… and so apparently would Joe Biden. It’s remarkable how many international conflicts are at least in part fueled by fuel. Fuel is playing a major role in the world’s reaction to the Russian Ukraine invasion and in America’s need to pump the brakes on its high octane inflation before our economy goes into the tank (taking Biden’s approval ratings with it). And so, Biden is ordering the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve for six months. To give that number some perspective, “Americans on average use about 21 million barrels of oil daily … The U.S. is producing on average 11.7 million barrels daily, down from 13 million barrels in early 2020.” Oil’s impact on wars, economies, and politics is one of our longest running storylines, and oil stories always put the old Beverly Hillbillies theme song into my head: Come and listen to my story about a man named Jed / A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed / And then one day he was shootin at some food / And up through the ground come a bubblin crude / Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea / Well the first thing you know ol Jed’s a millionaire / The kinfolk said ‘Jed move away from there’ / Said ‘Californy is the place you ought to be’ / So they loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly… Until that truck is a Rivian, the song remains the same.

+ The next line in that song is …Hills, that is. Swimmin pools, movie stars. The latter all of a sudden present their own dangers. Yesterday, I wrote about the Will Smith Oscars craziness coverage (speaking of bubbling crude) and how it relates to a much bigger problem in the way the media covers much bigger topics. It seemed to strike a chord with many of you. If you missed it: The Slap Trap Crap.