Steve Bohlen, Brook Bohlen, and Niko Bohlen in studio. Niko is four months old today - July 23, 2011.

A good friend of mine shared this with me.  I have to say that while it's a humorously simplistic description of the current oil crisis (read: cost of oil crisis) there is an overwhelmingly real moral to the story! 

BLUF ("bottom line up front"): there is no reason why the United States should ever be dependent upon anyone but the United States for its oil!  Below statement hits the nail on the head: 

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A lot of folks can't understand how we came to have an oil shortage here in our country.

Well, there's a very simple answer.

Nobody bothered to check the oil. We just didn't know we were getting low.

The reason for that is purely geographical.

Our OIL is located in:

ALASKA

California

Coastal   Florida

Coastal Louisiana

Coastal Alabama

Coastal Mississippi

Coastal Texas

North Dakota

Wyoming

Colorado

Kansas

Oklahoma

Pennsylvania

And

Texas

Our dipsticks are located in DC!

Any Questions?  NO? Didn't think So.

If you believe the events unfolding in Egypt over the past several days aren’t your concern, think again.  And our president just may be the wrong person to satisfactorily deal with the dilemma.

Here’s why:  The liberal, main-stream  media has been drooling over the prospect that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak might be replaced by a coalition government led by Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

ElBaradei is a darling of the left for his open opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 in part because of his anti-U.S. posture. As head of the IAEA, he slow-walked international action against Iran for pursuing nuclear weapons and claimed that Iran’s intentions in gaining status as a nuclear power were entirely understandable.
He also is no fan of Israel…he has a long history of virulently anti-Israel public comments, calling Gaza “the largest prison in the world,” and condemning Israel for defending itself against terrorist groups.  And the Obama administration has repeatedly reached out to ElBaradei in effort to establish communication in case he becomes Egypt’s new leader. He has returned the favor by publicly trashing the Obama administration for its alleged failure to move quickly enough in calling for Mubarak’s ouster.

Didn’t Obama promise the world that the US would be a beloved ally to all and adversary to none?  Remember, “hope and change”?  And here I thought that Obama would magically cause the Middle East to love America.
 

Here’s why the west, especially we in the US need to be concerned.  This past weekend, in an interview with Christiane Amanpour of ABC News, ElBaradei made a shocking and irresponsible comment, claiming the Muslim Brotherhood is not a terrorist organization. HELLO!!  This is the same group that has vowed to establish an Islamic caliphate across the Middle East, destroy Israel and kill for the glory of Allah. But, according to ElBaradei, it is not a terrorist organization. ElBaradei’s exact quote was: “[The Muslim Brotherhoods] are no way extremist, they are no way using violence…You have to include them like the evangelical groups in the U.S., like orthodox Jews in Jerusalem.”
 

While the protesters in the streets of Egypt have it much better than the Syrian protests of 1982 in Hamma, where the Syrian government all but leveled its own city while killing some 38,000 to 40,000 people.  Anyone remember that?!!

Just think about the past week’s events in Tunisia, Egypt and now Jordan. Hear Vice President Biden state that Mubarak is “no dictator and should not step down,” meanwhile our president said that the future of Egypt will be determined by the Egyptian people. That’s contrary to what his Secretary of State says…Hillary Clinton said, “…our assessment is that the Egyptian Government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people.”  From their obviously different and somewhat divergent statements, it is clear (to me at least!) they have no grip on the situation or they are incompetent.  You choose which, or both!

What the world is watching is Obama throwing Mubarak under the bus in the hope that it will turn out favorable to the U.S. The Administration apparently believes that by suggesting elections late next summer that it will give the U.S. time to influence the outcome. Where Obama and his ilk are so clearly naïve is that delay also buys time for our adversaries.  Oh, that’s right, the “Muslim Brotherhood” isn’t a terrorist organization…right! 

But if the president and his administration truly believe that Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel will be standing idly by, they are even more naïve (translation – “incompetent”) than one has ever imagined.

You know, I sympathize with the protesters in Egypt. They want democracy and freedom. But if Mubarak is replaced by ElBaradei in a government that includes the Muslim Brotherhood, the solution is worse than the problem. That’s just a horrible scenario to think about, which certainly won’t be good for the cause of democracy in the Middle East, the United States, and certainly not Israel.  That’s why such an inexperienced, community organizer-turned Commander in Chief may not be the right person to be the face of the US involvement in this turmoil.  But what the heck, the majority of voters in America voted him into office because they wanted “hope and change”.

Those who voted Obama into office now had certainly hope that things change quickly…for the sake of us all!  But what the heck, 21 Dec 2012 will be here soon enough, right?!!

What an election season it’s been.  But after all the television, print, and telephonic political ads I feel like I’ve played an entire football season in only a month…and I was the football!

But now that it’s pau it’s seriously time for those elected by the people to LISTEN to the people and do the bidding of the people.

I saw an editorial yesterday that said, in essence, ‘now the hard work begins’.  I thought how far from the truth that to be.  Listening to the people that elected you, writing/typing words on paper, talking to constituents and colleagues isn’t exactly the definition of ‘hard work’. 

There are plenty of you out there right now working hard at sometimes two and three jobs just to make ends meet.  To be able to provide for your family in a manner that your family deserves!  THAT is hard work.

And I will tell all of the winners of Tuesday night’s election the same thing…you’d better be honest with us, you’d better listen to us, and you’d better represent us the way WE want to be represented or your time in office will be short lived.  Just look at the message the American people sent to the Democrats Tuesday night! 

Neil, Brian, Maize, Colleen, and the rest of you regardless of the letter that precedes your title, you’d be wise to learn from your colleagues who are no longer employed.  We’ll see you in just a few years…count on it!