GayPatriot

The Internet home for American gay conservatives.

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  2. Stop Moaning – you blame stuff like this on Clinton, but did your beloved Bush or 6 years of the Republican controlled congress do anything to overturn it? No. Same with DOMA and DADT.

    What did we get? Cheney and his secret meetings combined with Bush removing requirements for an increase in mpg in cars – these were mandates created during the Clinton administration, yet were removed almost immediately in 2001, done almost immediately after Bush took office. Not only that, but they instituted tax credits for people buying gas guzzlers.

  3. Victor Davis Hanson on the moral imperative for drilling: click here.

    The wealthy, especially political liberals… like that high-priced gas translates into less burning of fossil fuels by others…

    But [what about equality and fairness?] …instead of objecting to the view of a derrick from the California hills above the Santa Barbara coast, shouldn’t a liberal estate owner instead console himself that the offshore pumping will help a nearby farm worker or carpenter get to work without going broke?

    […]
    Consider also how oil triggers a massive transfer of wealth abroad that’s as illiberal as it’s dangerous. Energy-strapped Americans, Europeans, Japanese, Chinese and Indians are working day and night to give the world critical material goods, ideas and services. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Russia and Iran aren’t.

    Read the whole thing.

  5. OK, Kevin, lets not increase the oil supply by opening new oil fields or building refineries or increasing coal gasification or cutting the demand by switching to nuclear power etc.

    Just like taxing people into prosperity, we will force the economy to absorb ever upward spiraling energy costs until everyone acts is some mystical energy efficient way.

    Kevin, is it Dick Cheney and his secret cabal that have kept the entire world from figuring out how to move to another source of energy? Is it that simple: Al Gore is the Messiah of the Inconvenient Truth and Dick Cheney is the Satan of Status Quo Destruction?

    You must live in a very simple world where epiphanies come from sucking your thumb with determination and gusto.

    I’m thinking of wind driven Conastoga wagons covered with back-up solar panels and electric motorized low friction wheels replacing the long haul trucks on our crumbling infrastructure. Or, maybe we will just switch to eating algae and tofu which is locally produced on roof tops and can be mixed with our recycled sewage in a home conversion unit powered by methane from our parakeets.

  6. Kevin is a leftist boy. Leftist boys don’t actually know how to do anything; all they know how to do is criticize.

    By the way, Kevin, commercial airliners are more efficient than private jets, which burn far more fuel than even the most gas-guzzling SUV.

    So when do you intend to ban Nancy Pelosi from having her own plane and force her to fly commercial? When do you intend to attack Obama and Al Gore for having their own private jets?

    The answer: you don’t. Just like you supported John Kerry and his fleet of helicopters, jets, and SUVs; conservation is for the poor, not for rich liberal Democrats.

  7. Recall when I wrote my essays about adoption, the only person on the forum who said anything nasty… was Kevin. I sense great bitterness in him, which he attempts to assuage by lashing out at those whom he perceives as belonging to the class of people who are indifferent toward his bitterness.

    Beyond that, his comment reads like some sort of bizarro tinfoil hat conspiracy theory. If oil is expensive, it’s not because Democrats and some RINOs (inc. Juan McAmnesty) have done everything in their immense power to choke off U.S. supplies, it’s because Dick Cheney met with an evil cabal consisting of himself, the Eeeevil oil companies, Karl Rove, Mr. Burns, Krusty the Clown, and Dracula and decided to punish the American people.

    The Democrat plan to get more oil by punishing the companies that supply the oil… wow, I’m sure that will work. What is it with Democrats that they feel the need to punish companies that are successful at supplying what consumers need? Same deal with the pharmaceutical companies. But the more something fails… like Amtrak or public schools … the more money they waste on them.

    I begin to suspect there’s some flaw in Democracy that allows only the most stupid, the most venal, and the most detached from reality to rise to positions of power.

