More on Arab Unrest in Middle East

Massive anti-government protests in many Arab nations have either toppled regimes (Tunisia, Egypt), turned into a bloody civil war (Libya), are in progress with mass demonstrations (Bahrain, Yemen), or are being desperately forestalled by government through hasty reform measures (Saudi Arabia). In all countries, one common thread unites them: the political leadership has been closed off to the general population for decades, both in terms of them being able to pick their leaders and of those leaders having to be held accountable for their decisions. In the USA, popular sentiment is with the people although most of the challenged authorities have friendly relations with America. This country is also heavily dependent on foreign oil, supplies of which are being threatened in countries like Libya, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. However...

I have heard the argument promoted by advocates for off-shore drilling (either off Florida, Virginia, or California) and in northern Alaska that "home-grown" oil will make us independent of those other unstable and often unfriendly oil producing nations and keep the prices down. While it is true that with more domestically produced petroleum we would at least be better protected from a complete shutdown of our oil supply (an unlikely possibility considering the diversity of petroleum sources across the world), the actual price of oil would still be based on world market standards and would be reflective of the overall price worldwide. Better to keep pushing hard for alternatives to petroleum for meeting our energy demands.

In Libya, the most bloodied nation among these uprisings, the entrenched leadership there has resorted to terrorism and war to keep their hold on power. Gadhafi is one of those deplorable people on this planet who, seeing himself as a leader of people, in term regards those people as his property instead of regarding himself as their servant. Since he doesn't seem capable of understanding that "his" people despise him, it looks as if he will only be toppled through force of arms, sad to say, with many having to sacrifice themselves to achieve this.