Media has it's place in getting things into peoples minds, and then their representatives minds, for better or worse. I think in this particular case, people should be asking why the newer engineering solutions weren't either in place, or followed. Why were things left to get to this point, instead of an inspection finding problems early? Why is it taking so long to try alternate solutions? Engineering safety solutions is only part of the issue, clearly there was a huge regulatory failure on this situation as well.

To me, if a company is going to be allowed to work at that depth in the ocean, they should be mandated to ensure that not only are proper procedures being followed on the rig, but that emergency equipment is nearby in case of a complete failure onboard. A "top hat" device should have already been ready and sitting on standby somewhere in the gulf, possibly stored at one of the many locations needed for oil refining. If ultimately relief wells are the best solution, then ensure they can be drilled quicker, possibly by pre-drilling a little bit and keeping the alternate sites ready to be brought online quickly.