If I had to give one single reason for drilling the hell out of whatever energy resources America has to offer, it would be to de-fund the medieval sharia system that thrives in Saudi Arabia.  Right now, Egypt is in an uproar because a 53-year old Egyptian physician convicted of malpractice against one of the innumerable members of the Saudi royal family has been sentenced to receive 1,500 lashes.  (That’s not a typo:  1,500.)

That Saudi Arabia is the worst kind of sadistic, misogynistic, anti-Christian, antisemitic, backwards sharia state is a tragedy for its citizens.  That we continue to fund it (to the tune of billions of dollars) by refusing to use our own energy resources is practically a criminal act on our part.

One post ago, I said I was going to wait and see until Obama does something before I get upset.  Now I’m upset.  I got around to reading the AP article announcing that one of Obama’s first acts will be to reinstate the ban on offshore and natural gas drilling.  That’s the ban that, when in place, saw our gasoline soar to almost $4.00 per gallon.  That wasn’t just a hit to every person driving a car.  It was a hit to every school district running buses.  It was a hit to every grocery store getting food to the shelves.  It was a hit to every farm using gasoline powered equipment to harvest food.  It was a hit to every flight moving people around the United States and around the world.  And on and on, throughout the American economy, at every level and affecting every person.

That same ban was also a huge blessing to OPEC en masse, as well as to its individual members.  It also made Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Russia and Venezuela very, very happy.  Just as the ban was a bad thing for us at every point in our economy, it was a blessing for those who loath us.

And what happened when Bush let the offshore oil drilling ban lapse in the face of a Democratic Congress afraid to jink the election?  Prices plummeted, and quickly too.  Even here, in one of the priciest parts of America, you can now get gasoline for less then $2.00 a gallon if you’re willing to drive a few miles from the pricier sections of Marin.  My local Safeway has sales on everything.  As their shipping costs have dropped, they’re racing to pass the savings on to customers.  It’s not beneficence on Safeway’s part.  It’s good business.  If they can drop their prices faster than their competitors can, they get the customers.

And just as we in America are benefiting hugely from the mere possibility of offshore drilling, the oil producing nations, almost all of which are hostile to us, are worried.  OPEC is talking about price fixing to keep those petrodollars flowing into Wahhabi coffers.

So what’s Barack Obama’s first planned move?  As I said above, it’s to reinstate the offshore oil ban, as well as to kill domestic natural gas production!  I kid you not:

President-elect Barack Obama plans to use his executive powers to make an immediate impact when he takes office, perhaps reversing Bush administration policies on stem cell research and domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.

[snip]

On drilling, the federal Bureau of Land Management is opening about 360,000 acres of public land in Utah to oil and gas drilling. Bush administration officials argue that the drilling will not harm sensitive areas; environmentalists oppose it.

“They want to have oil and gas drilling in some of the most sensitive, fragile lands in Utah,” Podesta said. “I think that’s a mistake.”

Clearly, one of the things we as conservatives can do is remind hurting consumers every single day that it was President Bush who made gas prices (and therefore all prices) drop when he allowed the ban to lapse, and President Obama who made every aspect of our lives more costly.

And if, God forbid, some Wahhabi extremists launch a deadly, well-funded attack against the U.S. in 2009, it’s up to us to remind the American people that it was the extremist environmental policies espoused by the Democrats (Obama included) that funded that ideology and those attacks.

I was hoping that Obama would govern as a centrist, given his narcissistic need to retain power and popularity.  He’s making it clear, though, that he will govern as an ideologue, pandering to the base, and to hell with the best interests of America and her citizens.

You’ve all heard the question that is the title of my post, haven’t you?  Is an audience necessary for a sound to have meaning or even existence? And what if, in our world, the intermediary to the audience bugs out?  That’s today’s question, as Republicans vigorously debate the new drilling despite the fact that, Pelosi shut down the House, turned off the lights, and sent all her Democrats home.  And with the lights and mikes off, the media has mostly gone home, except those who try to display it, not as an act of substantive importance, but one of conservative silliness.

It seems to me though, in the wonderful world of the internet, we have the perfect opportunity to defang the MSM once and for all.  Go to the same Politico post to which I linked above, which describes what’s going on, and email it to your friends, and post it on your blogs, and talk about it to people.  In this Brave New Internet World, the MSM doesn’t have to be there; we the American people can be there instead.

To get you started, here is some of the Politico coverage:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats adjourned the House and turned off the lights and killed the microphones, but Republicans are still on the floor talking gas prices.

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, arguing that Pelosi’s refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling is hurting the American economy. They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m. and are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess.

At one point, the lights went off in the House and the microphones were turned off in the chamber, meaning Republicans were talking in the dark. But as Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz..) was speaking, the lights went back on, and the microphones were turned on shortly afterward.

But C-SPAN, which has no control over the cameras in the chamber, has stopped broadcasting the House floor, meaning no one is witnessing this except the assembled Republicans, their aides, and one Democrat, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who has now left.

Only about a half-dozen Republicans were on the floor when this began, but the crowd has grown to about 20 now, according to Patrick O’Connor.

“This is the people’s House,” Rep, Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) said. “This is not Pelosi’s politiburo.”

Democratic aides were furious at the GOP stunt, and reporters were kicked out of the Speaker’s Lobby, the space next to the House floor where they normally interview lawmakers.

“You’re not covering this, are you?” complaing one senior Democratic aide. Another called the Republicans “morons” for staying on the floor.

The Politico story is exciting, too, because in a series of updates it’s clear that the Republicans are becoming more energized and the Dems more angry.  Keep in mind that the Dems and the Republicans know that the vast majority of Americans, tired of seeing their energy bills climb needlessly, are in favor of drilling.

UPDATE:  Finally, some live (ish) video.  Hat tip to the Anchoress, who is blogging about this here.

At long last, the Republicans are showing some mojo.  Let’s give them our help by keeping this a talking-point.

Flopping Aces is blogging too (and has a great cartoon).