Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Panderers To The Left Of Me! Panderers To The Right!

Perhaps you've heard: Oil and gasoline prices are rather high. And no one really has a way to change that fact. Fortunately, though, our political class does have a method by which they hope to make me feel better about it: Pandering.

On the left, the Democratic congressional majority, in recent months, brought oil company executives before them for an utterly unilluminating inquisition. In an attempt to provide the illusion of doing something, both the House and Senate used those hapless execs, and the "evil corporations" they head, as verbal punching bags for a couple of days in the spring. And the end result? Nothing.

On the right, our Republican friends in congress have recently given us a new slogan: "Find more. Use less." In other words, drill and conserve. For people who supposedly cherish the "magic of the market," the GOP seems to have absolutely no grasp of market economics. Reduce demand? Sure. Makes sense. Unfortunately, though, the decreasing prices that would result from increased supply would, logically, serve as a perverse incentive against that goal.

Even The Decider, moron that he is, has likened our thirst for oil to the jones of an addict. So are Republicans telling us that the best way to wean a junkie off heroin is to supply him with even more heroin, at a cheaper price?

And candidate McCain's take on the high price of fuel? In a new campaign ad, he tells us that it's all Barack Obama's fault. (Wow! Obama has that kind of power? We'd better elect him President; if he gets pissed at us, there's no telling what kind of havoc he might wreak!)

I'm tired of being pandered to, from left, right and center. So why don't you all just shut up, go about the real business of governing, and stop the empty theatrics? And stop treating me like an idiot!

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