One Difference Between America's Oil Spill and Chile's Mine Collapse

Offhand, and apart from being disasters, America's oil spill and Chile's mine collapse couldn't be more different. Especially the following: it seems that, compared with BP, the mining company that employed the trapped miners has a truly and undeniable safety record that can only be called shoddy ("Three people have died at its mines over the past six years, and the company clocked up 42 fines from mining watchdogs"). In spite of that, AOL's Theunis Bates has this to say:

San Esteban's owners have said it is too early to blame them for the accident. "Now is not the time to point fingers or ask for pardons," said Alejandro Bohn, joint owner of the mining company, according to The Daily Telegraph.

"Now is not the time to point fingers or ask for pardons". That is San Esteban Primera (i.e., the culprit, one from whom you might expect such a statement) speaking, not the country's president or government or, indeed, anyone independent but, still and so far, that seems a far cry than what we heard from Barack Obama's White House after BP's oil spill…