A poor Texas Oil Baron that barely kept his family fed.
Yup. Politik.
I don't expect anybody to beleive this. I first realized about two years ago that Jeb Bush is being groomed for the Presidency. Oh its not such a huge revelation, and the little ways that it is happening are becoming more and more obvious. Did anybody notice when Jeb went on a tour of the areas devastated by the tsunami? Thats right, Governor Jeb acting as foriegn dignitary and faux good-will messenger.
Funny how things work. I thought that he had a state to run, you know, duties or something. What precisely was Jeb going to do about what he saw, implore congress to send more aid? The entire concept seems masturbatory until you consider his future political prospects. The same could be said right now about the Terry Schivaro case. There's Jeb again. Now he wants to assume custody of Ms. Shivaro. I guess he has a nice spot planned for her in the garden of the Governor's mansion. Since the constitution still works properly, hes not going to accomplish anything. Our courts and the application of the law must be absolutely devoid of feeling and compassion. Unfortunately, whats really happening is that Jeb is campaigning (yes, I'm sure you noticed that too). He threw himself on this political football early on, and now, despite his failure to accomplish anything, he's the #1 champion of Ms. Shivaro's right to life. [I'd rather it be him than Tom De Lay, but thats personal bias] Look for a post-failure invitation to the White House for the Shindler's (Shivaro's parents), also attended by Jeb. That last part is actually a bit of a suprise for me, I hadn't expected the entire GOP to jump on the bandwagon at the last moment. Two weeks ago I would have guessed the invite would be to the Florida Governor's mansion.
Now I'm going to make a subject transition, and its something happening a lot like Jeb's Presidential prospects. Jeb's attempts may have been fruitless, but he is gaining in recognition, in potential political power to be called upon for a future goal.
That is precisely what is happening in America's oil industry. Domestic oil production has been falling off since the 1970's, resulting in increased dependence on foreign oil. You knew that. [Pepsi break.... mmmmm] The 2001 National Energy Policy made a number of politically dangerous reccomendations; facilitating better ties with foreign oil producers (particularly in the Western Hemisphere when possible, and that means Hugo Chavez!), and increasing domestic production. ANWR raises its ugly head.
Let's not have any illusions here, if current efforts fail, the GOP and Big Oil will try again, and succeed at some point. Big Oil, however, has been becoming a bit disillusioned with the current push. They were hoping it would happen sooner. Whats the point in spending billions to lobby congress when thats what the billions that went so support GOP campaigns was for? Whats really happening is that Big Oil knows something that you dont. Very few people do, actually. The President himself might not know, and if he does, he is NOT telling.
There was a geological survey performed on the area some years ago. The results, however, are secret. I can guess what it is though; There is an oil deposit there, but strategically negligible in size. If there was an oil feild there to put the Saudi's to shame, then we would already have been pumping it. As it stands, if there is (miraculously) some 10 billion barrels of oil there, that source will reduce dependency on foreign oil by 3% for about 20 years. Much Ado About Nothing.
So its a political football, and any success is going to be moderate at best. So why all the fuss? It is because Big Oil has a bigger goal in mind. ANWR is just a stepping stone. If they can bludgeon their way through to drilling in a protected wildlife refuge, then they are one step closer to the real goal of drilling off the coast of the continental US. Especially off California. Yeah. Wouldn't the environmental groups just throw a fit.
The sad fact is: thats what it has come to. A majority of oil from overseas, and a minority of energy conservation at home. Switching gears to focus on renewable energy would throw a constellation-sized spanner in the works of the American economy. The real point should be that the same will happen when we suck the Saudi's so dry that their testicles shrivel up and die. When that happens however, we will be nearly 100% dependent on them. So a small crash now, or a much bigger one after the incumbent political figures are out of office. Pretty easy choice for them to make.
What a marvelous country we live in.
At least the legal system still works.
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