“I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or corporation does anything legitimately wrong, is subject to some sort of political pressure that is, again in my words, amount to a shakedown. – Rep. Joe Barton
When Joe Barton rather inarticulately apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward for the lawless treatment the company had received at the hands of the Obama White House, he set off a firestorm. His comments were widely seen as a gaffe (which is best defined as a public figure accidently telling the truth), and his own party threatened to remove him from the energy committee unless he issued an apology. Of course Barton played the politician and quickly retracted his statement.
Thomas Sowell, on the other hand, has never been one to apologize for his controversial but true statements, and his recent piece on the $20 Billion shakedown of BP is right on target. Due process, it seems, is not an option for the politically unpopular.
Disclosure: the author is a BP stockholder.
Lux Lucet 
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