I’ve been predicting this for a month now. It neatly does away with some individually unsuitable candidates in favor of one who has a “respectable Repbulican” past and wo is safely establishment-oriented. The current field is no contest for Obama.
Bill,
I too have been saying Jeb’s the fall-back for a long, long time.
The American peoples memories are very short, and if Jeb runs and can show people that he’s “Not George!”, and he’s clearly NOT, he could win not just the nomination, but the general.
I’ve also long been talking about Marco Rubio as a potential VP candidate. However, I think Rubio would be out as a running mate with Jeb because it would be too Floridian and Southern.
Pair him with VP candidates like Ryan, Christie, maybe even Nikki Haley (thought that may be too Southern, and she too inexperienced yet), and you have have a pretty formidable ticket). Jeb/McDonnell would also scare the shit out of me.
But I think Jeb/Ryan makes the most political sense – it would allow Republicans to combine the South, the old-school conservative Conservatives, Wall Street, the Teabaggers, the war mongers, and disaffected Mid-westerners, into a powerful force. Plus, Jeb can make a reasonable pitch for Hispanic votes, based on his wife, and, unlike Little Boots, Jeb can actually speak the language.
And if he loses in ’12, he’ll be primed for ’16.
I can definitely see this happening.
Oh, what a simply MARVELOUS idea!
Perhaps we’ll finally have the trifecta, AND WWIII!
I’m going way off-topic but something clicked this afternoon that hasn’t been discussed. And needs to be. Now and loud. The GOP is trying to resurrect the Keystone pipeline that Obama put on hold under pressure from environmentalists. Without getting into details, the plan is to build a pipeline 1700 miles from Canada to refineries in the gulf region. Louisiana. It occurred to me that it would be cheaper and environmentally safer to build a refinery in Illinois or Michigan. Building a northern refinery would put fuel and heating oil CLOSER to major matkets than from Louisianna. The winter climate would make some aspects of engineering more costly than in the warmer southern states, but it would be minor compared to the transcontinental monster they want to build.
And it occurred to me that oil companies are not stupid. What do the Gulf refineries provide they a modern Northern refinery can’t? Answer : Access to international markets. The facilities on the Gulf offload crude from huge tankers, but they also EXPORT refined oil. There’s the shoe that hasn’t hit the floor. I looked it up. We export almost 2 million barrels per day. That’s nearly DOUBLE what we exported in 2004. Big Oil will sell wherever they can get the best price, but a northern refinery locks them into a domestic market.
Consider that a refinery near Chicago would be less than 600 miles from NYC or DC. The Keystone plan would move the oil 1700 miles south and THEN 1200 miles (for example) to NYC. But developing infrastructure for Americans is not the plan. The plan is to pump crude oil from Canada across the US so that after its refined, it can be sold anywhere in the world. And make money for multinational oil companies. Obama may get backed into a decision on the pipeline before the election. Demanding a northern refinery needs to be his response. Any oil company who says they can’t handle the engineering is automatically out of consideration for the deal.
Of course…the Crown Prince..Why didn’t I think of that?
erinyes…Gee, like we couldn’t see that one coming.
Doug, I think we can diagnose some more corporate sociopathology here. They need a dose of Chavez. The multinationals think they are the invisible hand of the market. They are really just the highly visible middle finger of greed.
Doug,
Hmm…
Interesting, and I believe correct, analysis. I thought there might have been more to it than that, since ‘Methinks they doth protest too much’ when the plan was nixed.
And now, with even more money at stake, I’m sure they’ll put even more pressure on their gutless, eager, and cheap whoring lapdogs on both sides of the aisle, and this potentially devastating environmental monstrosity will begin construction very soon. I mean, what’s more important, water in the aquifer for people in “The Heartland,” or money in the pockets of the corporations and politicians?
Money wins every time.
