Mr. Hunter; Such a bumper sticker is not so much a position, or a concern about oil, as a way to flip the bird at people who think we should not end atrocities (gassing of the Kurds as just one example) no matter what provocation or act they engage in.
The bumper stick is just the concise way of quoting Wm. F Buckley Jr., “Liberals, it has been said, are generous with other peoples’ money, except when it comes to questions of national survival when they prefer to be generous with other people’s freedom and security.” (Such a bumper sticker wouldn’t even fit on a Hummer.)
When you run him down to swap picture, perhaps you could bo online and watch a few beheading videos as long as you’re getting into the whole, “who’s the bad guy?” discussion. There are a lot of wrongs in this world. If people will listen to reason, then diplomacy is indeed the route to resolution. If people only want to kill you and not listen, then you can die, which is one solution. Alternatively, some people choose to fight back. They call it defending themselves. The killers enjoy it when bystanders call that self-defense aggression. People choose their perspectives. I would bet your bumper sticker friend wants peace and justice as dearly as you. Perhaps that coffee would be a good thing. Maybe you could suggest it less aggressively. It is aggressiveness that got us into this whole mess.

Deadbeat claims that Venezuela has more oil reserves than the Middle East, then tries to rescue himself by changing the comparison to Saudi Arabia. Even the latter is utterly wrong, of course, unless one deals in pure self-indulgent fantasy.

The latter is not “utterly wrong” especially since it is based on your pontification rather than any information. I’m citing Chavez and his own comments about his own reserves. Chavez himself stated that Venezuela has greater reserves than the Saudis. The issue is that his heavy oil required a $50.00 price point which he was able to get especially over the past eight years. So I would hope Mr. Dawson cite something to support his position unless he hope that he can spew erroneous “conventional wisdom” like the Left has been doing for the past 30 years that has promoted “War for oil” and diminished the influence of Zionism regarding Middle East policy.

Jesus, we need help.

I would suggest to Mr. Dawson that he needs the help in order to quit absorbing the “conventional wisdom” and start doing more research.

Deadbeat claims that Venezuela has more oil reserves than the Middle East, then tries to rescue himself by changing the comparison to Saudi Arabia. Even the latter is utterly wrong, of course, unless one deals in pure self-indulgent fantasy.

Meanwhile, Jeff thinks paper money is all a dream, that there is no such thing as an economy. Sociology 101 would seem to be something beyond Jeff’s capacities and interests. Jeff, buddy: Paper money is real because people accept it as a legitimate means of exchange. The economy is real because people make things, organized by other people and paper money.

Jesus, we need help.

http://mondoweiss.net/

http://www.leftcurve.org/LC28WebPages/WarForIsrael.html

“Every time anyone says that Israel is our only friend in the Middle East, I can’t help but think that before Israel, we had no enemies in the Middle East.” -Franklin Lamb

‘In the following essay I attempt to flesh out that thesis and show the link between the war position of the neoconservatives and the long-time strategy of the Israeli Right, if not of the Israeli mainstream itself. In brief, the idea of a Middle East war has been bandied about in Israel for many years as a means of enhancing Israeli security, which revolves around an ultimate solution to the Palestinian problem.’

etc
http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/snieg_conc1.htm

That sould read Venezuela has more oil in its reserves than the Saudis. The difference is that Venezuela oil is a heavy grade that is more expensive to extract. Chavez himself has stated that should the price of oil remain over US$50.00 that it then is cost effective. This should be no problem as oil prices has pretty much remain above this benchmark.

This is bogus. The USA gets most of its oil from the Americas (Canada and Latin America). Also Venezueala has more oil in its reserves than the Middle East. I would say that Mr. Dawson needs to check out article from James Petras. Many of those articles are posted here on DV.

But think another step farther: What would happen after that? The masses of the region would in very short order start asking why we prop up and arm the Saudi “royals” and so many other predatory despots. They would return to the Mossadegh question.

Hence, our elite is rock solid on Israel support, despite the obvious costs and dangers. It’s a fantastic distraction from our underlying interests and actions.

Meanwhile, Suthiano, you could use a little harder analysis yourself. As every major power figure has said, the world is going to be forced more and more into competing for Middle Eastern oil, where remaining reserves are by far the highest, over the coming decades. The world’s biggest oil consumer, the USA, will not be exempt. Whichever power has sweetheart deals and armies in the region will retain enormous advantages.

You are misinformed if you believe U.S. mid-east policy is configured around “oil”. Saudi Arabia is biggest source in region and there have been no invasions or occupations of that land by U.S.. Meanwhile it remains “Arab” and theocratic.

Funny thing about oil is that even “unfriendly” countries trade with each other. So despite Mr. Chavez being president of Venezuela, the U.S. continues to do business with that nation, and oil continues to be shipped to the U.S..

Likewise Iraqi oil would have continued to flow to the U.S. without invasion and occupation.

And as lichen correctly pointed out Canada is U.S. #1 provider.

With all the above considered, it hardly seems reasonable to define oil as the central issue in U.S. mid-east policy. The consequence is that other reasons must be sought. An honest, serious investigation will inevitably lead to Israel.

It is further notable that the US, actually, buys most of it’s oil from Canada’s tar sands. Extracting oil from tar sands is one of the worst environmental crimes imaginable (on the same scale as disgusting poisonous nuclear) and we should certainly not be supporting that, either; it is worse than any faults that could be laid at the middle east’s doorstep.

Meanwhile, US policy on Israel is driven by the need to maintain a good political distraction in the region and at home, to justify our continuing dominance of the Middle East. This dominance is only going to get more and more crucial to the oil- and imperialism-dependent overclass, as the downslope of Peak Oil starts to bite harder and harder.

The overclass of this society remains history’s most powerful and sophisticated one. They don’t merely drift their way into something as momentous and dangerous as our pro-Israel policy.

Baldwin is correct, and it is not necessary for him to detail the history of Arab culture to justify his position. Hunter’s specious reasoning does nothing more than distract from the fundamental issues of imperialism, global warming and peak oil.