This past weekend, my hubby and I decided to drag the kids to Costco after church on Sunday. We’re obviously masochists, I know. Our Costco has a gas station that sells fuel for about $.25 less per gallon than the average local station. When we pulled into the parking lot, the lines for these discount pumps were eight and nine cars deep.

People were waiting for half an hour or more to pay $3.75 per gallon of gas. I just hope they weren’t letting their engines idle — that sort of defeats the purpose. By the time we waded through the crowd in the warehouse store with our 12-pack of chicken breasts and so-cute-we-had-to-buy-them matching pajamas for the girls and were on our way home, the price of unleaded had gone up to $3.77.

Supply, demand, and speculation over the woes in the Middle East have contributed to some pretty pricey gasoline. Let’s face it: There’s a limited amount of oil in the world, more countries are developing industrially, and the place most everyone gets their oil from is, for better or worse, in the midst of a revolution.

Of course the cost of energy is going to go up. It’s written in The Law of Common Sense, right in between “what goes up must come down,” and “never stare down the barrel of a shotgun.” (You can find this book in the ‘Welcome Newbies’ section of the Republican bookstore, along with Facts Are Not Hard and A Convenient Truth.)

Read more at The Stir

Jason Mattera discusses his new book Obama Zombies: How the Liberal Machine Brainwashed My Generation.

Tom Reed talks about his run for Congress in New York’s 29th district — the seat previously held by Eric Massa.

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Oh to be a fly on the wall of the Oval Office… This is a conversation that I imagined up between President Obama and his Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel.  While the events referenced are true, the conversation itself is completely fictitious and nothing more than Silly Thoughts with Jenny.

“Hey Rahm, what’s on my schedule this week?”

“Well, Mr. President, General McChrystal requested to speak to you regarding the war in Afghanistan.  He feels that we will lose the war if you don’t send more troops.”

“I wish that war would just go away.  Do you think that’s a possiblility?”

“No Sir, but maybe if you never address the issue, the voters will forget about it.  Just keep telling them that you support the bravery of the troops and are consulting with top officials on an effective exit strategy.  Now that ACORN is on its way down the drain, we have to be very careful not to alienate our voter base with silly ideas about national security.”

“I like that approach.  Let’s go with that. Now that my schedule is clear, can I go on Letterman again?  I’ve been thinking of some new jokes involving Sarah Palin AND the Special Olympics.”

“No Sir, you were just there last week.  We agreed on no more than one talk show per month, remember?”

“But that’s not fair!”

“Mr. President, don’t make me call The First Lady in here…”

“Fine. But you better have something good for me this week, Rahm.”

“Would you like to address health-care?”

“No.”

“Cap and Trade?”

“Booor-ing!”

“Well, there is one thing you might be interested in… How would you like to fly to Copenhagen to lobby the International Olympic Committee’s voters to bring the games to Chicago in 2016?”

“What, like a campaign?”

“Yes, Mr. President, exactly like a campaign.”

“Well why didn’t you lead with that?  Go fuel up Air Force One and pack my suitcase!  We’re going to Copenhagen!”

“Very good, Mr. President.  I’ll set it up.”

Mark Kirk is a politician masquerading as a Republican.  He represents the 10th district of Illinois in the House of Representatives. He voted for the Cap and Trade bill last spring.  He should be stripped of his (R).

Anyway, the dude decided to run for the Senate in 2010.  Obama’s old seat.  The one now filled by Roland Burris, who was appointed by Rod Blogojevich.  You know, the governor that was caught selling the senate seat to the highest bidder and was subsequently kicked out of office?  Well, before he left, he appointed Burris.  And Burris is still there.  It’s complete craziness.

But I have to stop talking about Burris and Blogojevich and how ludicrous the whole situation is before my head explodes.

Back to Mark Kirk. Who is running as a Republican against Burris for that much discussed seat.  Since he’s running as a Republican, he’s had to address his “yes” vote on Cap and Trade, as no Republican that actually acted like one would have ever in a million years voted for it.

Here’s what he said:

“It was in the narrow interests of my congressional district…But, as your (senator), representing the entire state of Illinois, I would vote ‘no’ against the bill coming up, and that’s because we are manufacturing, agriculture and coal state.”

It’s ironic that by trying to sound more conservative in order to gain the Republican nomination, he just ended up sounding even more liberal. If he was fine screwing over the other 18 districts in Illinois “in the narrow interests” of his own turf, then I doubt he’d take issue screwing over the other 49 states in Illinios’ narrow interest.

Mr. Kirk, you may call yourself a Republican, but you are certainly not a conservative.