ConservativeINC

Bill Clinton made a plea yesterday for a new emphasis on monogamy as a key element in the battle against AIDS. The former U.S. president, not noted for his ability to keep his own marriage vows, said it was very important to change people’s attitudes to sex.

In an interview with the BBC, recorded in Africa, Clinton told his interviewer that increasing support for monogamy was not just a problem for the continent worst hit by AIDS, but for the world.

“To pretend we can ever get hold of this without dealing with that — the idea of unprotected sexual relations with unlimited numbers of partners — I think would be naive.”

In a dramatic move yesterday President Bush removed the executive-branch moratorium on offshore drilling. Today, at a news conference, Bush repeated his new position, and slammed the Democratic Congress for not removing the congressional moratorium on the Outer Continental Shelf and elsewhere. Crude-oil futures for August delivery plunged $9.26, or 6.3 percent, almost immediately as Bush was speaking, bringing the barrel price down to $136.

Now isn’t this interesting?

Democrats keep saying that it will take 10 years or longer to produce oil from the offshore areas. And they say that oil prices won’t decline for at least that long. And they, along with Obama and McCain, bash so-called oil speculators. And today we had a real-world example as to why they are wrong. All of them. Reid, Pelosi, Obama, McCain — all of them.

Traders took a look at a feisty and aggressive George Bush and started selling the market well before a single new drop of oil has been lifted. What does this tell us? Well, if Congress moves to seal the deal, oil prices will probably keep on falling. That’s the way traders work. They discount the future. Psychology and expectations can turn on a dime.

Hillary Rodham Clinton met late Thursday with Barack Obama, a day after saying she would end her quest for the Democratic nomination and endorse the Illinois senator.

A senior Democratic campaign official confirmed to NBC News that Obama delayed his departure from Washington Thursday night to meet with Clinton.

Following their meeting, Obama flew on to Chicago.

Earlier, Clinton had disavowed efforts by some supporters who have urged Obama to choose her as his running mate.

“Sheis not seeking the vice presidency, and no one speaks for her but her,”communications director Howard Wolfson said. “The choice here isSenator Obama’s and his alone.”

Clintonwas planning an event in Washington Saturday to thank supporters andurge them to back Obama’s candidacy. But as she was bowing out of therace, supporters in Congress and elsewhere were ramping up a campaignto pressure him to put her on the ticket in the No. 2 spot.

BobJohnson, the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television anda Clinton supporter, sent a letter to the Congressional Black CaucusWednesday urging the group to encourage Obama to choose Clinton as hisvice presidential pick. He said he was doing so with her blessing.

Obama is seeking to become the first black president.

Clintonhas told other friends and supporters she would be willing to beObama’s running mate. But her immediate task is bringing her ownpresidential bid to a close.