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“If democracies abandon the idea of freedom and happiness of the individual, they admit their civilization is not worth preserving.” Therefore, “we must retain the belief in the traditional values for which we have stood in the past and must have the moral courage stoutly to defend the ideals which our enemies attack.”

Fredrich Hayek: The Road To Serfdom

As every sane American knows, gas prices are soaring toward the European levels the Obama/Biden Administration so boldly sought.  Here in Wyoming, where folks commute many, many miles a day to work, gas prices have increased more than 100% in a single year.  There are very few “I did that?” stickers to be seen, because everybody mentions Biden when filling up, in “let’s go Brandon” terms.  Let us then take a moment to reflect on the state of American energy dependence.  We begin with Breitbart:

Less than 25 percent of voters strongly believe President Joe Biden is mentally fit, healthy, and stable, a Tuesday Politico/Morning Consult poll revealed.

Only 24 percent said they strongly agreed that Biden is mentally fit to serve as president. Thirty-four percent strongly believed Biden is not mentally fit to serve as president, a ten-point spread.

Trump was right about a lot of things…

In my nearly seven decades, I cannot recall anything remotely like that.  Oh, D/S/Cs always claim republican presidents are crazy and unfit, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.  Consider this, from of all media sources, CBS News(?)!

American consumers are already struggling with the highest inflation in four decades — a phenomenon that is eating into buying power and eroding wages. But more economic pain may be in store, with one analyst estimating that the recent surge in gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could add up to $2,000 in annual costs to the typical household budget.

Could?!  Still, that’s an amazing admission from CBS, particularly with the mid-term elections drawing ever closer.

That comes on top of about $1,000 in extra costs at the grocery store due to inflation, which means the typical household will have $3,000 less this year to spend on other items, Yardeni said.

Apparently CBS hasn’t been to the grocery store lately.  My weekly grocery bill has already increased at least 25%.  It’s going to cost much more than $1000 a year, and D/S/Cs are doing it on purpose. Of course, sanity/reality and CBS are diametrically opposed, and they quickly reverted to form:

Our dimwitted Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttegieg, whose only visible accomplishments are being gay, perpetually on maternity leave, and posing for pictures knows what we need to do: buy an electric vehicle!  The Babylon Bee knew exactly what to say about Pete:

The point is people who can’t afford to fill their tanks aren’t going to be buying an EV with an average price of $55,000 dollars, particularly if they live anywhere that features winter.  But of course, people like Pete don’t have to worry about trifles like eating, shelter and transportation.  But that’s all good, because our elected representative’s every thought is for the welfare of Deplorables, particularly those in Flyover Country, as Breitbart reports:

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s ‘Andrea Mitchell Reports,’ Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) reacted to President Joe Biden’s ban on U.S. imports of Russian oil and gas by stating that Congress should monitor the profits of oil companies and ‘profit margins should not go up. That’s just oil companies gouging when they do that. So, we’re going to be on them on this.’

The Administration has already cut off most sources of financing for oil operations, so this should really help increase supply and lower retail prices.  We can always count on Fauxcohontas.  White House functionaries are also doing their part to do it to us:

On Tuesday’s broadcast of ‘CNN Newsroom,’ White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese argued that the situation in Ukraine underscores the need for ‘true energy independence, and that’s about reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.’ And that we have to decrease dependence on oil and gas ‘so that we and our allies, like those in Europe’ aren’t as vulnerable to changes in the global price of oil.

Deese stated that the ban on importing Russian oil ‘will have an impact’ on gas prices. And ‘what we’re focused on is trying to make sure that we can bring — in the short term — supply of oil and gas globally, do everything we can to ensure adequate supply. But also keep an eye on the long term, which is this crisis should underscore how important it is for all of us to achieve true energy independence, and that’s about reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. So, over the long term, the kinds of steps we can take here domestically to be less reliant on oil and on gas are really important.’

