The following is pretty much my line of thinking, especially the boldface.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZGYyNGYyNWY3NWNmYzRlMzE2ZWZhODNjZWQwNDgzNjc=McCain Should Link Tsar Putin with Drill, Drill, Drill [Larry Kudlow]
Will John McCain turn Tsar Putins invasion of Georgia into a drill, drill, drill issue? He should. It will throw Democrats even more on the defensive especially Sen. Obama whose weak response to Putins neo-Soviet actions have already put him way behind the eight ball on Russia.
McCains responses have been superb. And President Bush today adopted many of them in particular the warnings on world trade, the G8 (G7?), and a Truman-like airlift of humanitarian assistance relief. Even sending Condi Rice over there and putting SecDef Bob Gates into play.
McCain has been appropriately tough all along. And this Putin ploy will resonate with voters much more than Beltway pundits believe.
But global strategist Thomas Barnett has the energy angle on Russias invasion of Georgia exactly right. He says,
Now we all have clarity about the nasty nature of Putins Russia, and this gives us clarity on the need to dramatically reduce our dependence on foreign oil. He asks: Why would the U.S. want to expose the American economy to the potential risk of being held hostage by a couple of oil pipelines that run through the old Soviet empire? He goes on to say, Its all-of-the-above time, gang domestic drilling, nukes, concentrated solar, deep geothermal, clean coal, and whatever else Silicon Valley and heroic capitalists everywhere can dream up as we conduct a market-driven transition to a post-hydrocarbon economy. (Hat tip to Jimmy Pethokoukis.)
Barnett is exactly right. I simply call it drill, drill, drill total deregulation and decontrol of the great American energy sector. Unleash all manner of energy for an America First energy policy that not only will fuel our economy but will create millions of high-paying jobs in the future.This is where the Tsar Putin warning should take us this political season. Its another huge Republican opportunity, led by McCain, to merge Obamas naïveté and inexperience on national security with his nutty reliance on the enviromaniacs of the left who still control the Democrats.
I notice the Intrade prediction market, which downgraded the end-the-drilling-ban contract to 40 percent yesterday, has popped up the probability of that contract to 50 percent today. I also notice this mornings Wall Street Journal story that says conservative Republicans in the Senate are not happy with the Gang of 10 drilling compromise. They shouldnt be happy with it. All thats necessary is 41 votes to stop a budget spending bill that is likely to contain another one-year extension of the drilling moratorium. That would mean the moratorium is dead on Oct. 1; it expires Sept. 30. This will be the closest thing to an up-or-down vote on drilling.
Do we really want OPEC, Hugo Chavez, and Tsar Putin to control our energy prices? Or will we be brave enough to seize energy independence?
McCain can really lead on this issue.
"Drill, baby, drill. Drill like there's no friggin' tomorrow." [<--That's about half right--jfruser]
