To delve into the world of oil and economics, The Capital Spectator states a good point concerning the price of oil and the Saudi's embarrassing pickle in this regard. Recall the now-famous Saudi promise on 60 Minutes, with Prince Bandar vowing he would do what it took to lower oil prices to ensure a Bush win on election day.

As it turns out (and as I've reported here), the Saudis have indeed recently opened up all the oil spigots, so to speak, attempting to flood supply and help drive down oil prices. But alas, to their possible surprise, this move has had little effect on the price of oil.

From a line in the great movie "Spinal Tap," the Saudis can't "turn it up to 11." They are producing as much black gold as possible, none more can be thrown at demand, meaning prices can't come down. The irony is short of increasing supply (which will take years), the alternative is conservation -- that dreaded word/concept that keeps Cheney up at nights. It's far easier and timely to strongly encourage the country to take steps (many of which are painless and already available) to conserve energy, versus undertake new drilling, etc. Yet this administration will do anything possible to avoid asking us to "sacrifice" in this regard (and yet they have no problem sending others over to Iraq to sacrifice). Despicable.