From a story in the NY Times about the oil on the coast...
On the coastal island of Gulf Shores, some residents who had seen tar balls near their property said that their neighbors had told them not to talk about it. Ms. Callaway said that after she had appeared on television to talk about the tar balls on Dauphin Island, she, too, had received angry responses from locals. “I had people telling me, thanks a lot, you killed our tourist season.”
As we learned, this technique worked so well during the Civil Rights era ("Protests? What protests??") I'm sure it has the approval of the PR folks at BP too.
Shades of the Mayor and Council in the fictional Jaws ("Shark?What shark???")
Killing the messenger is a winner strategy. For about 48 hours.
[UPDATE: Mississippi's Governor is singing the same tune.]
Isn't that the "ostrich head-in-the-oil-sand" approach? Pretend it doesn't exist? In mental health, that technique of denial is a classic sign of mental illness.
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