Right now Twitter is rife with tweeted photos of idiots hoarding gasoline all along the East Coast. A quick scroll reveals one photo or video after another of pudgy white people putting huge amounts of gas into as many containers as possible. This happened shortly after the Biden Administration and several state governors declared that there would be no gasoline shortages as long as people don’t start panic buying and hoarding gas.
Naturally, at this point we should expect Republican State Legislatures to step in ready to do whatever they can to make the situation worse. It should only be a few days before we have MAGA legislators in states like South Carolina and Alabama trying to pass laws making it a felony punishable by a ridiculous and completely out-sized penalty; say a $10,000 fine or up to two years in prison for a gas station owner to try to limit sales of gasoline to a maximum of 25 gallons.
Why would they do that? Because they’re assholes, and Republicans are trying to turn this gas shortage into a major setback for the Biden Administration. Also, Republicans need some way to distract from the fact that they’ve spent the last ten years blocking one cyber-security measure after another. They’re probably getting worried that people might notice that they have repeatedly blocked cyber-security bills at the exact same time that many GOP elected officials were cozying up to the Kremlin, and that hacking activities by Russian intelligence agencies, like the 2016 hacking of DNC e-mails, have provided a wealth of talking points and propaganda for the Republican Party.
Honestly, the criminal profiler in me is wondering if the GOP asked the Russians to begin hacking US infrastructure to create additional complications for the Biden administration. I’d really like to see those seven Republican Senators that traveled to Russia to meet with Putin and his associates brought in by the FBI for questioning regarding their role in requesting the hacking, and what they know about future planned cyber-attacks. These are the exact same people who closed ranks around Trump in letting him off the hook for his nonsense in the Ukraine, and who are still participating in the promotion of Trump’s “big lie”. Having a prior criminal record always counts against you in court. There’s absolutely no reason to deny the possibility that the GOP had a role in creating this problem, and that they will do everything in their power to make it worse.