The Addict and the Dealer
By: Lowell
Published On: 1/15/2008 6:27:42 AM
This is utterly pathetic, like an addict begging his dealer for more drugs:
President George W. Bush complained on Tuesday about soaring oil prices and the threat posed to the U.S. economy during the second day of his visit to Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.
[...]
"I would hope, as OPEC considers different production levels, that they understand that if their -- one of their biggest consumers' economy suffers, it will mean less purchases, less oil and gas sold," Bush said.
So, instead of putting the United States on a path to slash its oil consumption -- and its oil imports from countries like Saudi Arabia -- the president of the world's superpower goes hat in hand to his oil masters and begs for more oil. What could be more pathetic than this, especially when it is well within our power to start cutting our oil consumption. Even worse, if President Bush had shown the slightest bit of leadership, he would have urged the country after the 9/11 attacks on America -- carried out, I'll remind you, by 15 Saudis (plus 4 others from oil-producing countries) and masterminded by a member of one of the most prominent families in the Kingdom -- not to "go shopping," but to launch an Apollo project to get us OFF OF OIL. Again, though, that would have required leadership, and more to the point, a willingness to buck Big Oil, something President Cheney Bush obviously has not ability to do.
Pathetic.
P.S. On a related note, it now looks like we could be in Iraq until 2018.
Comments
Weren't almost all of the 9/11 attackers Saudis? (The Grey Havens - 1/15/2008 7:36:45 AM)
Iraq, $100 a bbl oil, massive subsidies...
We sure showed 'em.
15 of 19 hijackers were Saudis (Lowell - 1/15/2008 8:15:00 AM)
Our best friends. Not!
Question for Lowell (TheGreenMiles - 1/15/2008 9:10:00 AM)
Last night CNN did a tease about gas prices that went something like, "Soaring prices at the pump. What would presidential candidates do to make us more energy independent?" Have you noticed the media and/or politicians confusing/equating energy prices and energy independence? It seems like you can attack one or the other, but barring a revolutionary breakthrough in cellulosic ethanol production/capacity, it would be very hard to have both in the short term.
Energy independence and energy prices (Lowell - 1/15/2008 10:21:29 AM)
are not directly related, but they might be indirectly related in the sense that if we slash our energy consumption, prices will fall AND we'll be less dependent on imports (ceteris parabis).
COMMENT HIDDEN (floodguy - 1/15/2008 10:56:30 AM)
Didn't you mean.... (ericy - 1/15/2008 9:13:01 AM)
the "addict and the dealer", or the "addict and the pusher" :-)?
Chris Rock (TheGreenMiles - 1/15/2008 9:25:46 AM)
"Drug dealers don't sell drugs. Drugs sell themselves. It's crack. It's not an encyclopedia. It's not a f**king vacuum cleaner. You don't really gotta try to sell crack. OK? I've never heard a crack dealer going, 'Man, how am I gonna get rid of all this crack?'"
I don't think the Saudi royal family sits worrying about how they're going to get rid of all that oil.
Yes, thanks for the correction (Lowell - 1/15/2008 10:19:52 AM)
n/t
America's mighty military machine (Teddy - 1/15/2008 5:48:56 PM)
runs on oil. No oil, no magnificent shock and awe or much of anything else. THAT is the crux of the oil problem, more crucial to the leader of the free world than anything else. Defending against terrorism and punishing terrorists, not to mention imposing the will of global business, all depend on the ability to throw armed power into any corner of the world.... Of course, it is true that domestic politics is on his mind, too, but push come to shove, he has to feed the military their ambrosia, which means petroleum.
What did you think of the Saudi Oil Minister's discouraging reply: they would adjust their production to meet market demands? Makes one wonder: do the Saudis really have as much oil as they say they do, or have their major fields passed Peak Oil, only they're not admitting it? And, did you notice the bribe Bush offered, I mean the huge, high tech military hardware?