No shame

Yes, we all have noticed that gas prices are high. Not one to see a golden opportunity wasted, president bush has 'demanded' that Congress lift the 27 year old ban on offshore drilling. It's been a while since heyday of bush's demands to Congress. Back in the day it was a sure fire way to get Congress to pass anything bush demanded of it. Invade someone? Done. Broad new spying powers? Done. Tax breaks for your buddies? Done. Legalize torture and include retroactive immunity for war crimes to the executive branch? Done.

If the democrats currently in the majority there had half a brain they would realize that those times (should) have passed, the public mood has changed. The president is no longer a valiant crusader keeping us safe from the evil Islamist minions. No longer a hero, bush is now a laughingstock at best.

Under the guise of helping ease the high fuel prices, bush is trying to use his bully pulpit one more time to demonstrate his contempt and disdain for Americans, using a real problem, high energy prices, to push through a fake solution to line his friends and supporter's pockets at the expense of the country's coastlines. Allowing offshore drilling will not help with gas prices. Any oil from this drilling is a decade away from getting to the world market, and isn't enough to make much of a dent anyway, even if we did have the refining capacity for it and a way to keep it in domestic use only.

The whole idea is simply a shameless ploy to trick the country into a non-solution designed to enrich his old oil buddies and his VP's company. Is it January yet?