Counterintuitive

Problem: Oil prices spiking due to world events.

2008: Turn to domestic oil production, making parts of the US that hadn’t seen any unseemly prosperity, ever, like my native North Dakota, pretty darn well-off, bringing down fuel and natural gas prices, making the US functionally independent for energy, and spreading prosperity.

2020 Dumbass Solution: Keep US production shut down, go hat in hand to Iran and Venezuela for more oil, keeping Americans straitened and the world less stable. And blame the peasants for not being woke and upper-middle-class enough.

Problem 2: Ukraine needs more hardware.

Commonsense 2020 solution: Poland, who wants to upgrade its fleet of fighters with modern American designs, wants to give the Ukrainians their Cold War-era Mig 29s – the plane that is the backbone of the currennt Ukrainian air force. Just as they are talking about giving the Ukrainiains their old T90 and T72 tanks, since they‘re tradiing up to US-surplus M1 Abrams.

Dumbass 2022 Solution: Vacillate, and demur.

Conclusions:

  1. Biden is working for our enemies
  2. Some other conclusion that, honestly, I can’t think of at the moment.

44 thoughts on “Counterintuitive

  1. #1 – Guess who was mediating negotiations with Iran? Yep, you guessed it, Russia. and they nixed the deal because US decided to stop importing vodka, caviar and diamonds. So even here the greatest Diplomat™ from Adults in the White House failed.

  2. The problem is not that Liberals behind the Lesko Brandon administration hate America. On the contrary, they love America. Liberals are simply open-minded enough to see America’s faults and compassionate enough to want to make it better, smooth off some of the rough edges, lower some of the hurdles, so everyone has a chance to succeed. Because after all, isn’t that the American dream?

    Of course, doing so means some of the ‘winners’ under the old rules will be less prosperous under the new rules, but that’s a necessary and inevitable consequence of redistributing the pie more fairly. It’s essential to redress historical injustices. And yes, in some cases, it may be necessary to sanction wreckers and sabateurs who want to hoard their ill-deserved spoils rather than share them with those less fortunate, less capable, less motivated. That’s their own fault for being so greedy.

    Those deplorable people stuck in the old way of thinking, fearing The Other, bitterly clinging to their guns and Bibles, cannot be permitted to stand in the way of Progress. If they will not voluntarily contribute to society, they must be excluded from it, first by social media, then by financial institutions, finally by transportation to special Educational Facilities where curricula tailored to their needs will be made available inside the razor wire.

    This is strictly a temporary measure; as soon as all citizens achieve the state of enlightened communal awareness required for all to be cherished individually and as productive members of The State, there will be no need for anyone to direct the corrective-thinking process and government will simply wither away, an unneeded and gladly forgotten relic of an earlier age.

    Therefore, all you SITDers except E, please report to the train station at noon on Monday. Bring warm clothes. It’s for your own good.

  3. I’ve been installing Pedo Joe “I did that” stickers on gas pumps for a couple weeks now. I’ve noticed that half the time, there is already one on there, scratched off by some outraged leftist nitwit. It actually makes it funnier when I stick a fresh one on.

    Shared more than one laugh with fellow victims, pumping Biden priced fuel.

    In these dark days, we must take our amusements where we can.

  4. Commonsense 2020 solution: Poland, who wants to upgrade its fleet of fighters with modern American designs, wants to give the Ukrainians their Cold War-era Mig 29s – the plane that is the backbone of the currennt Ukrainian air force.

    Putin says if MIG’s fly from a NATO base, he will regard it as a NATO sortie, regardless of who’s flying them.

    Neo-cons be like “fuck them, let’s goooooo”

    At this point, I dont gaf, either way. Go ahead.

    I just hope the first wave of nukes are airburst, to give me some time to settle some scores that need settling.

  5. The link to the Citizen Free Press is simply deleted. No error, no spam, no nothing. Check the headline there for EU, this is freaking insane…

    EU imposes sanctions on Hungary, Poland despite their accepting 1.6 million refugees

  6. …To my point, I could’ve sworn we were just discussing how mature and adult the Euros have become.

  7. jdm, the Woke EU is using the situation to settle some scores too. I encourage Poland and Hungary to retaliate by deporting all the Ukrainians back home and then sending all their faggots, leftists and trannies to Germany.

    “Let’s goooooo!”

  8. Poland and Hungary have steadfastly refused to allow their populations to be replaced with Muslims and Africans. The cabal directing the EU, is pissed. They’re on a schedule, and don’t like waiting.

    The leftist rag “The Guardian” instructs us, thus.

    “EU takes action against eastern states for refusing to take refugees
    This article is more than 4 years old
    Commission moves against Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic, which have not cooperated with relocation agreement”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/13/eu-takes-action-against-eastern-states-for-refusing-to-take-refugees

  9. jdm, I’m an old-school debater. To be an effective advocate, you must understand your position completely and also understand the other side’s position completely, because you’ll be making that argument in a later round of competition.

    It’s like grokking in fullness. You can only love America if you understand it well enough to hate it. Because only then can you accept it as it is.

