Reign of the oilmen

So here we are in year five of the reign of chimperor Bush (former oil executive to several failed companies) and vice chimperor Dick Cheney, who of course ran Halliburton.

So how's that working out for average Americans?

Wingnuts will of course squawk that it's not their fault that prices are where they are (nothing, indeed, is ever the fault of wingnuts) - no, it's because of Democratic obstructionism/the "liberal" media/radical feminists/hippie treehuggers, all of which are vastly powerful constituencies in a capital whose airport is named after wingnut-in-chief Ronald Reagan.

I'm not at all surprised that prices are where they are. This because it's not the job of oil executives - even failed ones like the chimperor - to make sure prices are low. No, their job is to ensure fat profits for their corporate overlords; which of course is the one mission that the chimperial government has excelled at. Just ask the drug companies (Medicare part D), Iraq re-construction firms ($45bn down the drain), big agriculture (guest worker programs), defense contractors (120% rise in Pentagon procurement), big healthcare (tort reform), and so on ad nauseam.

The ones left holding the bag are of course you and me and our good friend Joe Shmoe. Perhaps we can discuss it as we walk to the local anti-abortion/anti-gay marriage/anti-evolution rally. I hear that's what our owners would like us to do.