TROUBL

I would like to take this moment to officially wave good-bye to George W. Bush. It may seem preemptive; after all, the man is still technically in office at this point. I’m going to say farewell even though I’m writing this before the election with no way to know what the outcome will be, and even though W. is still sitting high in the White House. I’ve been looking forward to the day when he’d give up his stranglehold on the American people, and knowing how impatient I am, I’m sure that by January, I’ll be so over the whole George W. thing that I won’t care enough to “look back in anger,” as Oasis would say.

When January rolls around, who knows where we’ll be? If Obama wins the election, as I’ve been holding my breath that he will, maybe we’ll have a sense of renewed optimism about the possibilities of living in America. Perhaps the economy will begin to struggle its way out of the morass of despair it has mired in recently. If not, (since I try not to count my Democratic chickens before they hatch) and McCain ekes out a victory, I will still breathe a sigh of relief and flutter my hand in farewell to George W. and his band of miscreants – the Oil Oligarchy – as they ooze their way down from a now slime-covered Capital Hill. They’ve spent their time sucking up our resources, starting wars, cementing Big Oil’s iron cage around our nation’s pocketbooks, and profiting from it all, but their time is up.

Looking back, I can’t believe that his sleazy, well-greased, oil-sucking gang has commanded eight whole years. Most of my adult life! How have they–with hands so slick from the money they’ve made on foreign oil–managed to hold onto our government for so long without the American people prying them loose? Looking around at the eight-year-long slimy streak they have left on America’s history, it’s almost impossible to imagine how we got there. With the state of the country now–-its politics, its economy and its people all in a slippery mess–it’s easy to trace our downward slope, and look up to the top of the Hill to see who pushed us.

Recall the aftermath of the 2000 election, which Bush stole from under the noses of the American people? I remember an undercurrent of anger, but I also remember the numbers being so close that it was allowed to slide. I remember September 11, and the way it tore the heart of our nation–and how it was then used as an excuse for the launch of our military into an unnecessary and unwanted war that still rages. I remember protests where millions marched the streets, here and abroad, demanding the war be stopped. I remember the outrage we felt when we realized we’d been hoodwinked: no “WMD,” no ties to Al-Qaida, and certainly no head of Osama Bin Laden on a pike.

I look around and see that the war was a failure, that Americans are still angry about it, and that it’s another wedge jammed between political parties and polarized 300 million people into unreconcilable, bickering camps. I also remember, way back then, the cries and whispers of “blood for oil” ringing in my ears. I remember the suspicions we all held, some of us silently, that this was all constructed to help the interests of Big Oil. I remember when gas prices began to skyrocket, but nobody seemed able to tell us why. I remember people being outraged, yet having to watch the situation slide downhill despite our protests.

Even as Global Warming became a matter of fact rather than a debatable scientific theory, we watched Big Oil’s lobbyists and resident Bush’s veto threats, convincing the Senate not to give tax credits to alternative fuel developers, while championing off-shore drilling as the answer scientists and analysts said it was not. Somehow, even through all this–somehow, nobody pointed their finger at those at the top and said–- “criminals,” “corruption,” “panderers,” “palm-greasers.” And even as the rest of us struggled to pay our bills and fill our tanks, Big Oil executives were taking home record-setting paychecks and bonuses. Even then, Bush and his cronies were allowed to sit up high and continue to make the rules. How, how did they get away with all this? Are they just that corrupt, or were we just that lazy?

Look at the results of their leadership now. Our country is in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, largely in part to deregulation of big business that the Bush administration has championed. We are on our way to offshore drilling because it will help Big Oil, despite the fact that it won’t help gas prices significantly or help us achieve lasting energy independence. Meanwhile, investments in clean and renewable energy are shriveling in light of the recession (now is exactly when we need more investments in them!).

Our relationship with oil-rich nations in the Middle East has been all but permanently soured because of years of bullying in place of foreign policy. Our soldiers and Iraqi citizens continue to die needlessly in a country we tore apart for no good reason. Our own confidence in our country has plummeted. Republicans and Democrats have grown so far apart on every issue that they cannot agree on even the most trivial of things without bickering and filibustering. Oil executives and even finance moguls are stinking rich, while the rest of us are afraid of losing everything. In short, our political and economic situations, plus our energy future, all stink to high heaven because of the Oil Oligarchy’s fear-mongering and money-grubbing.

Now, I look back into the foggy, golden-tinted past and remember putting President Clinton on the stand for lying about a little philandering. How did we get so worked up about what he did with his cigars, and then let George W’s cronies violently and sleazily run away with our country?

I could be a little more fair, I suppose. Part of me wants to hold back my judgment and say maybe this isn’t all their fault. I don’t know all the details of the Federal government. I don’t know much about lobbyists or oil men or who might take bribes or gifts. Maybe I’m way out of my league. And, I don’t really want to implicate myself in accusing the American people of being too complacent to kick out a bunch of criminals who let Big Oil ruin our country. So I’ve held off for a while on making
these accusations, pointing my finger publicly, then waving goodbye, turning around, and not looking back. But all along, I think I knew. And I think most of the country did, too.

Then I read this article at CNN about Bobby Maxwell, a former employee of the Minerals Management Service in the Interior Department. His job for over twenty years at the MMS was to keep an eye on–and audit if necessary–oil companies on their royalty payments to the federal government. Maxwell, known for being a stickler and for following the rules before being “let go” in 2003, thinks he was fired for cracking down one too many times on Big Oil under the noses of Bush Administration cronies, who he maintains began to take leadership positions at the agency in 2001 and proceeded to ease up on energy companies immediately. Maxwell said, he was instructed not to investigate why Shell Oil’s transportation costs had risen from 90 cents to $3 a barrel with no explanation and the government paying to transport the oil from offshore. He tried to expose this mystery, “blowing the whistle on what he believes was a ‘cult of corruption’ within the agency,” but was fired shortly thereafter.

In years since, he has filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the Kerr-McGee Corporation, which he claims “defrauded taxpayers out of millions in oil royalty payments.” And it’s been revealed in an official report that Maxwell, and those of us who were suspicious, were right. According to the New York Times, an Interior Department Inspector General has just released a report on the MMS, stating that “employees at the agency received improper gifts from energy industry officials and engaged with them in illegal drug use and inappropriate sexual relations” between 2003 and 2006. Furthermore, the Times reported “nearly a third of roughly 60 people in Maxwell’s former office received gifts and gratuities from oil industry executives,” and “two received improper, if not illegal, gifts at least 135 times.” These activities went on in a “wild atmosphere in which some staff members admitted using cocaine and marijuana,” while others “told investigators they had sex with industry officials they were supposed to be auditing.” .

How did these people get away with this? We all knew deep down inside that energy companies were in bed with the Bush family and all its hangers-on, but this? This is disgusting. This is infuriating. The people involved may not exactly be cabinet members or elected officials, but their responsibility to keep energy companies under some sort of control is directly correlated to the good of the American People. And, as Maxwell pointed out, they were more or less put in place directly by George W. So now, right after we forked over $700 billion to the government to “fix” a mess it helped create (although I suspect a lot of that might be going into some select pockets), we’re told we’ve been duped out of even more billions by energy industry employees who literally slept their way to the top of the MMS in order to get out paying royalties?

This is about when I would want people to stand up and shout and make a big f*cking fuss about how sick we are of getting cheated. But you know what? We’ve been lazy this long, so at this point, what can we do? It’s been eight years–we only have to make it through a few more months. Who cares? I’m over it. I’m over Bush and his oil money and his oil buddies, and his cronies, and his stupid grin. I’m done. I’m moving forward. Goodbye, Bush – hello, future.