Now, believe me. I don't want to interfere with anyone's "away" time...

Joe Biden departs from his 6 day vacation in Santa Ynez, California to his 9 day vacation in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Kamala is in hiding.

The country is on auto-pilot.pic.twitter.com/Y1aA9UefvW

— Bad Hombre (@joma_gc) August 25, 2024

...or "RUNNING AWAY" time, as it were or may be.

It's now August 25th. Kamala Harris has been in the race for over a month.

She has done zero press conferences or interviews, and almost every journalist in the country is just fine with that.

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) August 25, 2024

It just seems to me that, having been the sarge-in-charge for a goodly period of my life, there's a decided lack of seriousness and responsibility surrounding the two persons who were elected to act as the heads of our country.

Mayhaps "act" is the operative word, as one is a dementia-riddled, vegetative geriatric carbon-sack, and the other is his vegetable sidekick enabler. Neither have the capability or desire to confront any of the chaos and misery their lack of basic competence has birthed, whether at home or around the world.

 Alas and alack.

Consequently, when international matters arise that, while not directly attributable to their own ineptitude, will most certainly affect Americans if not dealt with in an expedient and competent manner, eyes that would typically turn toward the White House instead roll Heavenward in supplication for deliverance.

Take the news that just broke this morning from Libya. Yes, that Libya. The one a previous Secretary of State smugly plunged into a perpetual state of tribal warfare [NOTE: CBS News has disabled the public share feature for their video of Ms Clinton crowing over the killing of Qaddafi. Wonder why...].

Since they offed the strongman holding the place together, things haven't gone so smoothly. The Libyans have mostly managed to keep their problems within their own borders, finally fracturing the country into two separate fiefdoms after more than a decade of civil war between tribal rivalries and militias trying to fill the vacuum Qaddafi left behind.

Armed groups that have been controlling Tripoli for more than a decade have agreed to leave Libya's capital.

Interior minister Imad Trabelsi - part of the internationally recognised government - said after lengthy negotiations a deal had been struck for regular forces to police Tripoli.

...Libya has been battered by many armed groups who emerged after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

A series of armed uprisings that led to the long-time dictator's killing created a security vacuum, with much of the country lawless and chaotic since.

Libya is currently divided between the internationally recognised government in the west, led by interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in Tripoli, and an administration in the east run by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Libya is still a snake pit, with competing interests of religious extremism, regional supremacy,  and geopolitical energy concerns all converging on a war-shattered country. Everyone from the United Arab Emirates to Turkey, Russia, and the US all still have their fingers in the pit in one way or the other.

Many have been not-so-clandestinely supporting the Haftar dictatorship, which encompasses the bulk of Libya's territory and, most importantly, all of their oil-rich eastern half of the country.

Which is where the flare-up today originates. Gen Haftar is closing all of the eastern Libyan oil fields in a dispute with Tripoli over their central bank.

Oilfields in eastern Libya that account for almost all the country's production will be closed and production and exports halted, the eastern-based administration said on Monday, after a flare-up in tension over the leadership of the central bank.

There was no confirmation from the country's internationally recognised government in Tripoli or from the National Oil Corp (NOC), which controls the country's oil resources.

NOC subsidiary Waha Oil Company, however, said it planned to gradually reduce output and warned of a complete halt to Libya's production, citing unspecified "protests and pressures".

Another subsidiary Sirte Oil Company also said it would cut output, calling on authorities to "intervene to maintain production levels".

That would drop Libyan production of 1.8M bbl per day out of the market, leaving one lone oilfield pumping controlled by the western territory that produces 130K bbl per day. 

That area also contains four of Libya's crude export terminals.

Crude immediately spiked over $80 bbl... 

Brent crude prices react to breaking news Libya’s eastern government says it will stop all oil production and export pic.twitter.com/tybXKjSE4q

— David Ingles (@DavidInglesTV) August 26, 2024

...as the price jumped 3% on the news.

