Nightly Ramble: Edouard;the DOE in the Headlights; More

These Nightly Rambles are all things I’ve found during the day. I input them all day long and auto-post whatever I’ve collected at around 4 to 430 eastern. I put things in here that catch my eye but that perhaps do not rate a full post on their own.

• Edouard is visiting Texas. About what we’ll end up with is a lot of rain. We’ve had 65mph winds and better… supposedly, it was a borderline hurricane. Petered out pretty quick once it came on shore though. But you know… and nobody’s mentioned this… the area has about a 7 inch rain shortage for the year so far. It not all that unusual for nature to balance the books this way. If you’re getting the impression I’m not overly worried, you’re correct.
• Did you know that it was about 30 years ago that Jimmah Carter invented the Department of Energy? You may notice that their success rate hasn’t been the best. Here yet again, as I pointed out the other day, government is the problem, and not the solution. And Cater, in grand Democrat tradition, instead of arranging for more energy to be produced, starts a government agency, which produces not thing one except more regulation, more taxes and more problems. But, no more oil. Indeed, someone tell me what the DOE has actrually accomplished to get us more of it.  Nothing.
• Nice to see signs of life at Improved Clinch.
• McQ looks at Nancy’s Sunday talkshow fiasco.As I told him?? 

  She’s got better access to the numbers than any of us, and she knows full well the numbers are against her in the congress… Else she’d not be playing this stonewall act the way she is… and in the general public, as well. She knows that she’ll lose if this gets to a vote.

  Hell, half her own party wants to bypass the environuts and drill… saving a massive change of position, this has got to hurt the Democrats chances like none other, particularly in the swing states…. Indeed, I can see the Republicans looking at this as a Godsent issue for them.

  Why would she risk such? Only thing I can think of is we’re being set up for something, but what?

• I’m reminded once again that the congressional side of the ban on drilling for oil is gone as of the end of next month, assuming that Congress takes no action, which seems an open question.  Of itself this would seem to raise further questions about what the Democrats are up to, here. Ceratinly they’re trying to keep things from spinning out of control… and frankly I think they’ve lost that battle.  As SShiell, a commentor over there points out,
  

  Before this issue came forward, the Dems were in play to add 30+ seats in the house and could very well take a 60+ majority in the Senate, giving an Obama Presidency at least a two year free pass on any and all progressive legislative ventures they may want to put on the table, including filling any Supreme Court seat with virtually anyone, hard core left wing or not. Even if there was a national reaction to a liberal administration crica 1994 they would have stolen at least the court for their agenda for a generation. She needs to stall for time and hope some other issue, like an October surprise, comes forward to take this isssue and the heat off the Dems.

  Well, I guess that’s constant with them banning drilling hoping for a miracle gift from some other country, to solve all these problems on energy. Idiots.

• It looks like there may be an issue with the new BitsBlog layout and IE6. Now, IE7 and Foxpro both work OK with it, though.  It’s a spacing issue that pops up on the main page at about 6 or 8 posts down. My best advice: Upgrade IE to 7, or better yet, upgrade to Foxpro.
• Hey, Bob Herbert: How is it you can recognize a phallic symbol but you can’t tell the difference between  the Victory tower Obama have his Berlin speech in front of, and the leaning tower of Pisa?  You know, maybe the reason nobody else is seeing phallic symbols where you are is… welllllll,  let’s put it this way: Tell us, Bob; do you like movies about gladiators? I mean, comon, Bob…. Explain to us how we’re supposed to take you seriously, huh?
• All the folks who took offense at McCain the other day about his ad comparing Paris Hilton to Obama… apparently didn’t know Obama himself drew the same comparison… as DavidL pointed out last night. What I found most amusing was her mother’s screaming about it. Is there anyone on the planet who doesn’t understand that parenting skills, or the lack of them, the rolling imorality joke that is Paris Hilton?
• I mentioned last night that McCain, according to Rasmussen, is showing a slight lead if within the margin of error. Now, Zogby comes up with the same results.  Yesterday I’d have said this was insignificant. Today, not so much.  The reason for the shift, says Zogby, is that Obama is losing support among his base. Quite a shift in one month, too, says Zogby:
  

  • McCain gained 20% and Obama lost 16% among voters ages 18-29. Obama still leads that group, 49%-38%.
  • Among women, McCain closed 10 points on Obama, who still leads by a 43%-38% margin.
  • Obama has lost what was an 11% lead among Independents. He and McCain are now tied.
  • Obama had some slippage among Democrats, dropping from 83% to 74%.
  • Obama’s support among single voters dropped by 19%, and he now leads McCain, 51%-37%.
  • Even with African-Americans and Hispanics, Obama shows smaller margins.

  That’s pretty much what the numbers inside the Rasmussen polling data were showing. Offhand, I’d say we’re looking at a trend, particularly given Zogby’s leftward tilt the last few cycles. AJ Starta points up:

  This is mostly due to Obama’s disastrous world tour, but it is also because of the intransigence of the Liberal Democrat leaders to not do anything serious about gas prices. When Pelosi ran home for a 5 week vacation (which includes the Democrat Convention) she left Obama out there as the lightening rod for the public to lash out at. Thanks to Obama’s gaffes and Pelosi’s obstinate position on energy they may have just elected John McCain the next President of The United States.

  All true, but when filtered through the Politico article I linked this monring, it takes on a quality of an unresolved question, the answer of which will not turn the way of the Democrats.
  Powerline sums those questions well:

  The question, obviously, is whether that erosion will continue as voters continue to learn more about Obama, and see him less as a media phenomenon, and more as a conventional, but very liberal, Democrat with little practical experience.

  At the moment, I’m leaning toward the latter. Granted that the ‘truei beleivers’ will always be out there… but what this will come down to, I think, is the independants, who have until recenly been holding as ‘undecided’. That’s changing, as is Obama’s base.

• Oil went down below $120/bbl yesterday.  Down to $118 as of when this is written.
• Sorry to see Morgan Freeman’s troubles.
• There’s but one proper response to these Animal Rights morons. Remove them from the planet, physically, and by force. They’re already off-planet mentally, anyway. Just complete the process and be done with it.
• Parting shot: The way… the ONLY way… to bring oil pries down is to inject more long term supply into the marketplace. That means drilling. That does NOT mean a quick fix from the reserve. That does not mean inflating your tires. It does not mean increasing CAFE standards. It means drilling. That IS the ‘comprehensive plan’. The reason the Democrats aren’t facing up to that reality we’ve gone over already, today. You’re being played for suckers by the Demorats, America…