The Fall and Fall of BP

BP, once a proud British firm has undergone somewhat of a transformation recently. This alteration in BP’s image has left it limp, de-generated, rather embarrassed and in danger of a hostile takeover.
This is partly due to its own short comings as an engineering heavy weight. However, it is also due to the various imprudent remarks made by President Barak Obama.
Said remarks have grown in their intensity as Mr. Obama’s popularity has decreased in the US opinion polls. Coincidence?
No, Barak has been systematically shifting the blame from himself onto BP and Britain as a nation. His repeated referrals to BP as British Petroleum were far from a mistake. He is moving the limelight onto the British and as far away from his administration as possible. This is a typical PR reaction to the anti-Barak feeling along the Gulf coast.
So is Barak blameless?
No, his relentless demonizing of BP is causing the companies share price to plummet. Its share value has decreased by 47% (10th June 2010) and the sharpest decreases were occurring during Baraks most damming comments about BP.
Bp’s response
Tony Haywood has been doing what is expected. Releasing youtube videos in an attempt to conversate directly with those affected. Has it worked? No, the people of the Gulf region do not want to hear the promises of an emotionless politician-esque chairman of a multi-billion dollar company.
What these people want is real progress on the engineering front in capping the well and cleaning up the oil.
Mr. Haywood is doing all that is expected of him and more, by paying for the whole clean up operation, refunding lost earnings and staying there until the whole area is rejuvenated to a better standard than it was before the leak.
Is this more than what is expected?
Yes, as the oil rig was actually owned and operated by an American firm Transocean. One that has stayed largely silent throughout the commotion. It is paying out a One Billion Dollar dividend to its shareholders shortly and Barak has not commented on this. Unlike BP, as Barak has berated them so much on the issue of paying dividends, BP are planning to defer the payment of them and maybe even cut the amount by half.
What does this mean for Britain?
Well BP is the mainstay of almost every UK pension fund and its dividend of almost £7 billion per year or almost £1 in every £6 paid out in British dividends to pension funds. BP's downfall will therefore can have a detrimental effect on the elderly in Britain.
Back to BP's handling of the disaster. It is thought they arending tens of thousands of pounds everyday on google alone to ensure BP are top of the search engine when Gulf oil disaster (or related topic) is entered. They are trying to take control of the situation and force people to look upon the disaster from BP's perspective. Which is: An accident happened, which ruined the livelihoods of many Gulf Sea inhabitants, however BP are doing everything in their power to rectify the situation.
I believe it is worth noting that BP have, quite admirably not tried to push the blame on to Transocean, or engaged in a petty war of words with Barak Obama.