That's it...it's time to go! NATO declines to really punish Russia

It really shouldn't surprise anyone that Europe will never learn from her mistakes. Time after time, she cowered in the face of danger, rather than confront an imminent threat.

Germany, Soviet Union, Islamofascists, etc. just to name a few.

And again, Europe curled in the fetal position, pathetically sucking its thumb.

According to MSNBC.com, "NATO pulled its punches against Russia on Tuesday, suspending formal contacts as punishment for the Georgia invasion but bucking U.S. pressure for more severe penalties."

And in typical Russian fashion, the country's ambassador stated that Europe and the United States completely overreacted: "'The mountain gave birth to a mouse,' said Dmitry Rogozin.

Of course, the Russians claim they invaded Georgia to save citizens in South Ossetia, which has claimed independence from its parent country. With that said, the United Nations, to which most of the Left adhere, states that South Ossetia formerly belongs to Georgia: "The United Nations, European Union, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Council of the European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and all other countries in the world recognize South Ossetia as part of Georgia."

So when the rest of world finally possessed the ability to do SOMETHING about Russian aggression, it sat on its hands...again.

Why is that? Could it be that Russia controls a massive flow of oil into Europe. In the past, when the Russians attempted to make a political point, they've cut off the flow of oil into Europe, as it did when it engaged in a trade row with Belarus, thus punishing Germany, Poland, and the Ukraine.

Earlier this year, Russia cut oil to the Czech Republic by 50%, citing "technical difficulties." Of course beneath the facade of such fabrications Russia cut oil to make a statement. Recently, the United States and the Czechs signed an agreement to place missiles on Czech soil.

As Scotsman.com says, Russia knows it can invade Georgia under the guise of protecting its citizens in South Ossetia without fear or reprisal. She knows that Europe depends to a large extent on Russian oil.

"The subtext of the Russian invasion is the so-called Nabucco pipeline. This is a project being promoted by the EC to run natural gas from Azerbaijan, through Georgia and Turkey, and thence into the EU, via a major natural gas hub in Austria. Nabucco would by-pass Russia, relieving Europe of its risky dependence on Russian gas. The EU gets around 40 per cent of its gas from Russia, but this will rise to well over half as energy demand intensifies. Unfortunately, Moscow is prone to turning off the gas tap if it does not get what it wants politically."

Of course the United States' hands are tied as well. It's already overextended in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a potential for further conflict in Iran if her nuclear program cannot be curtailed. Our gestures and statements have essentially

The bottom line is that Russia has the upper hand. It knows it can sway decisions based almost purely on energy needs.

Wake Up United States: We're Dying a Slow Death Thanks to the Environmentalists

Fellow Twin Cities Conservative, CodLiverOilGuy, forwarded this article to me today: it sounds like our Democratically-controlled Congress, when they're not sidestepping the issue of oil and taking a FIVE-week vacation, are contemplating the passage of the United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty (known as LOST).

Here's the crux of the legislation:

"Can you imagine gifting the United Nations with $50 trill in Arctic oil taxes? This is what the U.S. Senate proposes to do if it ratifies LOST."

"A dangerous scramble for the oil and gas reserves between Russia and the West can be avoided and, more to the point, the U.S. will lose its entire future commercial and energy security by signing onto LOST. Meanwhile, Democrat leaders in both houses of Congress have already rejected President Bush’s July 14 effort to end a 25-year moratorium on drilling in most coastal waters."

What the hell are we doing to this country? More specifically, what the HELL are the Democrats doing to this country regarding energy, nevermind the shoving of progressive values down our throat, the pandering and cheerleading to terrorism, etc?

Tyrant of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), at the beginning of the month, despotically adjourned Congress, shutting off the lights and the C-SPAN cameras, in an effort to avoid voting on the issue of off-shore and ANWR drilling. She's saving the planet, she says. What a crock of shit.

Furthermore, I caught this article, courtesy of Townhall's Amanda Carpenter, whereby supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barry Hussein Obama clamored for $10 a gallon gasoline.

