Sometimes it is the simple and obvious truth that is the most persuasive.

This video leaves no doubts that the Senate Republicans favor a balanced approach to our energy needs, and that they want to begin the quest for solutions immediately. (Hat Tip Sean)

Finally.  A no brainer, no nonsense and common sense approach. 

Find more:  Meaning find more energy, not just find more oil.  Yes that means getting more domestic petroleum, but it also means researching and developing new technology.  This is such an obvious answer to the problem.  New oil reserves and new alternative energy are both solutions that benefit us years ahead, so why favor one over the other when neither has an immediate impact? 

Let both run their course, and see what our options are in 10 years.

Use less:  Again, a no brainer.  No answer in the short term has a better chance of any impact then conservation.  Using less lowers demand, which increases existing supplies and lowers prices.  Any free market advocate knows that.

Having lower needs allows any new technology a better chance of success as well.

It is also an element of responsible environmental stewardship, which the liberals should love.

But apparently not.  The Democrats in congress apparently favor the blame the oil barons, blame Bush and blame the American people, while doing nothing to solve any of the problems.  They prefer to jet off on vacation.

Brilliant strategy.

Early this year I thought the war would be the premier issue in the campaign, but that has changed.

The focal point of the Congressional elections is now oil, and the Republicans have the upper hand at this point by reason of their demands to do something in the face of Democratic apathy.

Here is the summary of their proposal.

THE GAS PRICE REDUCTION ACT OF 2008

Summary of Provisions

TITLE I – DEEP SEA EXPLORATION (OCS)

Yes, I admit, it is a stunt.  But it is a brilliant one.  Here is the situation:

Last week the House adjourned for the 5 week summer break.  Republicans were trying to force a vote on the oil drilling issue and on energy in general.  The Democrats, lead by Speaker Pelosi would have none of it, and they voted to adjourn anyway.

So the Republicans didn’t.  They refused to leave and ended up essentially performing a sit in protest.

Pelosi not to be deterred, ordered the lights turned out, and when that didn’t deter them, she ordered the capital police to clear the House.

As Hot Air noted:

A transparent stunt but an awfully shrewd one. The cameras are off so we’re forced to rely on Politico for running updates. What a scene:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats adjourned the House and turned off the lights and killed the microphones, but Republicans are still on the floor talking gas prices.

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, arguing that Pelosi’s refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling is hurting the American economy. They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m. and are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess…

“This is the people’s House,” Rep, Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) said. “This is not Pelosi’s politiburo.”

It’s brilliant.  Bloody brilliant.  

As I said early, yes, this is a stunt.  This is clearly the Republicans taking advantage of the inaction of the Democrats.  Of course it is.  And were the situations reversed, the Democrats would do the same thing.  The fact is that both political parties would glad take an opportunity like this to throw the other under the bus.  That is the reality of politics.

The fact is that politics is dirty.   And both parties are masters.

While many will not agree, to me this is a great example of the Republican’s playing by the other side’s rules. 

The Democrats have proven themselves to be masters of all things obstinate and obstructionist in the past, particular regarding confirmation hearings.

Regardless, they, the Republicans have taken the bull by the horns and are forcing the Senate Democrats to put up or shut up.

At issue is Oil.

Senate GOP hands Dems oil ultimatum

Senate Republicans have threatened to block nearly all other bills pending before the August recess if Democrats refuse to vote with them on expanding offshore drilling.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said bills that do not pertain to energy can wait until after the August recess, with gas prices now surpassing $4 per gallon. McConnell and top Republicans indicated Wednesday they would oppose any procedural votes to take up other legislation, which require 60 votes to succeed.

The Republican’s have a winning strategy, with 75% of Voters demanding more domestic oil production.

“We think there is nothing more important that we can do right now than to deal with the Number One issue of the country,” McConnell said. “This is the biggest issue since terrorism right after 9/11. People are pounding on their desks, saying, Why don’t these people get together and do something about this problem?”

And that seems to resonate with the average person

The real issue is pretty easy to understand.

The Democrats see reliance on oil itself as the problem, and want to force the country to new technology, despite the fact that said technology does not exist.  To do so, as Sen Cantwell noted, they are OK with higher prices as it will, they think, act to reduce our dependency on oil.  This embodies the inherent nanny state philosophy many of the share, and also panders to a very vocal Environmental Lobby.  They are focused on an end to oil production and use, no matter what the cost, and to forward that end, they are banking on new technology to magically save the day.  As an alternate, they are OK with forcing us onto mass transit and bicycles.

Douglas J. Feith recaps the reasons we went to war in Iraq.

It won’t be popular as he avoids rhetoric and accusations, and instead lays out the real timeline and thoughts behind the decision to go to war from an insider’s perspective.

Agree or disagree with the reasons all you want, but it is important to stop the BDS and the Bush lied accusations and see the big picture.