He told us, and he’s giving it to us, good and hard…

“Will have an impact” translation: we’re going to royally screw you.  This while Germany, which went full green two decades ago is backpedaling as fast as it can, reopening nuclear plants and embracing carbon.  Regular readers know greenie fantasies are not only impossible, but will not “combat” a climate crisis that doesn’t exist–go here to find out why–nor will they, even if greenies get everything they want, reduce global temperatures more than a degree or so in a century—maybe.  All of this is based on computer modeling.  You know, the computer modeling that keeps saying we’re doomed in ten years, then ten years more, then ten years more…  That doesn’t keep our Climate Change Special Envoy, Kohn Kerry, from working tirelessly on our behalf:   

credit: bloomberg.com

In a BBC World Service interview, presidential climate envoy John Kerry expressed concern about the amount of greenhouse gas being emitted from the war in Ukraine. Kerry was just getting warmed up with a string of platitudes that show him as a deluded climate relic, unable to come to terms with the reality that Putin has imposed on the world. ‘Equally importantly,’ Kerry complained, ‘you’re going to lose people’s focus,’ as if the first invasion of a sovereign European country since the Second World War is an annoying distraction. Hopefully, Kerry continued, Putin would realize that Russia’s land is thawing, and the people of Russia are at risk.

 Yeah, the imminent threat of WWIII is kind of distracting.  John Kerry’s photo still hangs in the Vietnamese museum of the Vietnam war, celebrating his great contributions to the Viet Cong.  When traitorous twits like Kerry stop flying everywhere in private jets, I might start listening to them.  Nah.  I won’t.  And about that thawing Russian land:

At a 2005 conference on avoiding dangerous climate change organized by Britain during its G-8 presidency, Putin’s former economic adviser, Andrei Illarionov, challenged the premise of the conference. ‘Anyone who is frightened about the prospect of global warming is welcome to come and live in Siberia,’ Illarionov told a journalist.

I’m sure Alaskans, even Wyomingites, would make the same offer.  All Americans know there is no one better to consult on matters of international import than celebrities.  One such is Stephen Colbert who has amassed a fortune of some $75 million by being unfunny on TV:

One can’t help but admire a “celebrity” willing to make that kind of sacrifice.  What with all the efforts of our betters on our behalf—because we’re too stupid to know what’s good for us, and they want to give it to us, good and hard—Normal Americans remain, in their own humble way, focused, as John Hinderaker at Powerline reports:

The American people, on the other hand, are not conflicted about $4 a gallon gasoline. They want the price to come down, and they understand, at a basic level, the law of supply and demand. Thus, Rasmussen finds that a whopping 70% of likely voters want ‘the U.S. government [to] encourage increased oil and gas production to reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources of oil and gas,” with only 18 percent opposed. That is, only 18% of likely voters agree with the Biden administration’s energy policies, to the extent they can intelligibly be described.

Another thing the voters are right about: 88 percent say ‘energy policy will be important in this year’s congressional elections, including 60% who say it will be Very Important.’ That spells trouble for the Democrats.

And they’re trying to figure out a narrative that will put the blame on anyone but them Deplorables are stupid enough to buy.  That’s not going to work: diesel fuel prices have reached an all time high, which means everything is going to be even more expensive.  Here’s an example, courtesy of Fox News:

President Biden and White House officials are engaging in a rhetorical sleight-of-hand to defend the administration’s record on domestic oil production.

The Biden administration has repeatedly touted the fact that oil production in Biden’s first year in office was higher than in Trump’s first year in office.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during Monday’s briefing that ‘the U.S. produced more oil this past year than in President Trump’s first year.’

Biden himself also said this: 

But the White House’s framing omits a key fact: while domestic oil production in 2021 was higher than it was in 2017, it was lower than it was in 2018, 2019 and 2020, federal statistics show.

So in other words, Trump dramatically increased oil production and established energy independence, Biden destroyed it and is lying about it.  That it’s a particularly stupid and easily disproved lie doesn’t matter.  Actually, no one has to disprove it.  They live it whenever they visit a gas station, grocery store, eat out or buy pretty much anything.  Here’s another try at a narrative:

“Putin’s price hike”?!  And that’s “everything” but allowing Americans to make America energy independent again.  Oh yes, and everything but actually lowering gas prices, which is exactly what they want.  Americans were around for the last year.  They noticed gas prices continually rise to more than 100% over 2021 levels, and that had nothing to do with Putin.  Why do they want Americans to suffer?  As usual, Kamala Harris eloquently explains:

Let’s visit Breitbart for a bit of historical perspective:

The previous all-time high was set back in 2008 at $4.103 per gallon, just ahead of the U.S. Great Recession and housing crisis. The national average price of diesel is also nearing a new record, now at $4.63 per gallon, likely to break the record of $4.846 per gallon in the next two weeks.