"Ed Frank, vice president of public affairs for Americans for Prosperity, spoke to Obama supporters during an event organized on Capitol Hill by liberally-leaning MoveOn.org. According to an email MoveOn emailed to supporters the event was designed to 'highlight the GOP’s extensive ties to Big Oil.'

There, AFP members handed MoveOn supporters a mock $8 bill and said “this is what Al Gore wants you to pay for gas.”

An older man dressed in an Obama shirt said, 'This is too cheap! This is too cheap!' Waving the eight dollar bill he said, “Let’s get it up to ten! Let’s get it up to ten bucks.'"

Can someone tell me how the hell this country is looking to elect MORE Democrats in the fall, including arguably the most liberal Democratic candidate ever? They want to tax "windfall profits" on big oil, thereby giving a $1000 energy rebate check to everyone; doesn't that almost ensure higher gas prices, for example, across the board? Obama wants to mete economic justice; in other words, he's vying to redistribute the wealth from people, in his estimation, do not deserve it.

On top of that, he's looking, if president, to tax this country out of a potential recession/depression, while endorsing alternative energy, sources of energy not currently viable enough to even support a reduced standard of living in America.

If we ONLY use alternative energy now, we WILL collapse. The development of alternative energy is highly-dependent on a cheap-oil driven economic structure which is in the process of collapsing. $10 gasoline will only make it collapse faster. What the Obama-bots fail to realize is that our food supply is also dependent upon this same cheap-oil economy. By hastening its collapse, they are taking food from our dinner plates.

I guess on the bright side, the greenies will starve with the rest of us.

The RepubliCAIN's plan of attack: Exploit the Energy Issue

There's a critical issue at stake in the forthcoming 2008 election; it doesn't take a Pulitzer Prize winner in Physics or Chemistry to figure out what it is either:

It's all about the energy, baby.

Really, it's an extension of the elitist attitude prevalent in Democratic presidential candidate Barry Hussein Obama. His true colors became evident a few months ago when he stated to a group of San Francisco liberals that small-town Americana "get(s) bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

It's this elitist, "chablais-and-brie" crowd (courtesy Pat Buchanon) to whom Obama and his Democratic counterparts in Congress are pandering. Rumor has it that back in the day Democrats SUPPOSEDLY represented the working class.

You could fool me, because right now certain policies practiced by the know-nothing Democrats are completely alienating mainstream, middle-class, and working-class America: their policy on energy and the open border crowd.

Regarding open borders, the bottom line is this: you can't purport to represent working class families, yet pander to the La Raza-type groups that believe we should allow immigrants to 1.) illegally stream over our border; 2) stay in this country; 3.) steal jobs; 4.) cost taxpayers millions in education and health care costs; 5.) support sanctuary cities.

It's time the Republicans took this election back from the Democrats. For this purposes of this treatise, the Republicans, led by presidential candidate John McCain, should "drill" (no pun intended) the liberals and their Democratic enablers on energy.

Of course, rather than take a real course of action, in other words, drill for oil in Alaska or off-shore, the Democrats want oil companies to further explore for oil on already developed/purchased lands.

In an absolutely disdainful maneuver, the Democrats would rather offer bullshit solutions, such as the one above, or offering plans that include solutions that are either too expensive to implement, or ultimately worthless.

Dick Morris said it best yesterday:

Meanwhile, McCain and the Republicans have finally found an issue - oil drilling - exposing how the Democrats oppose drilling virtually anywhere that there might be recoverable oil. Not in Alaska. Not offshore. Not in shale deposits in the West. The Democratic claim that we “cannot drill our way out of the crisis in gas prices” begs the question of whether, had we drilled five years ago, we would be a lot less dependent on foreign market fluctuations.

The truth is that the Democrats put the need to mitigate climate change ahead of the imperative of holding down gasoline prices at the pump. If there was ever a fault line between elitist and populist approaches to a problem, this is it. In fact, liberals basically don’t see much wrong with $5 gas. Many have been urging a tax to achieve precisely this level, just like Europe has done for decades.

It's also an opportunity for Republicans to reinvent themselves; it's time for the Grand Ol' Party to return to days of fiscal responsibility. Balance the budget, shrink government, and demonstrate some damn restraint. Do NOT give the Defeatocrats any ammunition.