Offshore Drilling - A Political Lesson

With hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil spreading across the Gulf of Mexico, headed for the American shoreline, those "Drill, baby, drill!" zealots would be hoisted precipitously from their own petards if the Obama administration had stuck to their guns on offshore drilling.

Weeks prior to the oil rig explosion, the President made some comments about how safe offshore drilling had become through technological advancements, and now every right-wing publication imaginable is leveraging this support from the Obama administration as a buffer against the inevitable backlash from environmental groups.

Let's hope that BP is able to repay the billions of dollars it will take to contain and clean up their mess. It would be refreshing if other energy conglomerates pledged funding equal to the final BP tab for research and development of alternative fuel technologies.

I might even buy gasoline from one of them to show my support. Except for Marathon or Speedway. I'm still boycotting them for posting flyers by the pumps advising customers that progressive energy policies would hurt their business model and drive up consumer costs.

For a company that charges $12 for a box of Cap 'N Crunch, it's pretty arrogant to lecture me on Cap and Trade.