  8. you blame stuff like this on Clinton, but did your beloved Bush or 6 years of the Republican controlled congress do anything to overturn it? No.

    Kevin, you ignorant sl*t,
    YES! They DID! Not only did Republicans in congress pass it to begin with, which Bill Clinton vetoed and Demogogueocrats in congress opposed making overturning the veto impossible, but Republicans have worked every year since to open ANWR to exploration, and have been blocked by Democrats at every turn.

    The fault for high gas prices is SOLEY Bill Clinton’s and the Democrats.

  9. you blame stuff like this on Clinton, but did your beloved Bush or 6 years of the Republican controlled congress do anything to overturn it? No.

    Have you forgotten that the Dems successfully filibustered all attempts to drill in ANWR, the last being in 2005? Yeah, there’s some bipartisan blame to go around but the lion’s share rests with the Dems who continue to be completely myopic and beholden to the enviro-wackos. If they don’t start showing some success, I predict this will cost them the Congress in 2010 and if Obama wins in November, the presidency in 2012.

  13. VtheK in #1 — It’s just as unfair for Republicans to blame Speaker Pelosi et al for the doubling of gas prices since Democrats took control of Congress as it is unfair
    for Democrats to make the foolish claim that President Bush is in the pocket of “big oil”.

    I can’t argue with you, Bruce, that oil would have flowed from ANWR had President Clinton not vetoed the ANWR legislation. However, there are people in the energy businesswho wonder if it would still be flowing today; the size of the oil reserve at ANWR has been debated. And there are a lot of Americans, just as patriotic as those who regularly comment here, who honestly question whether ANWR should be opened to oil drilling.

    This year’s spike in oil prices can be blamed on many things. Supply is but one factor. The value of the American dollar, impacted downward by low interest rates among other things, has been a big factor in recent months. The biggest culprits may be commodity speculators who are forcing up oil futures.

    According to a former official of the federal commission that regulates commodity trading, the oil futures speculators are not regulated. He said it’s been a great job market for out-of-work former Enron people who learned their “trade” fleecing California electric customers of over $20 billion in unjustified costs. Enron and Wall Street commodity traders have had a green light since Phil Gramm engineered a hole in regulations while a member of the Senate.

    I don’t place much blame on the oil companies and think it was a disgraceful circus when congressional committees brought in the oil CEOs for Democratic grilling intended more for the evening news than to solve the problem of high priced gasoline.The left in politics and the media have distorted big oil’s profits by talking in terms of the dollar amount rather than the percentage net profits are of gross income.

    It sounds absolutely horrible, when people are having to cut back on groceries and other essentials in order to fill their gas tank, to talk of the $100 billion dollars in profits a certain oil company made in the last two years. Lordy, lordy, that sounds like excess profits. But not when you realize it was a net profit of less than nine percent. And not when you realize “big oil” is owned by millions of stockholders, including little old ladies, churches, university endowments, pension funds, etc. (I’m not among them anymore, having sold my oil stock in 2007 because without doing too much thinking about it I could list dozens upon dozens of business sectors in which I was assured a much better return on my investment.)

    I am certainly not a walking billboard for conservation. My wife and I both drive cars that weigh three tons and I, selfishly and foolishly do all my air travel on one of my company’s Gulfstreams. But I still wish President Bush had taken advantage of the surge in patriotism after 9/11 to call upon us to make sacrifices and conserve. Instead, his administration has almost made “conservation” a four-letter word.

  14. It’s just as unfair for Republicans to blame Speaker Pelosi et al for the doubling of gas prices since Democrats took control of Congress as it is unfair for Democrats to make the foolish claim that President Bush is in the pocket of “big oil”.

    Actually, it’s isn’t “just as unfair” because President Bush didn’t run on a platform promising to lower gas prices in some nondescript magical way. Democrats did.

  16. #17 – Not really, Dave, since Pelosi & Reid and their stooges took over Congress with the intent of keeping gas prices low. And even a doofus like you can see that it hasn’t happened.

