Mobil, the giant oil corporation appearing before the Supreme Court yesterday, had earned a profit of nearly $40 billion in 2006, the largest ever reported by a U.S. company -- but that's not what bothered Roberts. What bothered the chief justice was that Exxon was being ordered to pay $2.5 billion -- roughly three weeks' worth of profits -- for destroying a long swath of the Alaska coastline in the largest oil spill in American history.
"So what can a corporation do to protect itself against punitive-damages awards such as this?" Roberts asked in court.
The lawyer arguing for the Alaska fishermen affected by the spill, Jeffrey Fisher, had an idea. "Well," he said, "it can hire fit and competent people."
The rare sound of laughter rippled through the august chamber. The chief justice did not look amused.
At this point, I don't really care about the feud between Exxon and the loony Chavez. They both deserve each other so listening to either side cry about the money that the other is trying to take means nothing. If it's not Exxon and Venezuela it's Shell and Nigeria or some other heated conflict with an oil company and another area. For anyone paying attention, there's an obvious trend. The oil companies are involved with conflict somewhere and then prices go up, again. This is a rich mans game of chicken that doesn't mean anything outside of their elite circle though for the rest of the world it means higher prices. Thanks for nothing.
Remember the "news," just a few weeks old, that ExxonMobil was giving up its old ways, and would no longer be threatening our very existence for a quick buck by spreading anti-global-warming propaganda?
Seems the lure of the almighty dollar was stronger than the prospect of being responsible for ending all life as we know it. Huff Post has more.
PS Dear ExxonMobil, don't think that we've forgotten that in addition to being polar-bear killers you also hate gays. Don't believe me? Then would you believe Fortune magazine?
