The Keystone Pipeline as an American Bellwether

Back in 1780, when General Benedict Arnold plotted the surrender of the fort at West Point to the British by depleting its supplies, dispersing its troops, and generally undermining its ability to repel any attack, such behavior was unequivocally labeled “treason,” and Arnold was forever after branded a traitor. Fortunately for the fledgling United States, the perverse thinking that now predominates in the Democrat Party had not yet become popular. Otherwise, Arnold might well have succeeded with his plan and remained in America, with any subsequent criticism of him dismissed as “partisan rancor.” And certainly, no one would dare to question his “patriotism.”

Sadly, in 2012 America, a systematic and purposeful dismantling of the nation’s strengths and fortifications is ongoing at the hands of Barack Obama. Yet comparatively few are openly warning of the dire consequences if this trend is not immediately and fully reversed. Nor are many willing to speak of the sinister motivations that compel him to relentlessly chart this course. His thwarting of the Keystone Pipeline project is only the latest iteration of an unbroken string of such outrages against the good people of this nation.

Last week, the Democrat dominated United States Senate barely succeeded in stopping a GOP backed measure to bypass objections from the Obama White House and proceed with the construction of the pipeline. Had the project gone forward, it would shortly have delivered an enormous supply of Canadian crude oil to Houston, Texas to be refined and distributed to the rest of the nation. As a direct result, gasoline prices would have been reined in, and thousands of jobs would have been created. In short, a “win/win” prospect for the nation’s economy and its energy market was stopped cold, on the fraudulent and overplayed assertion that environmental considerations had taken precedence.

At this juncture, more than three years into Obama’s term, it is becoming impossible to ignore the emergent pattern of his virulent antipathy towards these United States. Every decision on every divergent issue invariably comes down on the side that inflicts the greatest harm to this nation. Concurrently, with no apparent concern for “environmental” considerations elsewhere, Barack Obama pursues a course that aids and abets the growth and development of America’s competitors and adversaries worldwide. Does anyone actually believe that South American countries will be more environmentally conscious, or create a lesser “carbon footprint” as they develop their own oil reserves, funded by the billions of American dollars that Obama has given them?

A similar question can be asked of those entities moving their oil exploration and drilling operations into the Gulf of Mexico to extract its available crude oil deposits, now that the entire region has essentially been rendered “off limits” to American oil companies. It is patently obvious that in the end, no limitations on the supplies of oil to the rest of the world will be established or enforced. The only tangible consequence of Obama’s “energy” agenda will be the severe reduction of America’s ability to benefit, monetarily and otherwise, from the abundance of those resources within its jurisdiction.

Yet the problem extends far beyond the hot button issue of responsibly and competitively developing America’s untapped petroleum resources. In an unbroken succession of hostile and ant-American decisions, Barack Obama is plundering the national treasury, corrupting the operation and scope of its government, and decimating such projects of crucial international importance as the “missile shield” over Northern Europe to which he laid waste in 2009.

In like manner, the entire scope and capability of the United States military has been undercut, with more devastation forthcoming. Though the national budget has virtually exploded on Obama’s watch, the infuriatingly predictable “fix” he proposes is to continue rampant social spending and government expansion, while cancelling critically important military equipment upgrades and drastically reducing the number of personnel in uniform.

After three years of a foundering housing business, it has become patently undeniable that every decision of this Administration to intervene, ostensibly on behalf of homeowners, was instead motivated by a mindless pursuit of “social justice” (read: wealth distribution and the eradication of private property), along with the padding of crony pockets. Nowhere within the numerous bailout fiascoes or their aftermath was any consideration given to the option of easing the stifling burden of government regulation, and thus allowing the American people to pick up the pieces and breathe life into the stagnated market. Doing so would have only benefited those “little people,” with no positive repercussions redounding to the nanny state.

In an insidious pattern, the real consequence of which is still not significantly noticed by the majority of the population, ongoing annual deficits exceeding $1 trillion are setting the stage for a national default on its debt at some future date. Yet until that dark day arrives, this administration is apparently happy to keep the orgy of spending going, and even leading the way with lavish and exorbitantly costly Obama family “vacations,” often involving multiple flights of presidential aircraft.

As Election Day approaches, the statistical and media “shell game” necessary to convince America that the economy and overall national condition is improving must increase in pitch and intensity. Between now and November, it will be vitally important to create the impression that all of the evidence out on Main Street is inconsequential, and that the real economic and societal factors indicate a decisive uptick. On that basis, the liberal establishment hopes to persuade the nation to maintain its current course, with Obama at the helm.

The average American cannot help but struggle under the load of a flagging economy, exacerbated by starkly higher gasoline prices. Yet this frustration is only compounded by Obama’s derisive mocking of the sole remedy, which is an immediate lifting of onerous restrictions on oil exploration and production. However, such infuriating callousness and indifference is merely a harbinger of the predictable hardships that will surely ensue on every front if this individual, with his unbridled contempt and hostility towards the greatness of America, is allowed a second term.