I always like reading foreign news sources, and the first one I usually check is the
BBC. Today they posted a column regarding the gas crisis by Matt Frei, their American correspondant who writes a column entitled "Washington Diary."
It is a scathing critique of George W. Bush's newfound posture pretending to be the Green President in the wake of high gas prises.
See the good stuff after the jump...
[Link] Yes, George W Bush, the self confessed oil addict-in-chief, who was suckled on Four-Star Texaco, can't stop talking about renewable fuels like ethanol, prairie grass and cow manure.
Unfortunately he does so with the same faltering enthusiasm that a former smoker enthuses about nicotine patches - or, for that matter a former alcoholic about alcohol-free lager and wine gums.
The passion is lacking.
You can tell by the way W grapples with the grammar and the unfamiliar vocabulary of renewable energy - hydrocarbons, hybrid technology etc... unfamiliar mouthfuls that don't exactly trip off the tongue, do they?
Standing in front of a giant frieze of corn fields at the Renewable Fuels Association in Washington, he declared over and over again: "Ethanol from corn is good for us, good for the environment, good for America!"
"But we can't use all the corn for fuel," W, the farmer-economist, intoned to his grateful audience. "'Cos we gotta eat some!"
Indeed. This reminded me of the occasion a few years ago when Mr Bush bit all too hastily into a raw cob of corn to please a potential voter.
Thank God, he's not seeking re-election this time.
Thank God indeed. George W. Bush talking about renewable fuels is about as credible as Phillip Morris doing the "PSAs" on quitting smoking. Mr. Bush, nobody believes you, you have zero credibility when it comes to energy policy, if not zero credibility in every single issue facing America.
The three Is are largely to blame: Iraq, illegal immigration and indictments.
But what is really giving George a stomach is the big G: Gas.
...
The price of gas at the pump is costing the president most heavily in the polls.
But so far Mr Bush has remained loyal to his tribe of oilmen and his economic principles.
But consider the irony: the Texan who was widely accused of invading Iraq because of oil is brought to his knees by petrol prices.
It is the Chevron version of Hamlet.
Yes, everything is going wrong for Bush right now, but it is without a doubt that these gas prices (if they continue to surge) will single handedly bring down his approval into the 20s. People can cut through the bullshit, just as they don't believe tobacco companies professing to care about people quitting smoking; they cannot believe a former [failed] oilman who recruited energy-whore-extraordinaire Cheney to write this country's desastrous energy policy when he talks about alternatives to oil.
We heard of the presdient's "plan" to bring down gas prices, and everyone knows that it's a fucking joke. We all know that the only way to change this country's energy policy will be by electing Democrats to Washington, if anybody expects anything to change with Bush in charge, they are deluded, but of course we already knew that since 1999.
The Bush Administration is the Chevron version of Hamlet