It's hard to imagine George Bush saying something as insulting as "can I drill your brain?" to a protester and getting away with it.  But that's what the apparently thin-skinned Nancy Pelosi did two days ago.  

The protesters were chanting "Drill Here, Drill Now" when Pelosi asked if she could drill their brains.  She went on to say that the protesters were the "handmaidens of Big Oil".  

I'd like to ask Ms. Pelosi a few questions.  Why does she think one would only support "drilling here and drilling now" if they had ties to "big oil"?  Why doesn't she believe that having ties to America is enough motivation for most people to support drilling here and drilling now?  Why does she think Americans don't want to do what's best for America unless they have ties to the oil industry?  

We get 60% of our oil - mostly from countries that would like to wipe us off the face of the earth.  Even Democrats agree that this isn't a good idea.  Even Democrats say we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  Yet they stubbornly reject any and every viable alternative.  Sure, they support solar power and wind power and hydrogen power and agra power, but none of these alternatives are ready for prime time.  No one opposes those alternatives (not yet anyway).  But they won't be viable for decades.  (Democrats will no doubt oppose them as soon as they become viable).  The only two power alternatives that are ready for the here and now - oil and nuclear - are both rejected by Democrats.  

(If you have any idea why they reject every viable form of energy, why don't you share it with us here)

They have a zillion excuses why each of these viable alternatives is unacceptable, but the bottom line is always the same.  They reject any energy alternative that would actually work - here and now.  It's almost as if they want to see America slip further into decline.  Of course they say they don't, but if one were to judge them by their actions, instead of their words, it would be hard to come to any other conclusion.

America currently uses about 20 million barrels of oil a day.  We import 12 million of those barrels each day.  It is estimated that some 1.28 trillion barrels of oil lie offshore (and in shale) and the only reason we can't get to them is because Democrats have made it illegal.  1.28 trillion barrels would completely meet our energy needs for the next 251 years!  Just imagine what amazing viable alternatives we would come up with in the next two and a half centuries!  It's simply ridiculous not to allow ourselves access to our own national resources.  What other country makes the use of their own natural resources a crime?

The Sierra Club hints at a possible reason for Democrats to reject drilling here and now when they call drilling "destructive".  

It seems they believe offshore drilling will lead to massive oil spills.  However, this is an unsupported position in light of the fact that we've had more oil spills from tankers transporting oil around the world than we have had from offshore drilling.  In fact, there hasn't been a single oil spill attributable to offshore drilling since 1969.  But there have been several oil tanker accidents since then.  So if oil spills were really their concern they'd have to oppose oil imports and support offshore drilling.  Clearly, oil spills are not their concern - despite their words.  Still no clue as to what their real concerns are.  

ANWR:  15 billion barrels
Outer Continental Shelf:  85.9 billion barrels (conservative estimate)
Outer Continental Shelf:  419.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas
Oil Shale:  1.1 TRILLION barrels (that's 4 times larger than the current oil reserves in Saudi Arabia)

So, here's a message for the Democrats:  Millions of Americans who are not handmaidens of big oil support drilling here and drilling now.  We support it because we have an abundance of energy resources right here in our own country and it's the best available viable alternative.  

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Pelosi to Protesters:  "Can We Drill Your Brains?"

August 26, 2008 - (The Politico) House Democratic leaders and protesters waving McCain signs had a war of words Tuesday at a press event outside an old rain station. The demonstrators interrupted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with chants of “Drill here! Drill now!”

Pelosi paused and asked the group, “Right here?”  Seeming to enjoy the back and forth, she followed with another question: “Can we drill your brains?” 

She went on to refer to the protestors, who continued to chant sporadically, as “handmaidens of Big Oil.” Arguing that increased offshore drilling would only reduce gas prices two cents in 10 years, she referred to the demonstrators as the “two-cents-in-ten-years-crowd.”

Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer swiped at the demonstrators, too, saying that sophomoric chanting” won’t solve the energy crisis and that “all thinking Americans know” — stressing the word "thinking" and looking at the crowd — that America doesn’t have a quarter of the word’s fossil fuels yet uses a quarter of the world’s energy.