    Plus, here are some more “supportable” items for you:

    1. “We are kidding ourselves, as we routinely do in this town, if we think we can drill our way out of this problem,” said Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wis, regarding his “no” vote on opening up US lands for oil exploration.

    2. Offshore oil and gas production has been banned off most of the U.S. coastline since the Democrat-controlled Congress approved the Outer Continental Shelf moratorium in 1981, which prevented the leasing of coastal waters for fossil fuel development.

    3. And last but not least, even Larry King (a fossil in his own right) had to correct Speaker Pelosi last April regarding the increase in gas prices that she campaigned to lower in 2006! (View video here.)

    Game, set, match, little Davey.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  17. The idea of drilling in the mosquito-infested hellhole that is ANWR is stupid why? Because it would increase domestic energy supply and reduce dependence on foreign oil… things Democrats consider stupid.

    Canada is drilling less than 100 miles away from ANWR. Canada can drill but we can’t. What kind of idiocy is that?

    No, what’s stupid is that China, Cuba, and Venezuela are allowed to drill for oil off the Florida coast but American companies can’t. Do liberals actually believe foreign oil companies will be better stewards of the environment than American companies?

    The idiocy of Democrats. Letting our enemies drill for oil off our coasts, but forbidding our companies from doing so.

    It sounds absolutely horrible…to talk of the $100 billion dollars in profits a certain oil company made in the last two years. Lordy, lordy, that sounds like excess profits. But not when you realize it was a net profit of less than nine percent.

    Also when you consider that the government confiscated nearly 40% of the oil company’s gross profit, and then gouged consumers for an average of 42 cents on every gallon sold.

  18. This year’s spike in oil prices can be blamed on many things. Supply is but one factor. The value of the American dollar, impacted downward by low interest rates among other things, has been a big factor in recent months. The biggest culprits may be commodity speculators who are forcing up oil futures.

    “Supply” is not the “units available.” “Supply” is the constant available at the demand price. Ergo, dollar exchange, futures, refineries, shipping, rumor and panic, etc. are always components of “supply.”

    “Demand” is what is being tested here. The suppliers could step up production and satisfy “demand” at some artificial price level such as $2.22 a gallon for regular gasoline. But the suppliers are letting the free market adjust the price of gasoline. The buyers will have to adjust their budgets to accommodate the new cost of fuel realities.

    If the US increased production, it would increase the raw oil supply and bring prices down. The practical utility of extracting oil is based on the cost to capture a barrel of crude in the process. Much of what we can extract is not profitable if the price drops below a given price per barrel. Therefore, much of what we could supply is only available at higher costs per barrel than we would ultimately wish.

    Saudi Arabia is facing a future in which their ability to supply oil is greatly depleted and in which alternative energy may effectively by-pass the high demand for oil. They are acting in their best interests by forcing the markets to cough up as much money as possible without causing a world wide economic crisis. They are pedaling a drug to addicts. The same oil that was profitable to them at $10 a barrel now has a street value of $130 a barrel. Why should they fight for lower prices?

    This business of the value of the American dollar is bogus to the extreme. Aside from oil prices, how has the value of the American dollar affected any US citizen in his home? If our $4+ a gallon for gas is causing a stir, one might consider what has happened to the cost of gas in Europe. On June 9, 2008, a US gallon in US dollars cost on average in: Belguim-$9.07; France-$8.70; Germany-$8.90; Italy-$8.89; Netherlands- $9.95; UK-$8.67; and the USA $4.27.

    The cost of meals, hotels, and clothing in Europe is significantly higher than in the US. All those commodities are based on the Euro and the European Common Market. It would benefit Europe no end if the US dollar were pegged to the Euro. Europe desperately needs the US to become as expensive to live in as Europe is. Doesn’t it occur to anyone who cries about the “weak” dollar that the Euro is highly over valued and undergirded by economies that have ignored their common currency rules concerning national fiscal responsibility?

