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The Russian war with the break-away Soviet Republic of Georgia is a struggle for the control of oil, among other ethnic, and geopolitical factors. No doubt, oil dominance is critical to Russia. Georgia has oil and access to the Black Sea and to the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan. Between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf is Iran. In other words, Georgia has the potential to supply oil to markets and bypass an entanglement with the Russians. Putin does not like that. He wants a piece of the action. This Tony Soprano has tanks and bombs.
The U.S. is in a struggle for control of oil, as well. The Russians, Chinese, and U.S. are all competing to control oil and oil prices. Gas as well. Oil prices effect economies and the price of currencies.
John McCain wants to be dependent on oil because he is indebted to his oil benefactors and the kleptocrats chairman of the board, Dick Cheney. JohnBoy wants to drill off-shore California and everywhere else even though the environmental effects could be disastrous, especially in the California waters. Do we need another Katrina-like disaster?
The amount of oil gotten from the proposed drilling would make little difference in the price because in 10 years, the demand will likely have declined due to price and inflationary pressures put upon most Americans. We are currently experiencing a decline in demand and usage. The extraction of oil from tar sands and shale continues to be expensive. And then, there are numerous dormant wells leased by oil companies. It is reported that the oil drilled from new wells off our shores might only represent 1% of total daily outputs.
Obama plays the middle when he should not be doing so. He is trying to appeal to the nuclear, oil and alternative energy supporters all at the same time. Standing in the middle of the pond makes it harder to run to shore.
Obama needs to stand firmly close to those standing on the shore of the alternative energy crowd. This is what is needed now.
He needs to tell America, "Do we want to engage in more oil wars? If not, vote for me! I will put into place an Urgency Alternative Energy Policy to build, across this nation, an alternative energy power grid and use oil for our non-energy needs. We can use our own oil and purchase oil from our real partners. We can put forth a major oil recycling plan and create enough biofuels for what is needed."
We need to move toward efficiency with our transportation needs. If a person needs to purchase a new or newer vehicle, tax breaks to those who decide on battery vehicles should be given out. Subsidies to all who want to install solar panels, and such should be given out, too.
Mr. Obama needs to push away from the sleeping JohnBoy and tell America how alternative energy will create jobs and opportunities for the nation. He needs to say how solar and wind can be built immediately to energize many of our communities reducing the need for non-renewal fuels almost overnight. Also, geothermal can be used in many areas of our country.
Do we want to get into struggles with the Russian and/or Chinese leaderships over oil? We have spent over $1 trillion in our oil war in Iraq. What a waste of life, time, political capital and money.
By declaring energy independence we then can walk away from governments we should not support and help make more wealthy, especially the plutocrats, authoritarians and dictators.
Solar panels do work. They can supply homes and businesses energy, while providing energy back into the overall grid, as well. I saw a bed and breakfast with several sleeping rooms, hot tub, a/c, kitchen, workshop and lighting pay only $2.00 per month for electricity because they had a solar panel on their roof. In Denmark, if one drives a hybrid or electric vehicle, and it is plugged into the alternative energy grid at night, the batteries in the car act as storage selling back electricity to the electric supplier.
What if Prime Minister Putin decided to retaliate against the United States over our involvement with the government of the break-away Republic of Georgia?
George Bush is hated by the Russians. They see him as fool and liar, therefore, Putin could easily create a significant recession, if not a depression, without ever firing a shot across the bow. All he would have to do would be to "sell all $50 billion of its Fannie Mae mortgage-backed bonds, all of its U.S. dollar-backed assets, and accept only rubles and euros in the future sale of Russian oil and natural gas." If this scenario were to happen, "watch as the dollar crashes and the Dow Jones goes into a death-spiral." (Bush's War in Georgia; Will it be the Flyswatter or the Blunderbuss?" by Mike Whitney, Global Research, 8-11-08. You can check our link postings and find Mike Whitney right there.)
Listening to McCain's tough talk over this Russian/Georgian violent confrontation is not what we need to engage in.
Mr. Sleeping Dog McCain said, as he pounded his chest, since swaggering has been unattainable, "Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgia territory." So, JohnBoy, what is next if Russia does not abide by your command? And then, there is Mr. Obama's statement, "Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full-scale war." The McCain campers say this is "weak"? How about presidential and tactful. The McCain campers would rather burn down the forest in hopes to get a better view of the other side.
One of McCain's neo-con camp counselors, Randy Scheunemann, a paid lobbyist to the Republic of Georgia, and JohnBoy's foreign policy talking head, surely has his biases. It is likely that McCain does not truly know the actual facts surrounding the cause of this confrontation, but we know it involves oil, and violence. The blogs and media are full of speculation over the facts. Mr. Whitney wrote that Georgian peacekeepers "Bushwacked" their fellow Russian peacekeepers, triggering the battle of wills, while destroying lives and treasure.
We do not need to get involved in military battles over oil when the world is full of very precise and dangerous weapons. JohnBoy has told the American people while on the campaign trail making clear that "There will be more wars, my friends." I gotta give ya some Straight Talk, My Friends, it is time to get off the oil battlefields of the world.
Thanks for reading. Jerry
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