Crude oil futures gained more than 3% on Monday amid reports of a production halt in Libya and after Israel and Hezbollah traded a barrage of strikes across the Lebanon border.

Who really has to be nervous about this Haftar move?

The Europeans. Even though Libyan crude production is less than half of what it was when Qaddafi first took power and nationalized their oil industry (that never does work out, does it), it is still a major player in Europe's eternal search for energy security.

...Despite its diminished role, Libya continues to be an oil exporter that matters, particularly to Europe. The domestic market is small (about 200,000 barrels a day), allowing most Libyan production to be exported. Europe continues to be its largest market, given geographic proximity and historical ties, accounting for 71.5 percent of Libyan oil exports in 2022, while nearly 20 percent headed to Asia-Pacific and most of the remainder to North America. In that year, Libya was the sixth-biggest supplier of crude oil to the European Union after Russia, the U.S., Norway, Kazakhstan and Iraq.

Taking advantage of Brussels’ continuous search for alternative energy sources to Russia, Libya has increased its footprint in the EU, expanding its market share to nearly 8 percent and ranking as the fifth supplier of oil after Norway, the U.S., Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia in the second quarter of 2023. Further increases, however, are contingent on Libya’s ability to ramp up production. 

Given the problems with Houthi shooties in the straights of Hormuz and shipping in general, Libyan oil sailing serenely across the Med straight to Italy (their largest European customer by far), Spain, and points beyond is crucial right now.

And Gen Haftar knows the economic cudgel he wields and is not the least concerned about its effect on Libyans. He's been threatening this very action for over a year.

Fears have been raised of a damaging oil shutdown in Libya with implications for global energy markets after Libya’s strongman in the east, Gen Khalifa Haftar, warned of military action unless oil revenues are divided fairly within the next two months.

The Biden administration representatives did what they do best - mewl some version of "Don't. Just don't" as ineffectively as their boss.

...The US special envoy to Libya, Richard Norland, eager to keep oil production flowing, had urged the east not to disrupt production.

Wall Street sees a "temporary" push to the mid-$80s bbl if there is a drop in exports. If it remains sustained, which it has the potential to do considering the eastern faction, run by Haftar and controlling almost all of the oil assets, wants their man to remain as a Central Bank governor. The Western, Tripoli-based, and internationally recognized government of Libya has already taken steps to boot Sadiq Al-Kabir out of office. 

Brent crude jumped as much as 3.2% to above $81 a barrel, after the eastern authorities said Monday in a statement on Facebook that a “force majeure” applies to all fields, terminals and oil facilities.

Waha Oil Co., which supplies Es Sider — the country’s largest export terminal — said it will start cutting shipments gradually. Sirte Oil Co. also said it will start reducing output.

...A row over who leads the central bank, the manager of billions of dollars of energy revenues, has been brewing for over a week, deepening political divisions and threatening a UN-brokered peace deal. The internationally acknowledged government in the country’s west has been seeking to replace Governor Sadiq Al-Kabir, who has refused to step down. A government delegation entered the regulator’s offices today to take over, according to local media.

...Al-Kabir, who’s backed by the eastern legislature, had resisted the decision by the Presidential Council to remove him, arguing the body lacked the authority and the move was unlawful. Critics of Al-Kabir, in the post since 2011, argue he’s mishandling oil revenues.

Relations have steadily worsened since last year between Al-Kabir and Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who the central banker publicly embarrassed with claims of corruption and over-spending. Dbeibah vociferously denied the allegations.

On Monday, Dbeibah’s government said it’s important “not to allow oil fields to shutdown under any false pretenses.”

As soon as revenues the oil was producing start drying up in Tripoli, and the tankers stop running to Italy and Spain - that's when the real squeeze will be on.

Maybe even if one of our ruling elite can be bothered to come out of hiding and notice what the Libyan oil shortages are doing to gas prices.

I bet they'll pop out of their holes for that. 

Think about it - they'll have someone else to blame.

They'll have a shot, and there will be no danger.