And you can take that to the bank, where they’ll take your money, add fees, screw you, and pocket that themselves. And you can take THAT to the bank, where they’ll take take your money…
I commented about Jeb and George P.Bush way back when fate landed me on Barbara’s site that the plan of the PNAC was a Bush in the WH for the next two generations. George P. (Jeb’s spawn) is being groomed as the “Ricky Martin” of the party. He’s young, hip, good looking, connects with Hispanics ( latinas!), has “served” in the military, and has the proper “blood line”.( the turd, indeed, does not fall far from the anus )
This is not some “left wing Pathology” or conspiracy-night mare fantasy, just think of the most malignant,puss-filled pernicous idea, and that’s the conservative plan.
As for Doug Hughes postulate re: the Keystone Pipeline; BINGO.
All my right wing friends have a fantasy about “domestic oil production”, that oil produced here will stay here and lower prices and create jobs.
Sorry boys and girls, oil is a global commodity, and pay attention to where the pipeline is to end. One wonders why Canada does not build a refinery near Vancouver BC. The climate is mild in Vancouver, plus the West Coast is close to the Asian market.
As John Perkins stated in “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”, the goal is control; it is not necessary to own the commodity, but control of it is essential.
This goal includes “opening up markets” and installing central banks. The owners won’t be happy until everyone on the planet has a VISA or Mastercard.
KFC, Burger King, Mickey-D, Coke and Pepsi, Verizon, BP and Texico, Wall*Mart.
Now that’s spreading democracy……………
Thanks, Doug. I’ve wondered why the refineries aren’t in Canada itself. This puts things in perspective for me, if domestic (Canada and US) are not the focus anyway.
Doug, you just answered something that’s been nagging at me: why pipe oil all the way to the Gulf just because the refineries are there? Why couldn’t the U.S. government build a refinery closer to the border, if oil companies claim they can’t afford to do so?
The light bulb has just clicked on.
Doug Hughes: That’s a very smart analysis of the why and where of the pipeline. And no politician will dare suggest calling for a regulation that the oil must be sold in the U.S.
The question is,do the Republicans really want to win this election. This recession/depression isn’t over yet by a long ways and why not hang the blame for it on the neck of the Democrats.
Especially since no one on either side of the Atlantic seems to want to do what is necessary to end it.
It used to be that Alaska Pipeline oil had to be sold in the US. The oil company turds in Congress deep-sixed that regulation in no time.
I’ve been predicting this for a month now. It neatly does away with some individually unsuitable candidates in favor of one who has a “respectable Repbulican” past and wo is safely establishment-oriented. The current field is no contest for Obama.
Bill,
I too have been saying Jeb’s the fall-back for a long, long time.
The American peoples memories are very short, and if Jeb runs and can show people that he’s “Not George!”, and he’s clearly NOT, he could win not just the nomination, but the general.
I’ve also long been talking about Marco Rubio as a potential VP candidate. However, I think Rubio would be out as a running mate with Jeb because it would be too Floridian and Southern.
Pair him with VP candidates like Ryan, Christie, maybe even Nikki Haley (thought that may be too Southern, and she too inexperienced yet), and you have have a pretty formidable ticket). Jeb/McDonnell would also scare the shit out of me.
But I think Jeb/Ryan makes the most political sense – it would allow Republicans to combine the South, the old-school conservative Conservatives, Wall Street, the Teabaggers, the war mongers, and disaffected Mid-westerners, into a powerful force. Plus, Jeb can make a reasonable pitch for Hispanic votes, based on his wife, and, unlike Little Boots, Jeb can actually speak the language.
And if he loses in ’12, he’ll be primed for ’16.
I can definitely see this happening.
Oh, what a simply MARVELOUS idea!
Perhaps we’ll finally have the trifecta, AND WWIII!
I’m going way off-topic but something clicked this afternoon that hasn’t been discussed. And needs to be. Now and loud. The GOP is trying to resurrect the Keystone pipeline that Obama put on hold under pressure from environmentalists. Without getting into details, the plan is to build a pipeline 1700 miles from Canada to refineries in the gulf region. Louisiana. It occurred to me that it would be cheaper and environmentally safer to build a refinery in Illinois or Michigan. Building a northern refinery would put fuel and heating oil CLOSER to major matkets than from Louisianna. The winter climate would make some aspects of engineering more costly than in the warmer southern states, but it would be minor compared to the transcontinental monster they want to build.
