The ever-courageous U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-Napoleonville), who last week got himself in trouble by saying the Gulf oil spill was “overplayed,” has now come full circle and is in attack mode against BP CEO Tony Hayward.

He’d also like you to know that he’s opposed to syphilis, root canals and warm beer.

At issue is a statement Hayward made to Fox News on Monday which seemed relatively innocuous. Hayward mentioned that the BP people are highly motivated to put an end to the crisis, injecting a bit of his own personal story into the mix by saying “I’d like my life back” – probably forgetting that no one in America gives a hoot in hell about his life.

Melancon’s Senate campaign site has seized on Hayward’s comments with a petition demanding Hayward be fired. The web page upon which the petition sits says the following:

BP CEO Tony Hayward wants his life back. At least that’s what he told reporters last weekend. He didn’t mention the 11 souls lost or irreparable damage to America’s wetlands. Tony Hayward just wants his life back.

Well, I don’t exactly think Tony Hayward deserves a vacation, but I’m not going to stand in his way. I think it’s time for BP to fire Tony Hayward.

If you agree with me that Tony Hayward should be fired, please sign our pink slip on the right!

So far, there are 870 signatories to the petition. Melancon won’t accept your online signature unless you provide his campaign with an e-mail address so you can go on his campaign e-mail blast list.

It’s a nice bit of guerilla marketing, if a bit ineffectual and more than a bit cynical toward the public. But since Charlie-Boy thinks his constituents are all nuts and strategizes that giving us a little bit of Niagara Falls will get him out from under the statements he made which line up perfectly with some of the things Hayward has said, it’s hard to get too worked up about cynicism coming out of his camp.

You might want Hayward fired, too. Best way to make that happen is to short BP stock. But if you sign Charlie-Boy’s petition, the only guarantee you’ll get is a never-ending stream of sales pitches about how Rush Limbaugh will hook the whole country on Oxycontin if you don’t donate $10 to Charlie-Boy.