Chan Lowe: The slick giveth
In a mega-disaster, where some see the ruination of their homeland, livelihood and culture, others see opportunity, particularly those who are perpetually on the alert for such things.
If you’re a tort lawyer, for example, a class action suit is the holy grail of your profession. Once you have aggregated your client base⎯a “dividend-multiplier” if you will⎯then for the same amount of legal work as you would perform in a single case, you are entitled to a wedge of thousands of little pies.
The goal is to be the first on the scene with the most aggressive team, so you can get your finger in as many of those pies as possible before somebody else tries to muscle his way in.
This case is literally oozing with potential: “BP” might as well stand for “Bulging Pockets.” As the oil seeps around the Florida peninsula and on up to the Tidal Basin in Washington, it could be the gift that keeps on giving long after the gusher has finally been capped.
So the slick taketh away, but it also giveth. If you want to think of it in purely financial terms, it has become its own dynamic ecosystem.
Of course, it takes a special kind of person to think of it in purely financial terms.
CHAN LOWE has been the Sun Sentinel’s first and only editorial cartoonist for the past twenty-six years. Before that, he worked as cartoonist and writer for the Oklahoma City Times and the Shawnee (OK) News-Star.
Comments
The word you're looking for is parasite.
Posted by: Eric | May 5, 2010 10:33 AM
S O S---"Sharks" in the waters...(Homo sapient variety.)
CHAN- Your description of a pie is a good one...I'd call it a "Chum-Pie." ! !
If the fishing industry eats this pie,(without reading the small print) we might have to rename it "Chump-Pie."
Posted by: Lorrraine Wagner | May 5, 2010 11:02 AM
Hey! Can I sue someone because all my normal news has been displaced by oil spill coverage? That should be a class action, right?
Posted by: Tom | May 5, 2010 1:38 PM