Democracy and Power 107: Counting Votes Successful politicians are insecure and intimidated men. They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies. —Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), American Journalist and Author

The "I told you so" hits just keep on coming.

It’s probably safe to say that most Americans are unaware of what the term “fracking” means.  If you’ve heard of it, the details can be hard to pin down due to the controversy surrounding the method of gas extraction.  With mainstream movies like

Natural gas is a clean, abundant, domestic natural resource, so it only makes sense that Americans should be turning to this as an alternative to oil and gasoline. Although natural gas vehicles are being manufactured, they are not catching on like other alternative fuels such as electric. Could this be because the government is once again playing favorites against domestic resources?

Hollywood's mega-liberal darling, Matt Damon, is back at it again in his latest film Promised Land, delivering a theatrical effort that is so far-left, providing little more than junk science platitudes and a radical environmental agenda, that even his anti-fracking cohorts aren't singing its praises. In other words, Promised Land delivers about what one could expect from today's Hollywood elite.

The scene opens; the air is thick with toxic smog, and those few who dare to venture outside the safety of their ventilated homes sway, their lungs battered by the noxious chemicals poisoning the air. Such a scene is straight out of an apocalyptic B-movie.

Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, seems to be a new American energy solution, or problem, depending on one’s view. Various parties, from environmentalists to businesses are heralding natural gas as the answer to our national energy crisis. Proper fracking harvests large quantities of natural gas safely and at a reasonable cost.

West coast cool, steady electricity, clean beaches, and Jeeps cruising down Pacific Coast Highway ; is it all just California dreamin’? The potential for reliable energy in the Golden State along with clean beaches and palm trees exists, by allowing hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas.

This April, the US Energy Information Administration released the 2011 edition of its Annual Energy Outlook. The report contains the EIA’s predictions of future energy supplies, prices, and regulations. Perhaps the most important piece of information that came from the report was the rapid growth of shale natural gas as a viable energy source. Shale natural gas is natural gas which is trapped in large underground shale formations.

  America is feeling the pinch on our energy supply; from expensive water bills to cringe-worthy prices at the gas pump. That pinch may well be turned into a crushing squeeze, due to the Obama administration’s increased restrictions on oil importation, its moratorium on deep-water offshore drilling, and a host of strict regulations on energy companies.