  10. The leftist scumbags running the EU know the difference between a 75IQ, uneducated, unskilled “immigrant” looking for gibs and good times and an intelligent, well educated, productive refugee exiting a war zone.

    But they hope you don’t.

  11. Don’t worry peops, the sankshuns are working! Tchaikovsky just got cancelled (I am sure he will be uncancelled once Big Gay finds out he was one of them, talk about a dilemma!). And rugby federation decided no russkis in their tourney. That will show Vlad! No scrum for you! My wife is glad to live where we are – we will be the first to go and she would rather not have to live in a post-apocalyptic world. The world had not gone to shit so quickly, like ever? 1 year? Is this an extension of Moore’s Law or just expected consequences once Adults™ took over the WH?

  12. Because only then can you accept it as it is.

    Lie! They will NEVER accept it. Not until the Constitution is burned, American flag is replaced by a rainbow and WH is repainted black.

  13. I think jpa has twigged the truth. Many are joining every day as living a life of comfortable delusion is becoming more effort than facing facts.

  14. In the meantime, sunkshuns are working great! Russia is naturalizing abandoned and shuttered properties and assets. Like oil refineries, Cola plants, McDonalds… lol… welcome to McIvan’s! I guess virtue signaling does have a price.

  15. If you met two people who could not speak English, one Ukrainian and one Russian, you would not be able to tell the difference. The would speak the same language as far as an English speaker is concerned. They would look the same, they would wear the same style of clothes, they would have the same religion, they same values, they would have the same kind of education and job.
    It would be hard to figure out which guy you were supposed to hate and which guy you were supposed to love.
    Some people have to jump on the band wagon or you wouldn’t have band wagons. But it doesn’t have to be you.

  16. Actually, MP, you can tell a difference but yes, to a non-slav/not born in FSU, they would both look identical. Oh, and religion (types of orthodoxy) is different which is a large part of the problem.

  17. Everybody seems shocked at the incredible jump in oil prices. But just think of the following:
    • Previously, oil prices have been extremely low by historical comparison
    • The rise is the result of an anticipated shortage, not of an actual shortage.
    • Nobody will exclude Russia from their energy market without having located an alternative source, first.
    • OPEC will not forever be able to stick to its agreements with Russia. Countries like Saudi Arabia know which side their bread is buttered on.

    And if that is not good enough for you, or consists of too many assumptions that can be disputed, just look at the chart: That kind of spike has never in the course of history been the start of a sustained price rise. It’s the epitome of a speculative peak. We just don’t know how high the peak will be, but there’s always a valley on the other side.

  18. jpa wrote: “Guess who was mediating negotiations with Iran? Yep, you guessed it, Russia.“

    Of course, the surprise visit of Israeli Bennett to Moscow last Saturday has nothing to do with this….

    Israel’s refusal to join in sanctions against Russia, and it’s rejection of Ukraine’s request for defensive military equipment may be due to its self-proclaimed wish to be a mediator in the war.

    Or maybe it is a quid pro quo? Russia blocks any relaxation of sanctions against Iran in exchange for Israel’s compliance over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine..

  19. Why do you speculate, Emery?
    You are shitty at speculation. Your speculations are because your every thought is tinged with ideology and hatred.
    You were wrong about the Brexit vote, wrong about Hillary winning in a landslide over Trump, wrong about Mueller finding proof that Trum had colluded with Putin.
    Wrong, wrong, wrong.

  20. Oh, it’s just a Temporry spike in gas prices. How long until the single mother next door can afford to fill her gas tank again?

  21. @ woolly: Sanctions were rarely used in the past. They are now talked about as the solution to all the world’s political problems.

    It now seems very possible and even quite likely that we are headed for the first sanctions-induced global recession in world history.

    There might result between nations a sort of competition for self-sufficingness which, if ill directed, might conceivably end in buttressing that immoral nationalism that was once of the causes of the war.

    It’s time for the West to live up to its promises and bring Iran — one of the region’s most Western friendly people — into its sphere of influence. Remove the sanctions and accept that Iran has always been a power in the region. It’s not going anywhere soon. The sanctions have caused lots of economic damage, but Iran’s influence only grew during that time.

    Iran and Russia have had a turbulent history. They’ve never been as close to each other…until the sanctions came into play.

    The deal doesn’t necessarily need to be a Joint Commission decision that requires consensus. US withdrawal and Iran’s breaches happened without the JC. Why not have a coordinator statement instead? Also, Russia’s unwarranted snapback should be treated like Trump’s failed attempt.

  22. ^ Tell me it’s all Putin’s fault without telling me it’s all Putin’s fault. Especially without any reference to closing down businesses around the world for months, firing people around the world, and spraying a fire-hose of money to “make it all better”. Not to forget disincentiving if not outright killing oil producers and suppliers from continuing that production such that US was a net exporter of oil. All before Putin had done anything.

  23. ^ This comment is part of the growing SiTD humor section, I suppose.

    Oil certainly seems to have an instant price increase no matter what, where, when or how long it takes to fill the pipeline. We are paying high prices for oil that was delivered at much much lower price and long ago.


