Know-Nothing Politics »
Posted By bruhaha 2 months ago in NewsSo the G.O.P. has found its issue for the 2008 election. For the next three months the party plans to keep chanting: “ Drill here! Drill now! Drill here! Drill now! Four legs good, two legs bad. O.K., I added that last part.
Read Full Story at nytimes.com »
Submitted By:
bruhaha
Geologist at an environmental consulting and engineering company here in the Chicago suburbs.
Also submitted:
Related Articles:
- 10.0How conservative greed and corruption destroyed American politics
- 9.3Susan Eisenhower Leaves the GOP for Good, Citing McCain's "Rove-Style" Politics
- 10.0Jon Stewart Slams Fox News For Being an Appendage of the Republican ...
- 9.6Amy Goodman and Two Democracy Now! Producers Unlawfully Arrested at RNC
Join the Discussion 
+ Add Comment
Comments So Far: 51
-
87%
bruhaha2 months ago
FTA: "know-nothingism — the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant-gratification answers to every problem, and that there’s something effeminate and weak about anyone who suggests otherwise — has become the core of Republican policy and political strategy. The party’s de facto slogan has become: “Real men don’t think things through.”"
Reply-
92%
Beau78902 months ago
Great article! Krugman has nailed it with that paragraph.
Reply
I'd like to say the pride in ignorance started with Bush, but it didn't--it's been percolating up ever since Reagan's "supply-side" voodoo economics and gained popularity during Newt Gingrich's "Contract on America."
It's only reached critical mass during the current administration, when all pretense of actually considering consequences was dropped in favor of wishfully imagining that the best-case scenario is the only possible one--when Republicans actually started bragging about the fact that Bush "shoots from the hip."
Shooting from the hip, incidentally, is an excellent way to miss your target and cause mindless destruction. Even the NRA recommends against it. -
ShadowolfComment removed: Spam
-
90%
Shadowolf2 months ago
I hope it is just the SPAM filter hiccuping...NeoConArtists have no Honor whatsodamnedever...
Reply -
86%
miklkit2 months ago
The party’s de facto slogan has become: “Real men don’t think things through.”"
Reply
Hooraw! Kill! Kill! Kill! -
-
-
92%
Natureboy2 months ago
The feds study on the impact of offshore drilling found that "Because oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant."
Reply
And they were talking about as far out as the year 2030, offshore dwelling would produce no significant price change.
But don't take my word for it, go here and see-
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/otheranalysis/ongr.html-
88%
Beau78902 months ago
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/otheranalysis/ongr.html
Reply
(I've heard you have to put the link first in your comment to make it operable in the thread.)-
86%
flyonthewallzz2 months ago
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/m_epc0_fpf_lasf_1m.htm
Reply
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/m_epc0_fpf_txsf_1m.htm
This is a test! Thanks Beau!
The deep water royalty relief program began in 1995. (Drill in the gulf for free! I think it saved folks about $12 bucks a barrel and thanks to a lawsuit we have to payback more than a billion bucks)
Why did production drop?
If production dropped so significantly why did reserves stay so flat and even increase a bit?
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mcrsfus1m.htm
-
-
-
0%
mivan42 months ago
Here some "factiness" for the liberals. The AlGore biofuels that were to be the energy savior for the planet, well here are the results. 1. Turns out the production of biofuels produces MORE greenhouse gases than BURNING gasoline! 2. It STARVES people just what we needed. 3. Other alternatives, based on what the PROFESSIONALS in the field say are DECADES away (so lets just sit around and DO nothing since offshore will take 1/2 to 1 decade to get results! thats the liberals plan). 4 More supply will drive down prices HAVE you Liberals not herd of supply and demand YET? It worked before when we were 60% dependent on oil back in the 70's. Yes we drilled drilled drilled the RESULT Oil imports dropped from 60% to 28% and the price of a barrel dropped from over $40 to $10 SURPRISE supply and demand DOES work! and drill drill drill is only part of the Republican plan
Reply
-
-
100%
chevydog2 months ago
Decent points. Though if you read the article, almost all the dates are based on an assumption of no leasing until 2012.
Reply
My thinking has always been this would be small step, but a necessary one. It is not a solution simply because there is no single solution--may be dozens of partial ones, each of which will have to be done. Recall that we've doing absolutely nothing --zilch-- for something like 25 years; mostly because the politicians of BOTH parties have been preoccupied with pointing fingers. The damage from this won't be reversed overnight; but it won't be reversed at all of we can't even ratchet up the will to do even small things.
