KR: Administration backs off Bush's vow to reduce Mideast oil imports

[Pirate Smile]

Administration backs off Bush's vow to reduce Mideast oil imports

By Kevin G. Hall
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally.

What the president meant, they said in a conference call with reporters, was that alternative fuels could displace an amount of oil imports equivalent to most of what America is expected to import from the Middle East in 2025.

But America still would import oil from the Middle East, because that's where the greatest oil supplies are.

The president's State of the Union reference to Mideast oil made headlines nationwide Wednesday because of his assertion that "America is addicted to oil" and his call to "break this addiction." Bush vowed to fund research into better batteries for hybrid vehicles and more production of the alternative fuel ethanol, setting a lofty goal of replacing "more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025."

He pledged to "move beyond a petroleum-based economy and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past."
Not exactly, though, it turns out.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/13767738.htm?source=rss&channel=krwashington_nation

[rooboy]

1. Didn't mean it literally...

:rofl:

[Pirate Smile]

2. Unbelievable, isn't it?

[acmejack]

4. Words fail me.

[electropop]

19. As opposed to anything else he ever says?

I've never heard him say a single word that's literally true.

[calimary]

55. OF COURSE he didn't mean it. He didn't mean anything in that speech

except for the vehemence he used when talking about how important it is to spy on everybody (he does believe that), and how I'm sure he does believe we're winning in Iraq - because that's what he thinks should be happening, and precious few sycophants around him are willing to tell him the truth. Maybe dan bartlett ought to grow some balls and put together a DVD of the nightly newscasts that he should be forced to watch. You know, the ones that talk about four more American troops getting killed (that's JUST today), and all the fallout and injury to ABC's two newsguys, and the mess over there, and the hostage girl, and the wreckage and violence and growing insurgence and the reporters who've actually said, when questioned on the air, that - "NO, it's NOT getting better over there, it's getting worse." I'm sure bartlett's in a BIG hurry to do that.

He NEVER meant it. It was just another CON-job from just another republi-CON, that's all. Just. Another. Lie.

This boy will NEVER bite the oily hands that feed. EVER. That's just bread and circuses to throw to the masses.

[Rex]

3. So he said shit just to make the base happy.

What a surprise?

[AndyA]

5. Couldn't see that one coming, eh?

It's best to not believe ANYTHING that comes out of Bush's mouth. It's either:

A. A LIE

B. A MISQUOTE

C. A MISPRONUNCIATION

D. PROPAGANDA

Trust me, it's easier that way...

[davidwparker]

7. AndyA, welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Rex]

41. They can just about say anything with total media control.

I would believe at some point it would become obvious to even the dullest Repuke, but no. I swear they exist in somekind of halcyon state. War is happiness, death is happiness, greed is happiness, money money money.

[davidwparker]

6. In true * fashion, he goes for the dramatic (lies) and then after the

moment, goes back to the Chimp we all despise.

He uses the military as a prop "supporting the troops", then he goes back and cuts military programs.

He goes to New Orleans and among brought in lights, makes promises to the people of New Orleans, and after the electricity is off and the lights hare gone, so is his support.

Do the photo op and make the promises. Then break them.

As someone pointed out, if we had a free press, they would do a story on all the promises he's made during the SOTU and then tell how many he's kept.

[TomInTib]

8. Add to that the fact we get only 20% from M E.

What a joke.

Sick bastards.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Hey, didn't you hear the Sergeant-at-Arms at the end of the SOTU speech?

He said, in a very fast voice:

Warning: promises made in the preceding State of the Union speech are not meant to be taken literally. Your governmental experience may vary. SOTU may contain small amounts of propaganda and hyperbole. SOTU is not suitable for voters earning under $100,000 per year. Shirt on your back may be at risk if you keep voting for Bush.

I guess the appluase covered that up.

[twaddler01]

11. LOL!

:thumbsup:

[Patsy Stone]

26. LOFL!

:thumbsup:

[Inland]

28. Did you see the interpreter for the deaf on hand?

He kept dragging his hands in the air with two curled fingers. I don't know much sign language, but I think I got that figured out.

[wordpix2]

34. hahaha. Seriously, WTF is the matter with * and his dickheads? Are they

mostly low IQ or just perpetual pathological liars and criminals? They put out this one goal of energy independence in the whole sorry SOTU that makes any sense, isn't a lie, will bring the country together and isn't laughable like the "manimal." And now they're saying the goals and stating what he did about the ME are just examples???

The only other explanation if it's not IQ or lying criminal is that Big Oil and the military-industrial-congressional complex don't like that part of the speech and they told their bubbleboy to backtrack and let us know he's not really serious.

Well, I am SERIOUS and say IMPEACH KING GEORGE JR and HIS BAND OF MERRY CRIMINAL PROFITTEERS

[mikeytherat]

46. Didn't you hear all the defibrillators buzzing at Exxon/Mobil?

When I heard Bush say that, I was waiting for the entire petroleum industry to have a major, simultaneous coronary event. I'll bet they were on the horn with Unkle Kart before Gee Dubya had even finished that sentence!

mikey_the_rat

[Marie26]

57. lol. Missed that part. nt

[Up2Late]

64. Good one, I might have to use that when I finish re-editing the SOTU...

...I'm gonna take out all the lies, should have it down to a tight 60 seconds when finished.

[twaddler01]

10. Nice!

:rofl: What else does he not mean "literally"?

[asjr]

12. They will never learn. Once he is off his leash

there is no telling what will fall out of his mouth.

[cliss]

45. Also, remember Bush promised

to close Abu Ghraib prison when the scandals erupted 2 years ago.

The prison is still there.

