Listening to Bill O'Reilly and the comic book version of reality he espouses is enough to give one a serious case of heartburn. In a recent Talking Points memo entitled "We are all in Danger", O'Reilly pins the blame for $138 a barrel oil on the "gangsters" in the OPEC oil cartel, claiming they are pumping up the price at the pump in an attempt to destroy America. Conveniently, O'Reilly neglects to mention that the price of oil is not actually set by OPEC, but by the light sweet crude oil contract traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, or NYMEX. He also fails to note analyst estimates that as much of 60% of the current oil price is pure speculative froth due to commodity traders gone wild.
OPEC countries are obviously enjoying the record prices, as are other oil exporting countries such as Canada. But that doesn't mean they caused the price surge. As is too often the case, O'Reilly's analysis is misleading and inaccurate. It's mainly the US investment industry that has caused the run up in oil and gas prices, thereby enriching not only themselves but also the "enemies" of the United States in the process. The arithmetic of a high oil price is pretty simple. Investment banks, hedge funds, the oil and gas industry, and other financial speculators have made untold billions off of the massive commodities bull market of the past 8 years, and run-of-the-mill Americans are paying more out of pocket for just about everything as a consequence.
Instead of using his platform to inform Americans about the true causes of record oil and gas prices, O'Reilly has unfortunately chosen to spin the issue into a baseless and inflammatory attack on OPEC countries, such as Iran and Venezuela, with which the US is currently embroiled in a tense geopolitical stand-off.
Don't "Dig it"? Then why not "Flush it?" Because the worst is more interesting than the best!
Randall Taves is the founder of Flushit, a social news and entertainment site devoted to taking the very worst that humanity has to offer and exposing it to the ridicule and public mockery it deserves. Check out Flushit's Roll of Shame today at: http://www.flushit.net/