A friend of mine has a very nice Ford F250 diesel pickup, with a very large tank.  The mere thought of paying for diesel makes me shudder.  Him too.  Regular gas is bad enough.

credit: AAA

In addition to setting a new all-time high, the national average is seeing its largest ever 7-day spike: 49.1 cents per gallon, eclipsing the 49.0 cents weekly rise after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Many gas price records have been broken due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, which has pushed Western countries to impose severe sanctions on Russia, curbing Russian exports of crude oil to the global market.

On Saturday, the U.S. national average gas price surpassed $4 per gallon for the first time since 2008, and Friday’s spike alone came close to the record daily rise of 18 cents per gallon, increasing nearly 16 cents per gallon in one day. Diesel prices, however, did break records on Friday, as diesel soared to its largest daily gain ever: 22.2 cents per gallon, 6 cents higher than the previous record from 2013.

But there’s good news:

Over the weekend, the Biden administration secretly met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro about producing more oil to create ‘energy security.’ Venezuela is friendly with Russia, China, and Iran, three of America’s greatest adversaries.

Biden’s meeting with Maduro is likely a response to American dependence on Russian oil exports, which have been nixed by oil traders, impacting oil prices.

Venezuela, a socialist hellhole where they ate all the zoo animals years ago, is helping China and Russia establish a big foothold in our hemisphere.  So much for the Monroe Doctrine.  But let’s take a quick look at the practicality of Kamala’s “transition”:

Yes, the $5 trillion spent on alternatives did help reduce the hydrocarbon share of all energy use. It’s down to 84 percent today—a mere two percentage-point decline relative to two decades ago. Meantime, burning wood still supplies far more energy than all the world’s solar panels, and oil still fuels nearly 97 percent of all the world’s transportation.

Oh.  I guess that’s why Germany is backpedaling so fast.  Not only do the solar panels and windmills fail to work, they make up for that failing by costing astronomically more to produce less, just the kind of efficiency D/S/Cs embrace.  A decade or two of citizens going bankrupt just to try to stay warm, and Russia probing to take over the continent tends to have a sobering effect.

If the United States signals to the world that a Shale 2.0 revolution is coming, there’s little doubt it would reset expectations and even moderate the now-inevitable price increases. Indeed, it was only a half-dozen years ago that global LNG prices collapsed and dragged down European pipeline prices merely in anticipation of the massive increase in U.S. exports.

Final Thoughts: 

We know, beyond any doubt, it’s not only impractical to fulfill Greenie’s fantasies, it’s impossible, and on the way to impossible, would destroy our economy, our national security, and reduce us to a pre-industrial standard of living.  But other than that, we should be grateful our rulers care enough for us to raise the price of fuel to European $10 dollar a gallon (yes, I know they’re metric, the weenies) levels.  Of course that means pretty much everything else is going to be more expensive, much, much more expensive, but that’s a price we must willingly pay so the self-imaged elite can think themselves better than us.

What’s that you say?  You want an example of how everything is more expensive?  Mrs. Manor’s last surviving aunt is on her deathbed, and we very much wanted to send Mrs. Manor and her sister back for the funeral. In normal times, that would be easy to arrange and reasonably affordable.  Not so now.  We found round trip air fare from Wyoming to Indiana from $1500-2000 (one person) with very limited availability.  Add car rental, motels, and it’s just not remotely possible.  We’re not poor, but we’re not stupid either.  Even driving–34 hour minimum round trip–would cost a minimum of $500, plus the other related expenses, and this time of year, one can’t count on passable roads.  Oh yes, they’re soooo much better than us.

Go here for a good, related article from The Truth About Cars.