Jasper Journal

This is your humble correspondent writing tonight from Sumter South Carolina, a day after the stunning Republican primary. Wow!  I am absolutely amazed by the margin of Gingrich’s victory. Some commentators are opining that Gingrich would be an easier candidate for Obama to beat. What I take away from this is the visceral disdain so many people have with the current president, that they don’t want a  “nice guy- moderate” to run against him.  They want to eviscerate him. People are so angry and fed up that they are  boiling  like South Carolina peanuts.

Who is really taking it to the president and the media? Who seems the most outraged? Who seems the most concerned for the future of the country?  It appears to be Gingrich.  South Carolinians were even willing to overlook marital infidelities, character flaws, and incredible hubris just to get back at the president who many, including me, feel is taking the country in the wrong direction on multiple fronts. Say what you might about Gingrich, but if South Carolina is a yardstick, which it regularly is, then the passion against this president has to be taken seriously. Don’t write Newt off yet. Lets see what happens in the coming states.

 In that regard, I beg Rick Santorum to get out of the race. He is acting as Governor Huckabee did in 2008. He has no chance and is as marginalized as can be. Why is he continuing to do this? Is he a stalking horse for someone? Please leave with your dignity. The same goes for Ron Paul, although his constituency is unique  and they will always follow him.

So on to Florida for the republicans. It’s up to you guys to help winnow this field.  So go Sunshine Staters!    Can’t wait to see what happens next.

I happened to catch the congressional hearing today with Attorney General Eric Holder. Boy that guy is arrogant! He did everything but admit his team lied to congress over the Fast and Furious gun operation. He weaseled, quibbled, obfuscated, and attacked congress’ motives. He is nothing short of a disgrace and he should be let go. It will not happen of course as he and the President are joined at the hip on a range of diverse matters. Who else would be so compliant or complicit.

Shortly after this fiasco, the President himself took the podium lecturing and excoriating republicans. With mock anger, he  also announced that  he was going to shorten his  Hawaiian vacation as long as work needed to be done. Well God bless him. He was so embarrassed all week by the criticism that he backed off. Does he deserve a 17 day Hawaiian vacation? I don’t think so.

But this raises another problem. The plan is for Michelle and gang to go ahead at a cost of upwards of $100K, with the president following whenever, at another ridiculous cost. What about saving money?  Here’s one, if Michelle wants to go early, charter a commercial jet and fly. Do we need to tax military resources for the first lady’s vacation?

OK. I will not end this week on a downer. Lets have  some fun. In the last article I compared the President to the Music Man, selling snake oil to the public.  What other movie titles apply to the president? Here’s my list:

Clueless

The Hollow Man

Unfaithful

Liar Liar

The Angry Man

For his administration I thought of the following:

Dawn of the Dead

Resident Evil

Paranormal Activity

Apocalypse Now

I’d love to hear your nominations.  Have a great weekend and see you Monday.

Beginning the week with another article from Paul. Well put my friend; I agree completely. The President’s handling of this issue is a disgrace!

Politics ahead of Country

On Thursday, the State Department made the decision to re-study the proposed Keystone pipeline from Canada to Illinois and Oklahoma. This means that a final decision will not be made until sometime in 2013. The ostensible reason is to study alternate routes that avoid passing over the aquifer in Nebraska. If anyone truly believes this is the motive, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.

On the issue of the pipeline, the Obama Administration has been between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Unions argue that the pipeline will create jobs; the lowest estimate is 6,000-7,000; others place the number nearer 20,000 jobs. The environmental movement condemns the pipeline because of the potential for spills, as well as contamination of the Ogallala aquifer.

If the Administration had made a decision on the pipeline, one of these two critical constituencies would have been alienated — less than a year before the Presidential election. Hence, to coin a phrase from the 1960s, “Not to decide is to decide.” The can is kicked down the road, and when a final decision does have to be made, it does not matter which group is alienated. The environmental movement is ecstatic, believing that the delay effectively kills the pipeline.

This is the most cynical manipulation of an issue by a President that I have seen in my lifetime. Politics — being re-elected — has trumped what is best for the nation. In the middle of a recession, with an unemployment rate of 9%, we avoid creating thousands of jobs sustainable without federal dollars. Do opponents of the pipeline really believe that Canada will not exploit the Alberta oil sands without the pipeline? Rest assured, Canada will extract the oil, but it will probably be sent to China via tankers across the Pacific (oh, and by the way, via a new pipeline across western Canada). The potential damage from an at-sea disaster far outweighs a spill on land, where it can be more quickly contained. Can anyone name a land-based oil disaster that compares to the Exxon Valdez or the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico?

The environmental disaster argument, however, is a red herring. There have been numerous spills along the existing pipeline; even the largest was contained within the pumping facility. The real goal is to do anything that would diminish the use of fossil fuels. While this is a laudable goal in the abstract, in practice it is completely unrealistic, at least for the next several decades. Pipeline or no pipeline, we will continue importing oil. The only question is which nations will be our primary providers: Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Iran? If you accept the pipeline opponents’ argument, why would we want to depend on a liberal democracy like Canada — our good friend with an excellent record on the environment — when we can depend on despots and autocrats like Chavez, Ahmadinejad, and the House of Saud?