And it occurred to me that oil companies are not stupid. What do the Gulf refineries provide they a modern Northern refinery can’t? Answer : Access to international markets. The facilities on the Gulf offload crude from huge tankers, but they also EXPORT refined oil. There’s the shoe that hasn’t hit the floor. I looked it up. We export almost 2 million barrels per day. That’s nearly DOUBLE what we exported in 2004. Big Oil will sell wherever they can get the best price, but a northern refinery locks them into a domestic market.
Consider that a refinery near Chicago would be less than 600 miles from NYC or DC. The Keystone plan would move the oil 1700 miles south and THEN 1200 miles (for example) to NYC. But developing infrastructure for Americans is not the plan. The plan is to pump crude oil from Canada across the US so that after its refined, it can be sold anywhere in the world. And make money for multinational oil companies. Obama may get backed into a decision on the pipeline before the election. Demanding a northern refinery needs to be his response. Any oil company who says they can’t handle the engineering is automatically out of consideration for the deal.
Of course…the Crown Prince..Why didn’t I think of that?
erinyes…Gee, like we couldn’t see that one coming.
Doug, I think we can diagnose some more corporate sociopathology here. They need a dose of Chavez. The multinationals think they are the invisible hand of the market. They are really just the highly visible middle finger of greed.
Doug,
Hmm…
Interesting, and I believe correct, analysis. I thought there might have been more to it than that, since ‘Methinks they doth protest too much’ when the plan was nixed.
And now, with even more money at stake, I’m sure they’ll put even more pressure on their gutless, eager, and cheap whoring lapdogs on both sides of the aisle, and this potentially devastating environmental monstrosity will begin construction very soon. I mean, what’s more important, water in the aquifer for people in “The Heartland,” or money in the pockets of the corporations and politicians?
Money wins every time.
And you can take that to the bank, where they’ll take your money, add fees, screw you, and pocket that themselves. And you can take THAT to the bank, where they’ll take take your money…
I commented about Jeb and George P.Bush way back when fate landed me on Barbara’s site that the plan of the PNAC was a Bush in the WH for the next two generations. George P. (Jeb’s spawn) is being groomed as the “Ricky Martin” of the party. He’s young, hip, good looking, connects with Hispanics ( latinas!), has “served” in the military, and has the proper “blood line”.( the turd, indeed, does not fall far from the anus )
This is not some “left wing Pathology” or conspiracy-night mare fantasy, just think of the most malignant,puss-filled pernicous idea, and that’s the conservative plan.
As for Doug Hughes postulate re: the Keystone Pipeline; BINGO.
All my right wing friends have a fantasy about “domestic oil production”, that oil produced here will stay here and lower prices and create jobs.
Sorry boys and girls, oil is a global commodity, and pay attention to where the pipeline is to end. One wonders why Canada does not build a refinery near Vancouver BC. The climate is mild in Vancouver, plus the West Coast is close to the Asian market.
As John Perkins stated in “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”, the goal is control; it is not necessary to own the commodity, but control of it is essential.
This goal includes “opening up markets” and installing central banks. The owners won’t be happy until everyone on the planet has a VISA or Mastercard.
KFC, Burger King, Mickey-D, Coke and Pepsi, Verizon, BP and Texico, Wall*Mart.
Now that’s spreading democracy……………
Thanks, Doug. I’ve wondered why the refineries aren’t in Canada itself. This puts things in perspective for me, if domestic (Canada and US) are not the focus anyway.
Doug, you just answered something that’s been nagging at me: why pipe oil all the way to the Gulf just because the refineries are there? Why couldn’t the U.S. government build a refinery closer to the border, if oil companies claim they can’t afford to do so?
The light bulb has just clicked on.
Doug Hughes: That’s a very smart analysis of the why and where of the pipeline. And no politician will dare suggest calling for a regulation that the oil must be sold in the U.S.
The question is,do the Republicans really want to win this election. This recession/depression isn’t over yet by a long ways and why not hang the blame for it on the neck of the Democrats.
Especially since no one on either side of the Atlantic seems to want to do what is necessary to end it.
It used to be that Alaska Pipeline oil had to be sold in the US. The oil company turds in Congress deep-sixed that regulation in no time.