  24. Emery on March 12, 2022 at 1:05 pm said:
    @ woolly: Sanctions were rarely used in the past.

    It would be hard to be more wrong than this. Sanctions have been used since the 1950s to try and pressure foreign governments into submission.

    This kind of collective effort, however, is an exception. Since World War II, the US has been by far the world’s most prolific user of economic sanctions, and for much of that time, it has acted alone.
    From 1950 to 2019, the US turned to sanctions far more often than other countries, according to a Quartz analysis of historic sanctions using the Global Sanctions Database.
    The lackluster success rate for sanctions over this period has not deterred the US. Indeed, its willingness to throw its economic weight around to change other countries’ behavior has remained a constant since the 1950s.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-us-has-been-turning-to-economic-sanctions-since-the-1950s/ar-AAUWLq4

    The US State Department loves to impose sanctions. They rarely, if ever, work.
    Poor ol’ Emery, wrong on the facts again.

  25. Another $xxxxx.xx in silver and gold on its way to me.

    Fuck Putin
    Fuck Zelinsky
    Fuck Biden
    Fuck McConnell
    Fuck McCarthy
    Fuck Trump (lmao)
    Fuck the GOP
    Fuck Pelosi
    Fuck Schumer
    Fuck the (((New Order}}}

  26. Emery is also wrong on the price of oil. He has a dilettante’s understanding of economics, which I suppose he learned from the neo-lib periodical The Economist.

  27. Woolly wrote: “Why do you speculate, Emery?”

    As I said before, one way to look at Israel’s various actions and statements is that Bennett is trying to be mediator here. Which isn’t a bad thing — he’s well positioned to do so.

  28. @ jdm: Wait a few more months of rising gas prices. Voters have a very short attention span. They will likely throw out the Democrats in Congress this fall because they are not happy with the inflation which frankly is a result of problems caused by Covid. The Republicans presided over the first year of Covid when the decisions were made how to tackle it. Including money printing which was a tactic to buy time and now the time bought has run out. But even they cannot be blamed for supply chain problems and the fact that the world suddenly wants more of everything. As if the Republicans can change anything when they control Congress or the presidency. Oil production declined in 2020, not because of policy but because prices plunged during the pandemic. If you prefer to give Trump credit for low prices in 2020, when demand for oil was low because Covid that’s fine. Production it’s coming back, again thanks to events rather than policy. It seems safe to say that nothing either Trump or Biden did has had any appreciable effect on US oil production, let alone US gasoline prices. Presidents simply don’t have control over global oil prices and many other aspects of the economy.

  29. “which frankly is a result of problems caused by Covid.”
    Not covid, the government response to covid, which was ham-fisted and driven by ignorance and greed.

  30. It really is time to stop messing about and give Ukraine the airplanes. The idea that Putin will launch WW3 by attacking NATO when his forces have been shown to be so incapable is frankly ludicrous. James Cowan the CEO of HALO was interviewed a couple of days ago about their work on mine clearance in Ukraine. An highly decorated former British General he expressed himself as completely astonished at the incompetence of the Russian army. The professionals seem to be coming to the conclusion that they have been making assumptions based on their own armed forces and that the Russians are only good for murdering civilians and that only with long range weapons. Time to call Putins bluff and go all-in.

  31. Just between you and me

    This is why it’s a stupid waste of time to attempt to communicate with rAT like an adult, MP. He’s an immature, mentally compromised, child suffering from a complete lack of self esteem on the surface, with an insufferable, immature, mentally compromised, dick floating just below the surface.

    Everything he does, is done to make room for that inner dick to dance and play.

  32. The way that Slow Joe has been mismanaging Ukraine I wouldn’t be surprised if the Russkis hold our astronaut on the ISS hostage.
    Russia has always claimed the right to first use of nuclear weapons, and it considers tactical nukes to be conventional weapons.
    Yeah, let’s mess with those guys.
    You wanna have Trump in office in 2024, let Slow Joe play at brinksmanship with Putin.

  33. Blade;
    The scratching out of the previous “I did that” stickers, we most likely an attempt by the station owner or manager to remove them. I have a friend that owns a few gas stations. The corporate inspectors can show up at any time and having unauthorized signage of any kind in any area on grounds, ist verboten and can result in fines. Here on the tundra, they are even harder to remove.

  34. ^^Here is some of that misinformation the government warned us about!!!
    Doesn’t seem that dangerous. Just the unhinged rambling of dim wit who, without evidence, claims that Trump colluded with Putin to steal the 2016 election from his beloved hillary.

  35. Nice try, Emery, you jack weed.

    Pedo Joe and his minions are as feckless as the black messiah. Both of them are wrapped so tight around Putin’s little finger that they can’t even fart without asking his permission.

  36. There is a no fly zone above Ukraine. Unfortunately, it was Russia who imposed it, and J Robinette Biden said no problemo. Evidently, Biden also pleaded with Putin: “please don’t shove a nuke up my ass, and light the fuse.”

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