Banking that there is no limit to the stupidity of at least a plurality of the American people (and on this point, I may well agree with them), the Bush Administration announced an investigation into possible price-gouging-at-the-pump as the reason for the nation’s record high retail gasoline prices (in marginal, not-inflation-adjusted) terms. This, of course, follows the kabuki-like “pressure” to do so from GOP Congressional leaders which I recently alluded to in this post over at the American Street.
Oy. Bush foreign policy and energy policy have almost been designed to drive up the price of oil (just as his tax cuts have been designed to drive up the deficit). As such, it is a very, very silly (and wasteful) endeavor to ask the Bush Administration to “investigate” the causes of higher gasoline prices (just as it was a very silly exercise to ask the Bush Administration– or, frankly, anyone it named to an “independent” commission) to “investigate” the underlying causes of 9-11, Plamegate, or anything else where yon Bush Administration bore some degree of complicity ranging from “a lot” to “total”.
And so here we are again. Anyone who isn’t a moron (that would be the majority of the American people– though sadly, not a vast majority) knows damned well that uncertainty of supply in the Middle East caused by our little war of aggression in Iraq and talk of our larger war of aggression against Iran, makes people afraid of the stability of oil supply. Throw in OBL making a convenient (convenient for Karl Rove, that is) reappearance, timed with multiple bombings at a resort in Egypt, increased demand in India and China, and the fact that Americans refuse to buy smaller cars because we would rather launch a “preemptive nuclear war” rather than suffer the indignity of driving Honda Civics as opposed to Chevy Blazers… and yes it is that simple (and that stupid)… and voila, higher gasoline prices are pretty much a gimme.
Ironic, of course, to see that the Republicans will, in the interest of saving their political asses, go after one of their mainstay constituencies, “small businesses”, to wit, gasoline retailers (most of whom, IIRC, are franchies of, rather than owned by) large oil companies… but then, political necessity has already dictated burning CIA agents, soldiers, veterans… why stop now? After all… there’s a mid-term election to win…
tdog
Hi. Just kind of missed ya and thought I would drop in and say “hello”.
Hello.
Dog, your dopey comments screen doesn’t open up into a nice big box for me (Firefox 1.5.2). Instead I get a little bitty narrow one. Fortunately it has the “maximize” button in the right-corner enabled. Is it doing that for anyone else?
As to the actual content of the post, I’m shocked at the level of cynicism displayed within. It’s apparent you’ve actually used your powers of observation over the past five years and learned something about these clowns. Would that 32% of our colleagues in the American adventure would do the same.
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