Bee in my bonnet.

How could I have forgotten this angle? The value of BP's stock has taken a nosedive. This hurts the company, yes.

But, wait. It also hurts, um, anyone who owns shares of BP. Including folks whose retirement savings are invested in the stock, via managed funds, etc.

So...the more we attack BP to make ourselves feel better in the midst of what is truly a terrible, terrible situation, in the end, we hurt ourselves, our neighbors. Instead, we should be focusing our energy and our actions on ensuring something like this never happens again. If we want BP to atone for this, let's do it in a forward-looking fashion. I'm just saying.

There was a similar occurrence, about eight or nine years ago. What was it...? Big company, bad event happened, lots of negative press, people got mad, started selling off. Company went bankrupt. Shareholders took a major beating. Someone decided that bankruptcy must be illegal....

Gosh. What was the name of that place. Anyone remember? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

The lesson is right in front of us. We just don't want to take the time to learn it. So much easier to seek revenge.