A lot of poor commentary has framed the Iraq war as a conflict of “choice” rather than of “necessity.” In fact, President George W. Bush chose to remove Saddam Hussein from power because he concluded that doing so was necessary.

President Bush inherited a worrisome Iraq problem from Bill Clinton and from his own father. Saddam had systematically undermined the measures the U.N. Security Council put in place after the Gulf War to contain his regime. In the first months of the Bush presidency, officials debated what to do next.

As a participant in the confidential, top-level administration meetings about Iraq, it was clear to me at the time that, had there been a realistic alternative to war to counter the threat from Saddam, Mr. Bush would have chosen it.

…

The Iraq policy debate remained unresolved when the September 11 attacks occurred. Like all major national security issues, Iraq policy was re-examined in light of our post-9/11 sense of vulnerability and the heightened worries about terrorism and, especially, about the danger that terrorists might obtain WMD from a nation state.

When the president ultimately decided that the Iraqi regime must be ousted by force, he was influenced by five key factors:

1) Saddam was a threat to U.S. interests before 9/11. The Iraqi dictator had started wars against Iran and Kuwait, and had fired missiles at Saudi Arabia and Israel. Unrepentant about the rape of Kuwait, he remained intensely hostile to the U.S. He provided training, funds, safe haven and political support to various types of terrorists. He had developed WMD and used chemical weapons fatally against Iran and Iraqi Kurds. Iraq’s official press issued statements praising the 9/11 attacks on the U.S.

Once again, Bush shows he has a good sense of humor.

Must read by Michelle Malkin:

Snob-ama Is Not Alone

Beltway contempt for the common man is a bipartisan acheivement.

The odor of elitism is like onion breath: It’s quick to acquire, hard to mask. Try as he might, Barack Obama cannot camouflage the political stink he exhaled when he dissed small-town Americans as “bitter” Neanderthals “clinging” to their guns, faith, and belief in strict immigration enforcement. It wasn’t the first time the effete Snob-ama revealed himself.

…

But Republicans are just as susceptible to the Democrats’ do-as-I-say virus.

Take Obama’s GOP presidential rival, John McCain. The New York Times–endorsed media darling got a standing ovation from the nation’s newspaper editors at a big journalism powwow in Washington this week. Some maverick. While McCain eagerly criticized Obama as an “elitist” for his derisive comments about small-town Pennsylvanians, Obama’s got nothing on McCain when it comes to insulting average Americans who oppose illegal immigration.

…

Memo to the Beltway GOP: If you are looking to repair your image with your conservative base, this is not the kind of press you want. Makes for great cable-TV greenroom small talk. Not so good for your beleaguered fundraising efforts. And not so helpful if you plan to convince voters in the general election that you are materially different from Snob-ama and his Democratic colleagues who traffic in contempt for the common man. It’s going to take more than rhetorical Altoids to dispel the smell.

Take a second and read the whole thing. 

Her conclusion is right on the mark.  Rather than take the Obama Elite scandal and chortle over it, conservative politicians need to show they can overcome the same fault without paying lip service to it.

 Trackposted to Is It Just Me?, The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Adam’s Blog, Right Truth, Shadowscope, Cao’s Blog, Conservative Cat, D equals S, Chuck’s Place, third world county, Nuke Gingrich, Allie is Wired, DragonLady’s World, The World According to Carl, Pirate’s Cove, , Celebrity Smack, The Pink Flamingo, Wolf Pangloss, , Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

I blogged this yesterday, and I expected some negative reaction, but not this soon.  The story and reactions have come from around the world, thanks to the power of the internet.  Of note is the Tehran Times in Iran which parroted the original article.

Hmm, what kind of message about unity in America is Brattleboro giving, and what impact could that have on foreign policy?

The Boston Globe has also noticed the story.

The blowback on the story involves something I personally find distasteful: Harassment and threats.

In my original post I chose not to treat the matter in such fashion, I went with scorn, ridicule and derision.  Harassment makes martyrs of the people whose hatred drives them to such ideological foolishness, ridicule and exposure merely shows it as the foolishness it is.

LSU condemns any threats against the officials.  A lot of them are only doing their jobs.

I will post some highlights from several articles

WCAX TV:

Officials in Brattleboro say they have been inundated with threats after word broke about a controversial item that will appear on the Town Meeting Day ballot. It calls for President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to be arrested for war crimes if either of them steps foot in Brattleboro.

Workers at the town offices had to stop answering their phones Monday due to numerous threats. Local and federal authorities say they will prosecute anyone whose messages cross the line and harass town officials.

WPTZ:

Town officials in Brattleboro are being inundated with complaints from across the country about a decision to let voters decide whether arrest warrants should be issued for President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Town Clerk Annette Cappy said the “nastiness” of the calls prompted the town office to stop answering its phones Monday.

