Oil: More Drilling?

President Bush is an idiot.

Oops, did I write that out loud?

While my other blog is being used for the Pledge Project, I still need to express some exhasperation at Bush's stupidity regarding his recent speech on energy policy. Bush said that we need to open offshore drilling and start drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge in order to "strengthen our national security."

This shows as much wisdom as telling a person who is facing a severe cutback in pay at work that he needs to drain his savings account as fast as he can - because what is most important when you are suffering a shortage in income is that you maintain your current standard of living. Adjusting to the fact that you will have less income is obviously not recommended, at least by this President.

The way that I protect my personal financial security is by saving money - by holding on to a reserve that I do not spend so that, if some disaster strikes that eliminates other sources of income, I still have income that I can use. As long as I maintain a large reserve of money, other people have less power over me.

And to the degree that the United States maintains a large reserve of oil that we can draw upon in a crisis, to that degree other countries have less power over us.

Bush's policy of using up our reserves deprives us of options and gives others power over us.

This is the opposite of protecting national security.

All of these criticisms of Bush's policy apply equally to McCain's call for drilling off shore as well. These are idiotic practices that will back America into an energy corner from which we will have few options for escape.