I agree with you. There's really no difference between Democrats and Republicans except what comes out of their mouths at a debate. In the end, they're all privileged elitests who see political office as a four-year ATM machine instead of a vocation to lead. And with the sewage that gets plumbed during election cycles, good luck finding an honest citizen who'll stick his neck out to get it chopped off running for public office.
I've been politically active since I was in college. I'm done with it. Ronald Reagen was the last man of integrity and courage to occupy the Oval Office. The world became a better place because he not only had principals, but he acted on them. Today, we have an administration that does the right thing by taking out Saddam Hussein, but has no defense for the biggest weapon the terrorists can wield - oil. This is an administration that will hunt Osama bin Laden to the ends of the earth but wants to escort illegal immigrants over the Mexican border, some of which may be Middle Eastern terrorists. This is an administration that talks about a seachange in social issues, but nominates Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. This is an administration that wants to improve our economy and make the government smaller, then runs up a deficit building up massive bureaucracy and spending like drunken sailors.
Am I missing something? Because it seems to me the common man no longer has a voice. If we don't get what we elected as advertised, why believe anyone?
Very disheartened.
As for the oil issue, ironically, the President is right. There's nothing he can do about the price of oil. By making a statement like that, it tells me that the Chinese basically told us they're not going to be curtailing their consumption anytime soon. Any decision on ANWR is window-dressing at this point - it will take much too long to draw the oil, and there isn't enough capacity to outstrip the rate of growing consumption by the time it's online.
The best thing we, as Americans, can do, is conserve energy, and demand a reduction in the oil tax. And part of conserving energy is being committed to a little bit of change in our lifestyles. More refineries will be of great help, but those don't just pop up overnight, either, and there are so many environmental obstacles, it's almost impossible to get off the ground. So for the forseeable future, it's going to be up to all of us to do our part and stem the cost.
Be prepared to be pounced upon by the bots.
Why would they? Do the Chinese have some kind of moral obligation to curtail their consumption of oil so that Americans can drive $60,000 SUVs and live in 4,000 square foot homes on half-acre lots in the suburbs?