    What type of craziness is it to ignore ANWAR because the puddle of oil might not be as big as hoped? Maybe it is even bigger! Have we all switched over to the Al Gore school of science by consensus?

    Seventy per cent of the energy in a gallon of oil used in producing electricity is wasted in heat loss. The internal combustion engine is no paragon of efficiency. There is much to be done in making oil use more efficient. It is the pain in the pocket that will drive the process.

    Meanwhile, to turn our backs on nuclear energy is a callow act that falls hardest on the poor. China is sinking oil wells on the Florida shelf, but we won’t let our own oil companies do so. Before long, foreign entities will be making lateral extractions from oil pools we have put off limits to ourselves. Are we supposed to believe that the foreign entities will match or exceed our own drilling standards? In a pig’s eye, they will.

  19. Coming up with alternative fuels is a better choice than drilling, which is only a temporary fix. One day, it will run out. As for the gas prices rising, I would put more blame on the oil corporations that are raking in billions of dollars in profit each year. And, to be honest, a lot of other countries out there have it a lot worse off than we do. We have survived in the past without such a huge dependancy on oil, it’s time to move to the future and come up with some better and more efficient alternatives. Let’s stop pointing fingers, put our heads together and work towards a better future for everyone. Is that too “liberal” of me to say?

  20. Have we all switched over to the Al Gore school of science by consensus?

    The scientific method according to Al Gore.

    1. Choose the desired political outcome.

    2. Define the “data” that you need to support your outcome.

    3. Bribe a bunch of scienticians to produce defined “data”

    4. Claim a consensus.

    I think Al Gore got the idea for “Outcome-based science” during the Florida Recount.

  21. If we had Kevin and Jan W and their Liberal friends back 200 years ago, the Conastoga wagon would have been outlawed as drilling in Alaska, Atlantic Coast, Pacific Coast and the Gulf Coast where China and Cuba are drilling 75 miles from Key West. Then they would have been bitching because there was no way to get to California. Then who would they blame? Not Congress who outlawed the wagons.

  22. It sounds absolutely horrible, when people are having to cut back on groceries and other essentials in order to fill their gas tank, to talk of the $100 billion dollars in profits a certain oil company made in the last two years.

    Only if you’re an apostle of liberal guilt! This is what sounds horrible to me: the fact that they are forbidden by law from doing anything with those profits… i.e., forbidden to produce more energy, giving America energy independence.

  26. Ian wrote: After all, he [McCain] has consistently opposed the stupid idea of drilling in ANWR and it’s one of the few things I’ll give him credit for.

    WHY is drilling in ANWR a stupid idea? Have you done any research on what’s proposed? Or is this a knee-jerk (lib-approved) opinion?

    I think Ian is trying to keep me home on election day (which wouldn’t take all that much convincing).

  30. Like I trust an open-borders RINO dimwit like Martinez to have clue.

    Believing in the hoax of Anthropogenic Global Warming on the other hand… now that’s an urban legend. The giant fusion reactor in the middle of the solar system has orders of magnitude more impact on climate than human activity.

    And the fact is, as Ian may or may not be aware, is we have no idea how large the ANWR or OCS reserves are because the government has forbidden anyone from even searching for oil there. ANWR is 16,000,000 acres, and the oil companies only want to explore on about 2,000 of them. It’s ridiculous that we have to pour money into the treasuries of hostile governments because a few environmentalist whackos don’t want to drill on a desolate, miserable hellhole on the ass-end of nowhere.

    Someday, we’ll have alternative fuels… if the Democrats and the whackos let us. They’ve already blocked coal-to-oil, clean coal, wind farms, and nuclear power… so outside of magical fairy dust, it’s hard to imagine what forms of energy Democrats will approve of.

  31. As far as research on what is proposed, it doesn’t take rocket science to establish that it will do little to alleviate our oil addiction.

