ANU:
I’m rereading RED STORM RISING (1986) by Tom Clancy about Russia’s beginning a war in Europe as a feint. They actually went into Afghanistan, because if conquered, it would have had them close to the Persian Gulf and all that oil.
RED STORM RISING was read in Reagan’s White House and the Pentagon and more importantly in the Kremlin, and suddenly the Politburo realized that a country which can’t get its vegetables to market wouldn’t be able to resupply its troops with food and bullets. That’s when they began to play nice.
If RED STORM RISING were made into a film, that might make the Russians think twice before invading any of its neighbors.
The high price of oil is enriching Russia, the fundamentalist Islamic oil states, Venezuela — all our enemies.
Newt Gringrich has an online petition DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW that may soon have a million signatures — and a few months before an election that gets politicians’ attention.
Newt also suggested that President Bush dump part of our strategic oil reserve on the market which might wipe out the speculators and force the price of oil to plummet.
Speculators can invest in oil futures on 5% margin. That means you can buy 1,000 shares for $50. Then the next day reinvest your profits, still at 5%. I’m sure several people have gotten quite rich doing this. If President Bush announced he was going to dump part of the strategic oil reserve on the market, the market would drop like a stone. Then, the politicians have to change the rules and insist on 50% margin for oil futures.
Citizens are powerful ONlY before elections. Yes, politicians love special interest money, but they have to get re-elected: That means the entire house and one-third of the Senate. When I get especially pissed-off I call my Congressperson and Senators’ local offices (numbers in the government pages of your phone book). When the high price of gas totally enrages you, call the CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD: 202-225-3121 and let them know. Politicians figure that each call means 200 other voters who haven’t called. Then, there’s Newt’s online petition: all those voters saying DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW, PAY LESS — although a friend suggested we should add a SELL HERE proviso. This is war and that makes sense to me.
