Couldn’t Help But Comment (071708, Morning)

This report about the big drop in the barrel price of oil in the past two days had an annoying assertion that is all too common when the price of something, particularly oil, goes down:

The price of oil has dropped by almost $10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the past two days—so why has the price of gas remained stagnant?

The theory is that it takes a few days.

Geez, are we ever impatient, and it isn’t even “a few days.” At least around here, it’s more like 24-36 hours.

Tuesday, I don’t think there was a gas station in Metro Cincinnati besides a couple of Sam’s Clubs selling gas for less than $4, and $4.08 was typical. Now look (prices at the link will obvious change over time):

I see 15 stations at the link that are at $3.93 or lower. No cause for celebration, but the reaction seems pretty quick to me.

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Congress’s approval rating at Gallup is down to an alltime low of 14% (HT American Thinker).

Two points:

• Perhaps this explains why “Mr. Irrelevant,” who, according to text at the Gallup link, is at 31%, got his FISA bill easily passed and got his signature after all the posturing.
• I suspect that it is beginning to dawn on Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid that most people, and an ever-growing number, actually know that Democrats are in charge of Congress. This would not be a favorable development for them.

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The basic right of self-defense has been restored in Britain (HT Hot Air). Good, and long overdue.

Meanwhile, the District of Columbia Mayor and Council, having lost the Heller case in the Supreme Court, which established once and for all the perfectly obvious fact that gun ownership is an individual right, is working feverishly to make sure that the basic, natural right of self-defense still won’t exist in DC:

Public Safety Committee Chairman Phil Mendelson released a statement saying that these proposed rules are just a first step.

….. Here’s what they’re proposing:

• Allowing an exception for handgun ownership for self-defense use inside the home.
• If you want to keep a handgun in your home, the MPD (Metro Police Department) will have to perform ballistic testing on it before it can be legally registered.
• There will be a limit to one handgun per person for the first 90 days after the legislation becomes law.
• Firearms in the home must be stored unloaded and disassembled, and secured with either a trigger lock, gun safe, or similar device. The new law will allow an exception for a firearm while it is being used against an intruder in the home.
• Residents who legally register handguns in the District will not be required to have licenses to carry them inside their own homes.

The bolded item means you might as well be disarmed.

Of course, this would not stand up to a court test, and they know it. But they don’t care. They’re going to make somebody go through years of litigation and lose again. Then they’ll figure out other ways to be “creative.”

A sane electorate would throw the entire lot of them out of office at the first opportunity.

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Hot Air has the Headline of the Day, in reaction to this pitiful New York Times story, saving me the need to comment further — “Iraqis love Obama, think his withdrawal plan is stupid.