    I love this “oil addiction” phrase. It’s about as meaningful as saying we’re “addicted to oxygen”.

    Leaving it in the ground for a few decades or more will also ensure that the carbon it contains won’t be contributing to climate change right now, another issue, BTW, that John McCain is actually good on.

    Maybe no one has told you… changes in “carbon” levels in the air does not contribute in any significant way to the cause of changing the climate

  32. I love this “oil addiction” phrase. It’s about as meaningful as saying we’re “addicted to oxygen”.

    Not too far off, Vince. The idiot left has decided C02 is a toxic pollutant. Every time we exhale, we’re committing genocide.

    It’s like the Greenpeace founder who quit when they decided to campaign for a ban on chlorine. He pointed out that chlorine was an element on the periodic table and banning it would be a gesture in futility. That’s when he realized he was dealing with a pack of morons.

  34. My uncle, back when he was a liberal, once said “Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up”.

    That pretty well describes the lefty position on energy production and GW (or climate change, if you prefer).

    It’s frustrating that Americans are so happy to elect enviro-pols like Schwarzenegger, McCain, Kennedy, et al and then whine when the pols do what the voters elected them to do and the bill shows up.

    Rush said today that Americans love liberty and freedom (something like that). And all I could think was “yeah, right”.

    I guess that makes me a grumpy-con.

  35. V and K decribes ANWR as a desolate, miserable hellhole on the ass-hole end of nowhere. As one who has spent time west of ANWR I will have to say that you have described it perfectly.

  36. I would put more blame on the oil corporations that are raking in billions of dollars in profit each year.

    What about your state and federal governments? For every dollar you spend on gas, the oil company gets about 10 cents. Our governments (state and federal together) make about 70 cents. Think about that when you gripe about the billions of dollars the oil companies make.

    What’s more, despite all those billions of dollars, their profit is still only about 8%. There are several industries (travel, beverages & tobacco, electronics) that have a higher percentage, but you never hear the liberals complain about that. Makes you wonder, eh?

    And what’s our government’s reply to that? They want MORE. People like Obama and Hillary want to take more money. That means there’s less for employees (profit sharing) and less for investors. As Trace mentioned above, millions of people with retirement pensions, 401 K’s, etc. are invested in oil companies and usually aren’t even aware of it. Most of these folks earn less than $50K/year. Therefore, if the liberals want to take more profit from the oil companies, guess who else they want to take away the profits from????

    Add to that’s not if the oil companies raise the price of gas to cover their loss. So should we “screw the evil big oil companies” and raise gas prices even more????

    And even if we do take their profits away, what will that do to produce one more drop of oil that we need?

    That’s the biggest question.

  37. BTW, to stay better informed, you should check out http://www.API.org. Can’t link to it because the blog has been tossing out comments with links. Anyways, they put out a monthly report (and it’s sourced by government info) called

    The Truth About Oil & Gasoline.

    This explains pretty much everything. They also have an article debunking the myths about the “big tax breaks” (also sourced).

    Check it out and you’ll be surprised how much the left has been lying to you.

  38. “The fault for high gas prices is SOLEY Bill Clinton’s and the Democrats”

    That is a totally asinine and unsupportable statement.

    Insofar as government can affect the price of oil it is spot on. Democrats have neither done nor proposed anything that would reduce the price of gas one cent. In fact they are solely resonsible for taxes and regulation that have dramatically increased the price of gas, and have been passed over the opposition of Republicans. Moreover, they have blocked, at every possible opportunity, Republican attempts to increase domestic supply, increase refining capacity, improve infrastructure and reduce regulation, ALL of which would reduce the price of gas, and which together would reduce the price of gas considerably.

    ALL
    THEIR
    FAULT

  40. #40 – If that is the case, Davey, then you’re on the wrong board. Go to HuffBlo or DailyKaka to get your fix.

    I thought Kevin had the lowest IQ of anyone here, but you’ve certainly disproved that notion.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  42. Awww. It’s nice when the kids with the mental and emotional problems (Kevin) find playmates.

