DEMOCRATIC IGNORANCE CONTINUES TO FLOW

British Petroleum, the giant oil company known as BP, has a problem. The pipes running through their massive Alaska Prudhoe Bay oil field are corroded. Since corroded pipes are weak and could burst, the oil field has been shut down while they replace 16 miles of pipeline. As you might expect, this poses a bit of a problem.

We are in the middle of the peak driving season...and any hit on supply is going to cause prices to spike. This is 400,000 less barrels of oil a day on the market. BP is going to lose money because they won't be able to bring their crude to market like they thought. But, for safety's sake...the oil field is being shut down while the necessary repairs are made. Glad they caught it.

Energy Secretary Sam Bodman says the U.S. is prepared to release crude from the government's oil reserve to pick up the slack. Perhaps that's the right move. But as with every thing involving oil companies, Democrats are calling on Congress to investigate. In particular, Congressmen John Dingell and Ed Markey are demanding government action. They want hearings. Oh boy...more stimulating programming, coming to C-SPAN this fall!

So what exactly are they saying? Read between the lines. The suggestion is that BP let their pipes corrode on purpose, just so they could shut down the oil field and drive up the price of crude and gasoline on purpose. Nice conspiracy, but the only problem is BP is probably standing to lose more money than they could ever hope to recover by whatever short-term spike in prices there might be.

The free market works. If BP was negligent in inspecting their pipes and ensuring their proper operation, then they will be punished by the marketplace in the form of a shutdown. They will learn that it is in their best interest to properly maintain their delivery system. But don't tell that to the Democrats....only the government can right the wrongs in the oil business.

Besides .. this is all a plot to put money in the Bush's pockets. Right?

DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?

Stop me if you've heard this one before. Eleven foreign students from a Muslim nation get off a plane in New York, walk down the street, and turn into a national security problem (via Flopping Aces):

U.S. authorities are searching for 11 Egyptian men who arrived in the United States last month but failed to turn up at Montana State University for a scheduled academic program.

According to the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, the men were among a larger group of students who arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York from Cairo on July 29 with valid visas.

FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko said there is no threat associated with the men.

A law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the men are between 18 and 22 years old.

Now we have eleven young Muslims from a country known for producing radical Islamists walking unattended in the US, obviously uninterested in higher education goals. The Muslim Brotherhood, the forerunner to violent groups such as al-Qaeda, bases its operations in Egypt, and among their alumni are luminaries such as AQ #2 Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The FBI wants to assure us that none of them represent a threat, but this sounds rather disconcerting to me. All of them disappeared at the same time, and all of them listed as their school of choice ... Montana State University? None of the eleven bother to show for their class -- not just one or two who may have gotten themselves caught up in partying or sightseeing, but all eleven.

It sounds like a joke with a very bad punchline. Considering how many of the 9/11 plotters got into the US from Saudi Arabia on student visas, it sounds like a very old and tiresome joke. Instead of trying to blow smoke about the lack of a threat, perhaps the FBI should publish the names and photos of the missing talib and let us help them find the little truants.