UNCHAIN THE SECRET CHENEY OIL EXEC MEETINGS

Environmental lawyer Mike Papantonio, co-anchor with Bobby Kennedy Jr. of "Ring of Fire" on progressvise radio, has filed a class action lawsuit in 3 gulf states on behalf of the gulf industries facing economic collapse from the unfolding off shore oil spill.

The suit claims that thanks to the secret meetings Vice President Dick Cheney held with top oil executives in early 2001, Big Oil was exempted from installing the fail safe "acustic switch system" required in every other country in the world for companies doing off shore oil rig drilling. The device costs a meer half million, something Papantonio's suit claims Cheney decided to exempt Big Oil from having to put up with.

Now that the failure to require such a device may be the primary cause of an environmental disaster whose catastrophic effect cannot even be estimated, it is time for the Cheney-Big Oil meeting details to finally be revealed. Anti war critics have long wanted these details exposed to determine if they shed light on the Bush Administration's rush to needless war in Iraq. With this new allegation, we have a double duty to dip into the mess Cheney unleased upon assuming office which may be connected to the mess in Gulf as well as the mess in the Middle East.