    As V pointed out:

    Recall when I wrote my essays about adoption, the only person on the forum who said anything nasty… was Kevin.

  43. To Trace in #42 — You either can’t read or are deliberately trying to distort what I was saying in defense of oil companies, AND YOU.

    Way to knock someone for agreeing with you, Trace ol’ pal 😉

  46. More good questions:

    Why should we take the environmentalists seriously if they only oppose the U.S. from oil exploration in N. America. Canada can. Mexico can. Cuba can etc. Why not the U.S.????

    How can you say you’re protecting the Gulf of Mexico, but don’t give a damn when Mexico & Cuba drill there?

    And if oil is so evil, why do you suck on Chavez’s balls for it?

  47. #42: “To ILoveCapitalism in #23 — You either can’t read or are deliberately trying to distort what I was saying in defense of oil companies.”

    Actually Trace, you’re lucky that ILC, VtheK, NDT and/or AE didn’t take the time to INCINERATE you and your useless comment. All of the “on the other hand…” and “conversely…” language you used in an attempt to sound reasonable and non-partisan on this issue is utterly betrayed by two things: (1) the last paragraph; and (2) your failure to state unequivocally whether you support drilling in ANWR or not.

    Let’s look at that last paragraph (it’s a fucking doozy):

    “I am certainly not a walking billboard for conservation. My wife and I both drive cars that weigh three tons and I, selfishly and foolishly do all my air travel on one of my company’s Gulfstreams. But I still wish President Bush had taken advantage of the surge in patriotism after 9/11 to call upon us to make sacrifices and conserve. Instead, his administration has almost made ‘conservation’ a four-letter word.”

    So, you admit to having a carbon footprint that rivals Al Gore’s in size (if that’s even possible), but you criticize Bush for not capitalizing on the “surge in patriotism after 9/11” and asking “us to make sacrifices and conserve.” Who is “us,” Trace? Certainly not you, by your own admissions. Trace, do you really NOT see that these statements reveal you to be a pathologically obtuse elitist fuck-wad?

    You’re right, Trace, I agree, IF ONLY Bush had told the slobbering, idiot masses after 9/11 (or held up flashcards) that COHHNNNN-SUUHHHRRR-VAYYY-SHON = PATRIOTISM, then we’d be in a much better position than we are today. Of course, as an obtuse elitist fuck-wad you KNEW this was the way to go and that conservation is VITAL to a sustainable energy policy—but, DAMN that Bush for failing to convince those dim-wit red-staters of it! If only THEY (and by “they,” I mean those silly, reactionary, patriot-people) had been led down the right path of conservation—then THEY wouldn’t be complaining about all this ANWR silliness.

    Trace, if you dispute that you are obtuse elitist fuck-wad, please explain where you get the unmitigated nerve to criticize the President for “turning conservation into a four-letter word,” while doing all your travel on your company’s “Gulfstreams?” The fact that all of this is contained in one paragraph illustrates the “obtuse” part of “obtuse elitist fuck-wad.”

    And as for the second point, Trace (you obtuse elitist fuck-wad, you) it did not escape my attention that no where in your comment do you actually state a position on whether you support drilling on ANWR or not. So, what’s it gonna be, Trace? Yes or no? Are you capable of giving an unequivocal answer?

    My suspicion is that you didn’t state whether you support drilling in ANWR because you DON’T (just like every other obtuse elitist fuck-wad). Have I got it wrong? Prove it. State unequivocally that you support drilling in ANWR. Can you? If you can’t, I’ll assume you’d like to stick with the status quo—you flying around in private jets and driving around in SUVs with the financial where-with-all to do so, while criticizing the rest of us for our failure to “sacrifice and conserve” like good little patriotic Americans.

    Just one last question, Trace: who the FUCK do you think you are?