-
-
89%
mmrhe2 months ago
What we are really talking about here is FEAR. People are AFRAID that oil will skyrocket and leave them poor so it makes perfect sense to them to drill on our land where we have some CONTROL over what happens.
Reply
The Republicans will use this fear to their advantage if the Dems foolishly let them....-
78%
Lurch2 months ago
Which is why Obama said, correctly btw, that you will save more money by keeping your engine tuned and your tires properly inflated than by jumping on the drill everything bandwagon.
Reply
Of course the McCainiacs then tried to attack the Dems for using science to make an incredibly obvious and correct economic point. Only an elitist would tell the truth and save us billions instead of giving away millions more in handouts to Big Oil. -
-
-
80%
mackiemesser2 months ago
Kinda meshes with what I've been saying for years: that the Republican Party campaigns on slogans ('I Like Ike', 'In Your Heart, You Know He's Right', ' Peace and Proseperity', 'It's Morning again in America', 'Kinder, gentler Nation', 'Compassionate Conservatism', 'Flip Flopper', 'Leave no child Behind'...ad nauseum) and avoids discussing the issues. That they've been successful with slogans instead of a serious discussion of issues is a shameful indictment of the American electorate.
Reply-
71%
chevydog2 months ago
mackie -- I must admit that this particular administrationn is slogan-happy. In fact, I've often wondered whether GWB was interested about thinking beyond the slogan--or capable of it.
Reply
But in fairness the slogan/catchy phrase has been a stock in trade of all political parties from time immemorial; Dem versions include "He kept us of of war", New Deal, Great Society. These fill a variety of functions. They can be a unifying thing, as well as code words for specific positions. I'm sure social psychologists have a much better handle on this stuff than I do. IMHO the person who wants to be analytical doesn't listen to these things or whatever underlying code messages there may be. "Shameful indictment" may not be the exact phrase I'd use, but think you're headed in the right direction.
-
-
82%
antibrainwasher2 months ago
How the GOP Got Stuck On Stupid
Reply
Imagine the ignorant fast-talking and opinionated schoolyard bullies and jerks many of us encountered back in grade school. Now, they’re all grown up. That pretty much describes the bulk of political parasites that have infested the Republican Party over the last 20-plus years. The rhetoric and integrity of this once Grand Old Party has become deeply infected by some of the most morally bankrupt political and intellectual hacks in history-
17%
Historylover2 months ago
I would agree that the GOP has many "political parasites," but so does the opposing side. Politics in general seem to be a place for these type of people to thrive. I for one would probably vote democrat if they were not pro-choice. I can't understand how a party that seems to want to protect the weak and/or poor are not willing to protect the weakest and poorest from annihilation. I am not trying to start an abortion debate, as we all know it will get nowhere, I just can't help thinking the democrats would win hands down if they considered the morally conservatives in America.
Reply
-
-
88%
splitrch2 months ago
Regards the article - amen! it's what I have long believed about the Republican Party.
Reply -
63%
Bonded2 months ago
Everyone is missing the point about drilling. It is a long term solution to a growing problem. Do you think the price of oil is going down? Are supplies going to rise? Do you think that in ten years the world won't be using gasoline powered vehicles? Have we no concern for our own national security?
Reply
Show me the ideas to resolve these issues from the Democrats.-
100%
splitrch2 months ago
Increased domestic oil production is certainly part of the solution. We also need nuclear as well as clean, renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind. There are no easy answers. My concern is this: we can pump all the domestic oil we can find but without more refineries the oil companies will sell crude internationally and we would have given them license to drill on government controlled property and get zero benefit for Americans. Now, if more refineries can be built in time for new fields to come on line and if we can require domestic oil production to be refined and sold in the USA I have no problem. It is however a stopgap for the ultimate solution which is electric vehicles, solar power and as little fossil fuel as possible.
Reply
do I get your vote? -
90%
Lurch2 months ago
> Everyone is missing the point about drilling. It is a long term solution to a growing problem.
Reply
No, everyone understands. You, sir, are missing the point.
Drilling is a long-term problem, not the solution. The solution is to find alternative fuels and energy sources. It will take ten or fifteen years for these oil rigs, their pipelines, and the new refineries to finally start meeting their promised goal of producing an insignificant amount of oil.