One message from a Minnesota man said he’d like to see terrorists cut off the heads of some Brattleboro officials.

The Times Argus:

Tonight was the Presidents final SOTUA.  Some good things, some so so.  I won’t overly editorialize it, I will let you make your own call.  Read the text here.

The absolute best line:

Some in Washington argue that letting tax relief expire is not a tax increase. Try explaining that to 116 million American taxpayers who would see their taxes rise by an average of $1,800. Others have said they would personally be happy to pay higher taxes. I welcome their enthusiasm, and I am pleased to report that the IRS accepts both checks and money orders.

Love it.

OK, the highlights:

• Make tax cuts permanent
• Cut spending
• Make earmarks fewer and more transparent
• Help homeowners
• Make health care better with more choices
• No Child Left Behind works, keep it alive
• More free trade
• More entitlements for the jobs lost because of free trade
• Less oil consumption
• More clean energy
• More adult stem cell research
• No cloning
• Judges should follow the constitution
• Congress hates Judges that follow the constitution
• Americans who volunteer rock.
• We need Social Security and Medicare reform
• Secure the border
• Make it easier for illegals to come here legally
• Don’t be mean to those illegals already here
• Democracy rocks
• Terrorists suck
• More troops for Afghanistan
• The surge in Iraq is working
• Failure in Iraq would be extremely bad
• Palestine may not be totally hopeless
• Iran sucks
• No new attacks in America since 2001
• FISA helped make that happen
• Genocide sucks
• Poverty sucks
• Disease sucks
• AIDS sucks
• The military rocks
• Veterans rock
• Americans rock
• America rocks

There you have it.

He may be a lame duck, but never think that stops people from letting their irrational hatred lead them into gross stupidity.

Bush Derangement lives, in Vermont:

Brattleboro to vote on arresting Bush, Cheney

Brattleboro residents will vote at town meeting on whether President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should be indicted and arrested for war crimes, perjury or obstruction of justice if they ever step foot in Vermont.

Sigh.  The same old lie.  The liberals have been preaching this BS Bush lied mantra ceaselessly despite never having shown one single lie.  The rest of it shows they know little of how prisoners of war are actually supposed to be treated.

The Brattleboro Select Board voted 3-2 Friday to put the controversial item on the Town Meeting Day warning.

According to Town Clerk Annette Cappy, organizers of the Bush-Cheney issue gathered enough signatures, and it was up to the Select Board whether Brattleboro voters would consider the issue in March.

Cappy said residents will get to vote on the matter by paper balloting March 4.

Kurt Daims, 54, of Brattleboro, the organizer of the petition drive, said Friday the debate to get the issue on the ballot was a good one. Opposition to the vote focused on whether the town had any power to endorse the matter.

Which it really doesn’t.  If he has done something illegal, that’s a matter for Congress.  That’s in the Constitution and everything.

“It is an advisory thing,” said Daims, a retired prototype machinist and stay-at-home dad of three daughters.

Otherwise known as a useless waste of time, and pandering to the nutroots.

So far, Vermont is the only state Bush hasn’t visited since he became president in 2001.

I’m sure it’s high on his list now…

Daims said the most grievous crime committed by Bush  and Cheney was perjury — lying to Congress and U.S. citizens about the basis of a war in Iraq.

One of my all time favorite TV shows is the 80’s and 90’s sitcom Roseanne.

Roseanne when it came out could have been a portrait of my life.  At the time I was not well off financially, and was dealing with a lot of stress and unhappiness with laughter and sarcasm.

It was one of the first sitcoms to portray what life for most working class people was like:  A struggle with highs and lows. It also, as Roseanne Barr notes in her DVD commentary, clearly showcases the disconnect in class in America.

But.  One of the things I do struggle with is Roseanne herself, the actress, the comedienne and the activist.

I perused her blog and was shocked at how she can flip from crazy to wacky in no time at all.

Here are some examples from Roseanne World.   WARNING:  EXTREME LANGUAGE AHEAD

On Anne Coulter:

Ann Coulter

She serves a purpose, and a part of that is disturbing. When any woman with opinions speaks up - including Anne (the mouthpiece for Aryan womanhood) - she is the victim of verbal sexual assault. Her genitals and sexuality are gleefully insulted: she has an Adam’s apple, she likes getting fucked in the ass… This is wrong in any case, even hers. It demeans all women to do it. She can be debated intelligently, and if she would allow me that, I would be honored to do it, as I think she makes some valid points about the failures of the left in this country.

http://www.roseanneworld.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5192

A clear thinking, fair rational piece.  Now flip to:

Ann Coulter’s Anti-Semitism

The ultimate state of the perfection of Jews: they are all dead.

This is what is actually in the minds of Bush/Cheney and all Christians of the right who run this country, and ironically, are the major supporters of the state of Israel’s ride to ruin which is coming very quickly.