  48. Sean A, I also thought the paragraph you quoted was a mess. I just didn’t want to bother with it. Its assumptions / implications seem to be that:

    (a) The eco-wackos are correct: we all need to “conserve” more. (Bzzzzt. Wrong answer. Market prices, matched against a person’s budget situation and preference vector, by definition give people a sufficient signal to conserve; no further signal is necessary, desirable, or even morally permissible if it involves government pressure.)

    (b) Trace and his wife’s failure **in their own eyes** to “conserve” is at least partly because of what Bush did or didn’t do after 9-11. (Bzzzzt. Hint: Who controls their actions and lifestyle? If it is Bush, it shouldn’t be.)

    Like I say, it was enough of a mess that I figured I would just try to make a positive point. Free the Oil Companies! free ANWR! Drill!!!

  49. I know–you, AE, V the K, Vince P, NDT, and a few others (GP, of course), can’t be expected to beat sense into ever kook that visits this terrific blog. But even Trace’s discussion where he supposedly “defends” the big oil companies was a joke–

    “It sounds absolutely horrible, when people are having to cut back on groceries and other essentials in order to fill their gas tank, to talk of the $100 billion dollars in profits a certain oil company made in the last two years. Lordy, lordy, that sounds like excess profits. But not when you realize it was a net profit of less than nine percent. And not when you realize ‘big oil’ is owned by millions of stockholders, including little old ladies, churches, university endowments, pension funds, etc…”

    Anyone who TRULY believes that the five biggest oil producers being dragged before Congress was a travesty, and genuinely understands what an atrocious misuse of government power it constituted, would NEVER even type the two words “excess profits” outside of disgusted quotation marks. Clearly, Trace believes that “excess profits” actually exists as a legitimate concept. And all that apologetic jazz about oil companies being “owned by millions of old ladies” and such? He needs to cram that as well–it wouldn’t matter if the 5 big oil companies were nothing more than five hardworking greaseballs, their overalls covered in crude and pickaxes thrown over their shoulders–the money would still be theirs, no matter how many gazillions it turned out to be.

    I’m so sick of these useless hypocrites. And let’s not forget–his “defense” of big oil companies, notwithstanding, Trace is still not on the record for actually SUPPORTING drilling in ANWR. So, let’s add all that up: Trace = a carbon footprint larger than about 100 families combined + petulant outrage that the Bush administration didn’t equate patriotism with environmentalism after 3000 Americans were MURDERED by terrorists + a tendency to offer patronizing lectures on the basic economics involved (what’s that? supply is “but one factor,” and the size of ANWR’s oil reserve is debated? NO SHIT, PROFESSOR?!) + a dash of the usual, mind-numbing bullshit implying that the “real culprit” is those evil, unregulated commodities speculators + and finally, a truly jaw-dropping lack of awareness of his own hypocrisy and elitism.

    Wow, Trace, you offer such a unique and fresh perspective on this troubling issue. Maybe YOU should testify before Congress.

  50. #50 – Sean, what was the REAL travesty in those House oil hearings was Maxine Waters (D-CA) actually saying that she wanted to “socialize” all of America’s oil companies.

    Big oil isn’t the problem, folks. The Dhimmicrats are.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  51. All this human suffering, be it from gas prices or food prices or a weakenigng economy — none of which has to be — none of which would be if it werent for Democrats lies and demonization of “big” oil. (Is it even possible for a Democrat to refer to oil companies without using the word “big?”)

    And so in the interest of combatting their lies, demogoguery and demonizations — to stand up for the scapegoats in the name of all that is right and good and holy, it is time for me to come out of the closet.

    I love big oil. Oilmen make me hot.

    They provide the lifeblood of the world’s economy at a nominal profit, under the most odious regulation and red tape and recieve nothing but scorn and hate (and 8 cents on the dollar) in return. Without them people dont travel, people don’t work and people don’t eat.

    So I say, I love you big oil! thanks for all you do! And the bigger the better!