In the meantime, we are losing the alternative energy race to the Europeans and the Asians.
Applied Materials, the US equipment manufacturer that has invented and produces entire solar equipment factories from the ground up, has huge business going in Europe and Asia is picking up. They have yet to sell a single factory in America.
You want ideas from Dems, look up their websites, do your homework. Don`t worry, their websites don`t bite, I promise.
-
-
50%
TheBigTomata2 months ago
Let's look at Drilling not from a party's view but one of common sense. I hear from one side ten years and the other side two years, well if we start now aren’t we one day closer even if it takes one hundred years. It's not like we have to choose between drilling and finding other sources of energy right. What is drilling right now going to hurt? While we're drilling we can also develop better batteries more energy harnessing windmills better solar panels and find a way to get rid of spend nukes so the tree huggers can be happy too. No we should just sit on our hands and wait for something to come around the corner.
Reply-
88%
Lurch2 months ago
Well, the drilling vs alternative debate is real.
Reply
Every dime spent supporting and giving tax breaks to Big Oil is a dime that could have been spent promoting energy independence.
Those offshore oil rigs could just as likely be wave-generated energy platforms: renewable, free, and incredibly environmentally friendly.-
25%
TheBigTomata2 months ago
Great so how does wave-generated energy work? How does the energy get to the supply grid? Would we use giant cables over the water or under the water? There are a lot of good ideas out there but how and when can they be used. Let's harness lightning or the electromagnetic energy of the planet how about perpetual motion that would be good too.
Reply
Not drilling is like being trap in a house with very little resources to cook your food while the entire house is furnished with wooden furniture. Problem is chopping the wood takes so long and makes the house smoky so instead you choose to cook a little food on a candle or eat it raw all the while trying to come up with another way to cook food. The choice not to use the resources available to you cause you to starve all because you did like the smoke and effort to use what you could while working on an alternative.
This is similar to what the U.S. government is doing, well at least most of it. Don't get me wrong I think both parties are incompetent although the left has cornered the market on incompetents.
Another thing taxing and regulating does nothing but give the incompetent government more money and more power to spend the taxes on what they please. Do you really think if the oil companies are forced to pay huge windfall taxes it would do anything?
This is what it would do: The prices will be past on to the consumer and maybe 10% of the taxes collected would be used towards alternative energy research.
-
-
-
40%
slate2 months ago
his wingnut actually thinks that the oil companies would spend billions of dollars and drill for oil for ten years to only make a few pennies? Yeah right.
Reply
Moveon protested in Houston yesterday at Corbison’s office saying oil have no value at all. Errrrr look around you at all the stuff made from oil.
I also found it funny that when pressed, each and every one of them admitted that they drove to the rally in their personal cars! Yeah buddy those tires, the plastics and rubber items and gas really had no use.
The man desried partisanship in one of the most partisan articles in history, I assume no one noticed? -
86%
chuck-the-canuck2 months ago
“Remember how the Iraq war was sold. The stuff about aluminum tubes and mushroom clouds was just window dressing. The main political argument was, “They attacked us, and we’re going to strike back” — and anyone who tried to point out that Saddam and Osama weren’t the same person was an effete snob who hated America, and probably looked French.”
Reply
This pretty much hit the nail on the head for me. A land of ill tempered sheep, ready to believe the patently ridiculous, as long as it is cloaked in apple pie and family values.
Land of the brave, home of the free, nation of the gullible. -
bluetexasvalleyComment removed: Spam
-
50%
captgeobob2 months ago
I am very surprised that so many people don't have the slightest idea on the mechanics of drilling for oil and the fact that oil and coal are here to stay and be used for many more years. I really can't fanthom that alot you don't realize this, yet cling to the idea that all of sudden one day soon everyone will be using some type of alternative energy source. Not going to happen, not in your lifetime.
Reply -
-
0%
lovemylibs2 months ago
http://www.stkate.edu/physics/phys100/17-Caribou_no_impact%5B1%5D.jpg
Reply
I'm glad she took the caribou out of the equation.
-
-
100%
bruhaha2 months ago
BTW, the article wasn't about the "pros and cons" of drilling. The article is how the GOP, is going to run on the idea that drilling tomorrow is going to lower the price of gas today and that lowering of the price of gas will be significant.
Reply
Add a Comment
Please keep your comments relevant to this story.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.