BP started off saying the right things about the catastrophic oil spill from the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico – we’re taking responsibility, we’ll pay all claims, we’re an environmental oil company. Then the fast-talking CEO, Tony Hayward, let slip what he really thinks about the spill.  First, he said the spill was “relatively tiny” compared to a “very big ocean.”  The idea was that the 5,000 to 50,000 barrels a day of oil would be dispersed into the ocean.  Then he said that his company would pay only “legitimate” claims from the U.S.  “Come on, this is America,” he said.  “Of course there are going to be a lot of illegitimate claims.”  Do we all know that there are shysters out there who hope to make a buck off the spill?  Yes.  Did he need to belittle the entire Gulf Coast region?  No.  His company now looks like it’s not the environmental company it said it was.  He made his comments overseas.  Perhaps he didn’t know we are in a global media village.  And the media has taken BP on.  Fox News’s Shepherd Smith took the company apart for the CEO’s words, calling them “snotty.”  A word to the CEO: Actions matter, but words matter too.