Palin's Experience

"Sarah Palin is back! The keeper of the light! All hail Sarah Palin! All hail Sarah Palin! Oh Sarah Palin can you see by the dawn's early light..."

Grand Central Station Locker Creatures.



It's a good thing I hadn't had my first morning cup of coffee when I caught this, otherwise, I would have spewed it all over the computer, as I fell to the floor in a fit of laughter.

It should be no surprise that The Wasilla Whiz Kid would call for, on her Policy Think Tank Facebook Page, continued drilling;

All responsible energy development must be accompanied by strict oversight, but even with the strictest oversight in the world, accidents still happen. No human endeavor is ever without risk – whether it’s sending a man to the moon or extracting the necessary resources to fuel our civilization. I repeat the slogan “drill here, drill now” not out of naiveté or disregard for the tragic consequences of oil spills – my family and my state and I know firsthand those consequences. How could I still believe in drilling America’s domestic supply of energy after having seen the devastation of the Exxon-Valdez spill? I continue to believe in it because increased domestic oil production will make us a more secure, prosperous, and peaceful nation.

No, actually "increased domestic oil production" will not make us more secure and prosperous (well, it will make the oil industry companies very prosperous).

It will continue to destroy our environment, and strain state and federal budgets, cleaning up, for years-to-decades, those "accidents with the strictest oversight" while underfunding the development of alternative, safe, renewal energy sources.



But that is not what would have had coffee shooting out of my nose.

Rather it was the Flying Monkey sycophants over on Conservatives4Palin.

Latching on to anything, anything, with Herculean powers, anything that could possibly make Mommy Moose look like a thoughtful, competent leader, they go to the source, the beryllium sphere, Ms. Ya'Bet'cha's book, to highlight "her experience" in dealing with oil spills.

Palin's Experience With Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Governor Palin wrote earlier today about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As the governor mentioned in her Facebook posting, she's experienced the effects of an oil spill first-hand. The following is an excerpt from Going Rogue about the Exxon Valdez spill (pages 59-62):

On Good Friday, March 24, 1989, I baked a cake for Dad’s fifty-first birthday. It started out a great day, but turned into one of those “where were you when ...” moments. When Ronald Reagan was shot, I heard about it over the intercom upstairs in the library at Wasilla High; when the space shuttle Challenger exploded, I was watching it on TV while standing in my dorm room at UI.

On this day, I was in my apartment on Peck Street in Wasilla when the phone rang.

“Sarah, turn on the TV!” It was Blanche. The intensity of her voice did not spell good news.

[snip]

When the Exxon Valdez hit Bligh Reef, I was a young mother-to-be with a blue-collar husband headed up to the Slope. I hadn’t yet envisioned running for elected office. But looking back, I can see that the tragedy planted a seed in me: If I ever had a chance to serve my fellow citizens, I would do so, and I’d work for the ordinary, hardworking people—like everyone who was a part of my ordinary, hardworking world.

Well ...

Not exactly.

It was more like she'd work for, about, a half term, for those "ordinary, hardworking people", before bailing out, and jumping on the Money Train.

Meanwhile, back in reality;

Leaked report: Government fears Deepwater Horizon well could become unchecked gusher

The worst-case scenario for the broken and leaking well pouring oil into the Gulf of Mexico would be the loss of the wellhead and kinked piping currently restricting the flow to 5,000 barrels -- or 210,000 gallons -- per day.

If the wellhead is lost, oil could leave the well at a much greater rate.

[snip]

Gouget said the loss of a wellhead is totally unprecedented.

Maybe she can go down there, and wink at it.





Bonus Links

Andrew Sullivan: Tweet Of The Day

Laura Conaway: Palin feels Gulf's pain, but accidents happen, OK? As proved by 2nd rig collapse

Cheney, Baby Cheney ...

Oil That Is, Black Gold, Tehran Tea ...

Osama bin Laden 1
Paul Wolfowitz 0



















Now, despite a Bush crony swinging his own deal in Kurdistan, and the other enormo-oil companies getting an "E" ticket back into the country, our invasion and occupation of Iraq was not - repeat - was not about the oil.

After all, Lover Boy Paul Wolfowitz had already pegged Iraq's oil for paying for the invasion and occupation.

Hard lesson for Wolfie, on not doing any comparative shopping, but, then again, those that have to be the first to get the new, latest/greatest, thing, always pay a higher price.

So, what do we make of this item, espied yesterday on Think Progress;

FLASHBACK: Ten Years Ago, Bin Laden Demanded Barrel Of Oil Should Cost $144

In a 1998 interview, Osama bin Laden — the terrorist organizer of 9/11 who still roams free — listed as one of his many grievances against the U.S. that Americans “have stolen $36 trillion from Muslims” by purchasing oil from Persian Gulf countries at low prices. The real price of a barrel of oil should be $144, bin Laden demanded.

Holy Cow!

Here's a headline from just the other day;

Oil passes, settles above $145 for first time; As holiday weekend approaches gas is $4.10 a gallon — another record

Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled at a record $145.29 Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.72 from the previous day. Earlier in the session, the contract rose to $145.85 a barrel, also a new high.

Oil has set trading or closing records in each of the last six trading sessions.

You'd almost think for a minute, that OBL was working for the Carlyle Group, or something, pumping up Daddy Bush's portfolio.

That must have sent Jim Cramer ballistic, probably pushing the buttons on all his sound effects.

Or, maybe, a new tune

The Terrorist Hillbillies

Come and listen to a story about a man named Osama
Still on the run with a boatload of karma,
Then one day he was plannin' a new wreck
And up came a bubblin' the prices from OPEC

Oil that is, black gold, Tehran tea.

Well the first thing you know Osama's an oil seer,
Talibanfolk said "Osama move away from here"
Said "Tora Bora is the place you ought to stand"
So they loaded up the terrorists and moved to Pakistan

Hills, that is. Mountain Caves, Tribal Villages ...

Most unfortunately, all the ones with the "schoolin', the Jethro's, are in the Bush Grindhouse...

Or Congress ...


Bonus Riffs

Bill Moyers and Michael Winship: It Was Oil, All Along

Yves Smith: Bush Administration Role in Iraq Oil Deals Confirmed

NYT: Bush Administration Role in Iraq Oil Deals Confirmed

TimesOnLine UK: Alan Greenspan claims Iraq war was really for oil

Bonus Bonus

The Beverly Hillbillies 1962, 1971