Write down 7 things that piss you off, in no particular order, then tag 7 more people.

1. Having someone wake me up by messing with my feet.
2. Being taken for granted.
3. Gaining weight
4. People who will never honestly admit they were wrong and/or never sincerely apologize.
5. Politicians
6. Children who don’t know how to behave in public.
7. People who think that they “know” me and can explain my actions or dictate how I live my life.

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And since we’re talking about things that piss me off…

I’m a layman. I’m not an economist. I don’t have a college degree. I’m a self-trained computer programmer who does some acting. I do some reading, on occasion. Most of it fluff, but I’ve read a few books about Important Issues. I listen to Democracy Now! and Rush Limbaugh. I try to keep an open mind, ya know? Get some perspective so I can look at issues objectively.

But at this point I’m amazed at how few people seem to be making the connections that I’m about to make, and I’m honestly wondering if I’m missing something.

Because, from a laymans perspective…

We have a President who came from a family that was largely involved in the oil business. He has a background in the oil business. He comes from a state that is closely tied to the oil business. So he gets into office, right, and we get attacked by terrorists*. Terrorists who, while belonging to an organization based in Afghanistan, mostly came from Saudi Arabia (a country whose leaders are close personal friends with his family). Ok, so we invade and liberate Afghanistan. Cool. Then we turn around and invade Iraq because they have Weapons of Mass Destruction – which it turned out they didn’t have (Best Available Intelligence!). We’re told it was definitely NOT about the oil. If it was, I’ve head the folks like Rush Limbaugh say, why would gas prices be so high?

Well, that’s a good question, really. I guess it’s true. Except…

Well…

There’s the little fact that Exxon Mobil had a net income of $36.1 billion dollars last year. And that was UP 31 percent from last year. Despite hurricanes. Despite high oil prices in the middle east.

And they aren’t the only ones.

“The 12 U.S. oil companies in the S&P 500 that have reported fourth-quarter results have seen an average of a 48 percent rise in earnings excluding items in the period.”

Gas prices are almost as bad right now as they were during the late 70’s and early 80’s. Prices are up across many retailers as a direct result of companies trying to compensate for that. Every “average American” is feeling the pinch of this…except those with lots of money invested in oil companies.

Now…

I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I know that there are huge chunks of data that I’m missing out. I realize there are probably several logical fallacies in my conclusions. But, you know, I’m a little smarter than the average bear. I know what a fallacy is, but this still seems like far too much of a coincidence for me. We have a President who has ties to big oil. We are at war in a region that is the source of most of our oil. Oil companies are posting record profits, while our soldiers are dying and we’re paying nearly $3 bucks a gallon for gas.

Am I missing something?

*I am not blaming the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on the fact that G.W. Bush was elected President – Although there IS data out there that could suggest that such a thing is true. I don’t have enough of that data to make a conclusion one way or the other on that.