Dr. Riki Ott, a marine toxicologist, former commercial fisherman, and Exxon Valdez survivor, appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann last night to discuss what she called a massive coverup by BP of all aspects of the disaster.

As I noted yesterday, the attitude in Washington regarding the war in Afghanistan is now at panic level. Articles in this morning’s New York Times and Washington Post reinforce that view, and in a remarkable turn of events, General David Petraeus has fallen ill this morning while testifying on Capitol Hill.

Sierra Club loyalists were quick to defend the club, saying that the Sierra Club is a “grassroots organization” and that the article “insults those very volunteers and every Sierra Club member who has ever volunteered to help with an environmental cause.”

There was absolutely no insult meant towards those that donate their time and money to the Sierra Club’s efforts. Quite the opposite. I respect the work that committed grassroots environmentalists do, and believe it’s important to ask if there are other organizations out there more deserving of their support. I do not believe that the Sierra Club, which has aligned itself so tightly with political and corporate interests, is providing leadership worthy of those efforts.

The Sierra Club’s alliance with elite interests has turned it into the antithesis of a “grassroots” organization.

Those patriotic Republicans in South Carolina, apparently ignorant of Article VI of the US Constitution, are starting to worry that their gubernatorial candidate isn’t Jesusy enough.

Slipped into this Reuters piece is the news that BP has hired Goldman Sachs as “advisers” for unknown purposes, in addition to Pete Peterson’s Blackstone Group and Credit Suisse Group. It’s funny because if the Vampire Squid lived in the Gulf of Mexico, it’d be choking to death on BP’s oil. Assuming, of course, it doesn’t actually thrive on crude oil.

Part of understanding propaganda is knowing its intended audience. The recent Pentagon leak on Afghanistan’s mineral wealth is no different. While it appears desperate and comical, it is highly effective and specifically targeted propaganda.

What Frank has proposed is a – say it with me – study of the rating agencies, to determine the best course of action. Franken’s staff has shown concern with that approach. “We know what went wrong with Wall Street’s credit rating system – conflicts of interest eroded it by rewarding cozy relationships instead of accuracy.

Community banks (with assets all the way up to $50 billion dollars) could conceivably create a trading operation of their own, collect subsidies through the discount window and FDIC depositor insurance, and still engage in risky, speculative activity connected to all sorts of positions across Wall Street and the world. Hundreds of community banks of this size already engage in swaps trading. As a result, you could see the mega-banks either retain some of their business in well-capitalized subsidiaries, but the rest of it shift to somewhat smaller regional entities. If they aren’t properly capitalized, that could end up being just as bad a problem and foster more consolidation in the industry, without reducing risk.

I received several emails from FDL diarist Marta Evry, who’s making her way from Pensacola, Florida to New Orleans as we speak. She took some photos along the drive. Commentary and photos below are hers. – MW

Despite earlier reports of a new day for the embattled Section 716 provision of the Wall Street reform bill, which would force mega-banks to spin off their swaps trading operations, a compromise appears in the works. Blanche Lincoln has a lot to think about here. She supposedly won her Democratic primary on the strength of committing to “tough” new rules on Wall Street. A compromise like this would damage that argument significantly. It’s her move.