Ignorance May Not Be Bliss, But It's Sure Expensive
By Stephen Rose
Created Jun 30 2008 - 1:50am
The right wing spin machine lies like it breathes, and for various
self-serving reasons. Unbeknownst even to itself, it doesn't really care
about this nation, or you or me for that matter; but it sure sup****ts the
theft of lots of money and comfort from others by means that are both
unethical and only questionably legal. It chronically misdirects, misleads
and obfuscates the truth to it's own advantage. Why? Because the people
driving it can get away with it! Unfortunately they have a large
sup****ting
audience that continues to feed on the manure they are fed, because they
refuse to acknowledge the truth. They are easily confused because they
won't
allow facts to interfere with their being right (literally and
figuratively).
Here's just one example: According to a friend in a recent email, "I was
in
the car most of the day and listened to Kim Komando and some NPR, but
Prairie Home Companion is still a bit too corny for me so I went to right
wing radio to see how they are attacking. They are still in lock step that
we must drill for oil everywhere and the democrat caribou huggers and
Florida beach selfish idiots are responsible for the high gas prices which
[sic] are wrecking our economy. That implies that the crisis is of supply
and demand yet I see no gas lines anywhere which tells me that the problem
is deregulation of the futures markets and speculators. Still this is the
right wing mantra since they just have no spaghetti that sticks against
Obama."
The fact is that presently there is no real supply and demand issue
driving
the high price of gasoline in this country. During a Congressional
Committee
meeting a few weeks ago when several oil CEOs were questioned, they
admitted
that the demand for gasoline has not changed significantly in this nation
in
a decade.
During a different committee meeting I watched just today, another fact
came
to light, namely that refining capacity has not been an issue, even though
the ole spin machine constantly tells us that gasoline prices continue to
rise because evil environmentalists won't allow any new refineries to be
built. The truth is, gasoline reserves in this nation are so large that
the
oil companies won't build a new refinery because there is not enough
demand
for the gasoline. You don't hear them talk much about how many billions of
barrels of oil reserves we have in this nation, and just how many wells
have
been capped, and for how many years. Also, we get most of our oil from
Mexico and Canada, and not the Middle East. The bottom line is that we are
not really as dependent on Middle Eastern oil as we have been led to
believe, and OPEC should not be the greatest factor in raising the price
of
crude. In addition, there are very few people that don't believe we would
been off fossil fuel dependency perhaps decades ago, if the oil companies,
facilitated by our government looking the other way, hadn't used their
money
and might to ensure that no alternative energy sources were allowed to
succeed.
It is the drop in the dollar and the good ole boys speculating in
commodities that are driving up the price of gasoline so rapidly. (And do
you ever wonder why the prices at your gas station rise so quickly with
each
rise in the price of crude, even though the gasoline in that station was
refined quite some time ago?) Two of the experts I heard testify today
surmised that the "real" price of oil, as dictated by supply and demand,
should be about $65 per barrel. We know that it is selling for more than
twice that. You gotta love the speculators, the same type of pukes that
were
driving up the price of energy in California for Enron, and laughing at
the
little old ladies that couldn't afford to heat their homes. I know some
don't believe crude prices aren't being driven by speculation, but I don't
buy that.
You also gotta love right wing (and all too many on the left) politicians,
bought and paid for, and without conscience, ethics, and probably mothers.
And there are all those wonderful people who continue to sup****t them
based
on ideologies that have been extinct in practical terms for decades, even
though most of them are also getting screwed over just like everyone else
who isn't independently wealthy. Ignorance may not be bliss, but it's sure
expensive, and certainly plentiful!
_______
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NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
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I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
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Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an op****tunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are
at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
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