Idiocy of the day: National edition

1. Tom Friedman is back writing his column for the New York Times. In "Dumb as We Wanna Be," he writes:

It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer's travel season. This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: We borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country.

When the summer is over, we will have increased our debt to China, increased our transfer of wealth to Saudi Arabia and increased our contribution to global warming for our kids to inherit.

2. To understand what is going on with oil, Hamish McRae's recent column in the Independent (UK) lays it out. Worldwide demand, particularly in Asia, is increasing beyond the demand reductions in Europe and the U.S. generated by price increases. New oil supplies are available in areas that are unstable politically, but even so it is unlikely that there is enough oil to supply Asia, given that the U.S. consumes about 25% of the total world supply. See "We will never have cheap oil again."

Combined, India and China have more than eight times the population of the U.S.

3. The Washington Times had a nice piece about the price of gasoline in Europe, "Europe's crude reality: Pinched at pump" which is around $10/gallon.

Puts the policy proposals by our "great leaders" in perspective, doesn't it?

4. And the campaigns and "strikes" of truck drivers. I mean, in this day and age, who would accept a contract that sets the reimbursement rate for fuel only once or twice/year.

Truckers drive by the Capitol while blaring their horns in protest of high fuel prices, in Washington on Monday, April 28, 2008.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Truckers should strike at freight terminals and ports, and at their customers' loading docks. Driving around DC doesn't do much for their real problem.