Gas Prices, Polls, and Imbeciles

I think this is nearly definitive proof that my contention that people aren't so much bad as they are stupid.

The statistics show an uncanny relationship: As oil prices inched higher over the past five years, President Bush's approval ratings sagged lower. So perhaps it's not surprising that with a sudden and almost unprecedented drop in gasoline prices just before a crucial election, conspiracy theories abound.

It's not just the bloggers suggesting that the 66-cent drop in the average pump price over the past seven weeks to $2.38 per gallon is thanks to the collusion of former oilmen President Bush and Vice President Cheney and their Big Oil buddies. (Bloggers advancing this theory include Long Delayed Echoes, NH Insider, Various Miseries, and The "What Do I Know Grit.") A Gallup Poll found that 42 percent of the public thinks the Bush administration is deliberately manipulating the price. As plausible as that scenario apparently seems, energy analysts nevertheless deem it impossible.

"There are so many buyers and sellers and traders out there - you could never put together a conspiracy without having headlines all over," says Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy and Economic Research, who long has argued the oil market was heading for a fall. "I understand it seems simplistic to argue that trader psychology changes, but sometimes the simple answer is best."

42% of those polled are either incredibly stupid or just haven't a clue about a capitalist economy. I would love to have been the pollster. "What do you base your belief on, and why are you so sodding stupid?"

Read the linked article for a quite clear explanation as to why the market prices of gas has dropped so much.

Then there is Rick Newman at USnews with an opinion piece that shows no bias at all:

Let's assume for a moment that President Bush has a little dial underneath his desk that lets him send gasoline prices up or down, depending on what best suits his political needs. This, evidently, is the belief of a considerable number of Americans, like the 42 percent of respondents in a new Gallup Poll who think the Bush administration is deliberately lowering gas prices to help Republicans in the upcoming November elections. The suspicion isn't really that surprising, given Bush-Cheney ties to Big Oil and Persian Gulf potentates, not to mention demonstrated dishonesty on other big issues like weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Here's my question: Why have the Republicans used the gas-price knob so poorly up till now?

Ah yes, the promulgated lie that Bush lied about Iraq's WMDs and wasn't just using the data provided to him by the CIA. It MUST be true by now, the press has pushed it long enough that it has reached the status of truth by common agreement of the MSM and those with BDS.

Well at least he points out the fallacy of the conspiracy theory.