BP's Tony Hayward: Yachting While the Gulf Burns

What a weekend for two of the main players in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Let's start with Tony Hayward, the CEO of BP, whose well was being drilled 5,000 below the ocean surface when the contract platform Deepwater Horizon caught fire April 20.

That tragedy killed 11 workers and set the stage for millions of gallons of petroleum to cascade into the water, a disaster whose effects are still being felt and that will be for who knows how long.

Being the take-charge-of-the-crisis kind of guy he is, Hayward opted to relieve the stress of dealing with the spill and last week's Congressional questioning the way any upstanding modern corporate leader would -- with a little relaxation at a yacht race in which his boat was competing. Despite what was surely a gallant effort, his craft could only manage a fourth place showing.

In response to the boating holiday, short though it may have been, BP's spokesman had the following to offer: "He's spending a few hours with his family at a weekend. I'm sure that everyone would understand that."

No. If a member of his family had been suffering a dire medical emergency, everyone probably would have understood that, though even some of you might have had to think about it.

At any rate, and in all seriousness, to say this was a poor decision is one of the biggest understatements in the two months since the spill began.

"You've got to wonder if Tony Hayward during that whole grilling before Congress was sitting there thinking, 'I can't wait to get on that boat this weekend,'" Aaron says in the accompanying video. "Come on. How dumb does BP have to be to say, 'Tony Hayward, yeah, you know what? You deserve a break. You haven't taken a day off since the spill happened. … It's unbelievable, just the symbolism and the stupidity of this."

We always want to be fair, but let's face it, this isn't the time to be taking a break. Until the leak is resolved, you don't get a break -- unless you're walking away from the job, Aaron adds.

Meanwhile, President Obama, who has been critical of Hayward essentially from the outset, took some time from his schedule to celebrate the Father's Day weekend with a bit of golf.

Sure, he deserves some R&R, but should he be taking it right now? "You could say until this thing is resolved, nobody gets to do anything, if you're either the president of the United States or the head of BP," Aaron says. "I don't think the American people would have a problem with that."

Questions have been mounting for some time about whether Hayward will survive the aftermath of the spill, and considering his latest demonstration of prowess, that's likely only going to continue.

"I think Tony Hayward is gone," Henry says. "Take responsibility. This is the thing we've been ranting about since the whole beginning of the financial crisis. U.S. CEOs, Western CEOs for whatever reason, there is this culture of the ship crashed while I was running it, but I wasn't driving, so I'm staying."

If you're an investor, and you're still holding out hope that Hayward will overcome his mounting missteps and prove to be the right person to restore the world's faith in BP, ask yourself if he still has your confidence.