Gasoline prices continue to rise. They hover around three dollars per gallon in Fresno now.

We overthrew the government of another country — first because they had weapons of mass destruction. When it was discovered they didn’t have weapons of mass destruction, then it was because of the war on terrorism. Only, if you actually were paying attention, then you noticed that there were few terrorists (if any) in Iraq…until we went there. Now it’s swarming with them. Next, we wanted to bring democracy to the people of Iraq, who would welcome us as liberators. Only they haven’t. And they can’t even agree on a Constitution — not even with the United States forcing them to do it.

But now….

A top Army contracting official who criticized a large, noncompetitive contract with the Halliburton Company for work in Iraq was demoted Saturday for what the Army called poor job performance.

The official, Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, has worked in military procurement for 20 years and for the past several years had been the chief overseer of contracts at the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that has managed much of the reconstruction work in Iraq.

The demotion removes her from the elite Senior Executive Service and reassigns her to a lesser job in the corps’ civil works division.

Ms. Greenhouse’s lawyer, Michael Kohn, called the action an “obvious reprisal” for the strong objections she raised in 2003 to a series of corps decisions involving the Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root, which has garnered more than $10 billion for work in Iraq.

Dick Cheney led Halliburton, which is based in Texas, before he became vice president. — Erik Eckholm, “Army Contract Official Critical of Halliburton Pact Is Demoted” (August 29, 2005) The New York Times.

Twenty years of experience and a good career. And only now, after criticizing the Bush Administration, do they say she’s doing a bad job and must be demoted.

I recognize that this is totally new to most of you, but I’ve got to tell you something: There are oilmen in the White House. That’s what they all did before they managed to convince the Supreme Court — and later, possibly, just over 50% of the American public — to install George Bush as President. Or it may actually have been Diebold. (Do you really know?)

So oil prices will continue to rise and oil companies will continue to reap major benefits at our expense, so long as we all allow it.

If the stories about Diebold are true, it will take a major reaction of the voting public to override the manipulation of electronic voting machines. But it can be done. In fact, you can start by contacting your congressional representatives to lobby for old-fashioned ballots. Computers are good and valuable, but so is your vote. And the only way to ensure it’s being counted is to have a paper-trail. While votes could still be manipulated, it would be harder and more likely to be uncovered. (Do you really know what happens inside your own computer — let alone theirs?)

Remember, the guy is office is the same one who said, “I think it’s also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life” when talking about our kids dying in Iraq. He’s part of the same group which said it’s important to have the discipline to stick to long-laid plans — and they weren’t talking about just taking over Iraq.

And he’s also — though we know you’ve all forgotten it — the same guy who said, “There ought to be limits to freedom.” And, again — because we know you’ve all forgotten it — the reason he said this was not because of terrorism, or any other such thing, but because someone put up a website that made fun of him.

Inactivity and apathy is what he thrives on. When the time comes to vote, remember his friends and vote. And remember this: You are not his friend.