Obama's Pipeline to Penury

Twenty years ago, Ronald Reagan entreated Republicans to proudly and clearly proclaim how conservatism is different from Democrat leftism: "No pale pastels, but bold colors!"

From that day to this, practically all other mainstream Republicans have fled from this advice like vampires from garlic.  There are certainly differences between the current crop of Republican candidates and Barack Obama, but aside from Newt Gingrich and the topic of abortion, they don't seem to be able to articulate them.

The closest they usually get is "We'll lower taxes and create jobs."  How exactly?  Don't ask; you won't find out.

As so many times before, Obama has gifted the Republican nominee with a gold-plated opportunity to paint, in the boldest of colors, how Republicans are in fact not just Democrat-lite.  Fools that we are, we still hope they actually might.

Obama, himself, is absolutely sure that they won't.  Otherwise, what President up for re-election in the middle of a years-long depression would take a high-profile, public decision that:

a) Directly prevents at least 20,000 jobs from being created, with potentially many more from knock-on effects.

b) Continues to hold our economy at the mercy of Muslim countries on the other side of the world that are, at best, not terribly friendly, and at worst are complete psychopathic apocalyptic barbarians.

c) Pokes a big stick in the eye of the nation with which we share the world's longest undefended border.

d) Oh, and lest we forget - potentially provides a cheap, dedicated source of petroleum to the Red Chinese.

Yet in turning down the Keystone XL pipeline, that's exactly what Barack Obama has done.

Immaculate Immunity

Everyone on both sides of the aisle agrees that the #1 problem, concern, and issue in our country today is the desperate need for jobs.  Everyone on the left side of the aisle is clamoring for "shovel-ready" projects to upgrade America's aged infrastructure.  A 1,500 mile pipeline is just such a project - so, of course, Obama doesn't want it.

Since the oil shocks of the 1970s, every single President has pontificated about weaning us from Mideast oil, and every single one has failed utterly.  We're schlepping more oil from under Arab sands than ever before.  Now for the very first time in all those years, we have the Canadians, a 100% stable, friendly ally right next door to us, offering a dedicated supply of all the oil we could possibly want for years to come - so, of course, Obama doesn't want it.

For years now, America has suffered and argued over the chaos on our southern border.  Our northern border is many times as long, even more remote and inhospitable in many places - and yet we next to never have problems there.  So, of course, Obama can't help but insult and demean the country on the other side of that hitherto-friendly and safe border.

The Canadian government, not being populated with blithering idiots, knows that it has to sell its newfound shale oil reserves to somebody - there aren't enough Canucks to use it all, and unlike us, the Canadian voters won't sit idly by paying monstrous taxes while keeping a valuable and desirable commodity buried in the ground.  The totally obvious thing would be to sell it to us: we're friendly, we're right next door, and our money is still more or less useful the world around.

Failing that, though, our northern neighbors won't slink sadly back to their igloos.  The pipeline can just as well head west as south.  Of course, it'll be more expensive, polluting, and hazardous to tanker all that oil halfway around the globe to Beijing, but it's perfectly feasible.  Their money is good too, and unlike in America, they know how to get infrastructure projects done in the blink of an eye.

America will continue to burn oil for a long time to come, no matter what happens.  The Canadian oil will be sold to and burned by somebody. There will be a pipeline built; whether it heads south or west is immaterial.  Turning down Keystone XL accomplishes nothing whatsoever for the environment; even for those who care more about fluffy bunnies than American jobs and lives, it's the same either way.

It is absolutely inconceivable that any other president in the entire history of the United States would have ever made such a decision.  Even had one been seized by a fit of derangement and been inclined to turn down this obvious, massive win, his advisers would have smashed his fingers with a paperweight before letting him sign the turndown letter.

Yet Obama's didn't.  What's more, they don't appear to expect to pay any political price, either, secure in the knowledge that their mainstream media allies will never ever report the truth of the matter.

Obama has no intention of riding the pipeline issue out of office.  No, it's us who will be going for a ride - straight to poverty and continued dependence on Big Government, which is what the Obama administration is clearly all about.