[0rganism]

13. Well to start with, he was MAKING PROMISES ABOUT 2025

Come on, more than 85% of that takes place AFTER HE'S OUT OF OFFICE (assuming the constitution still applies by 2008, and he hasn't declared himself absolute monarch...)

If that didn't tip off America at large that he's full of shit, I don't know what would.

[Sadie5]

15. Didn't sound right when he said it

With his Poppy and himself being in oil I couldn't see him lowering his profits. The Bin Laden's are his pals too.

[Inland]

29. Oil companies and House of Saud intend to be around in 2025.

Somebody thought he meant it enough to demand an immediate retraction.

[Inland]

30. Next time, Saudis will be asked for comments beforehand.

Cheney was right. Avoid the embarassment of a flip flop and just ask the oil people want they want in the damn thing.

[Pirate Smile]

38. Here you go - NYT - Saudi's are pissed so "tough" BushCo did this.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 — The energy proposals set out on Tuesday by President Bush quickly ran into obstacles on Wednesday, showing how difficult it will be to take even the limited steps he supports to reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil.

On the day after he declared in his State of the Union address that the United States was "addicted to oil" and had to wean itself from a century-old habit, Mr. Bush drew some support for putting the issue more prominently on the agenda but also skepticism about how achievable his goals really were.

"Every administration since the early 1970's has struggled with the issue of rising oil imports and the right mix of policies to deal with them," said Daniel Yergin, the author of "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power" and the founder of a consulting firm, Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "Some people would just say, 'It's world trade, we sell Boeings and we buy oil.' But since oil is intertwined with geopolitics, people worry about vulnerability and whether oil is a drag on our foreign policy."

Diplomatically, Mr. Bush's ambitious call for the replacement of 75 percent of the United States' Mideast oil imports with ethanol and other energy sources by 2025 upset Saudi Arabia, the main American oil supplier in the Persian Gulf. In an interview on Wednesday, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki al-Faisal, said he would have to "seek an explanation" from Mr. Bush.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/02/politics/02energy.html?hp&ex=1138856400&en=23ab929fe851f0ad&ei=5094&partner=homepage

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2080389&mesg_id=2080389

[wordpix2]

43. Prez ToughChimp sure weenies out when his boss, Saudi A., comes to call

[Inland]

59. Sorta proving the danger of dependence, doesn't it.

Bush: "Dependence on middle east oil is dangerous. Somebody should do something someday."

Saudi: "Take it back or we'll cut off your oil."

Bush: "I take it back".

Even a weak, meaningless statement acknowleding what every american already knows is too much.

[A Simple Game]

14. Has he ever given a SOTU speech that didn't have

inaccuracies? This is the main speech of the year, doesn't he have proofreaders?

Oh, wait I saw a picture the other day of him going over the speech, that explains a lot!

[adriennui]

32. inaccuracies????

it's outright deception.

[A Simple Game]

35. I was being very generous with my description, wasn't I? n/t

[calimary]

56. You were being rawther delicate, there. "Inaccuracies."

That's what most of the mainstream press will use to describe it, too. Misrepresented. Misinterpreted. Prevaricated. Wasn't quite candid. Misspoke. And don't forget those ever-popular misstatements and mischaracterizations. Blah-blah-blah...

Nobody dares to come straight out and say it, do they? It's just LIES. That's all. LIES. It was so frustrating watching Olbermann last night, and his guest, that British correspondent for Newsweek, who just absolutely tied himself in knots trying to give bush the benefit of the doubt - on Abramoff - "oh, it's so easy to forget names," for example. There were others, too. Just frickin' unbelievable. They just do NOT want to come out and say it. He's a LIAR. Card-carrying, red-white-and-blue, world-class LIAR.

[truthisfreedom]

16. leave it alone, gw. whenever you promise to do something, it's a disaster

of biblical proportions. just site quietly in the oval office and twiddle your thumbs for the next 3 years. please.

[sofa king]

33. A disaster of biblical proportions is precisely what he wants.

You can't bring Jesus back without your Armageddon first. And since he's fucking everything else up like there's no tomorrow, Armageddon probably can't get here fast enough.

[Newsjock]

17. And we wonder why the GOP wants Knight Ridder dismembered

Exhibit A.

[mom cat]

18. Flipity flipity flip flop. ...... Boy, that was quick.

[belab13]

20. Bush's Vow?? that's rich, this guy lies more regularly than he breathes.

and I can't believe many of the citizens of this country still haven't figured this out.

[Cocoa]

21. did Bush have his fingers crossed?

someone check the video.

[Fovea]

22. Dubya, a model of rectitude

and an inspiration for every waffle hut politician in Washington.

[Gregorian]

23. My first photoshop.

How do you spell oil? B.U.S.H.

[Inland]

24. Couldn't even wait for the Friday news dump, could they? nt

[ellenfl]

25. huh?

Asked why the president used the words "the Middle East" when he didn't really mean them, one administration official said Bush wanted to dramatize the issue in a way that "every American sitting out there listening to the speech understands."

yeah, were to stoopid to understand suttelties.

ellen fl

[Patsy Stone]

27. What is the record time for "gotcha!"?

Where's Bandar? I'm sure he's glad to hear * misspoke. :sarcasm:

K&R

[brentspeak]

31. Such steely resolve!

Quick, the White House needs another photo of Bush puffing his chest out and looking slightly away from the camera...

[Strelnikov_]

36. Apparently The SOTU Text Was Not Vetted By His Partners In Saudi Arabia

"Dammit, Dick, I thought you were going to ask permission this time".

[Pirate Smile]

40. Exactly. NYT reports Saudis are pissed and want an explanation.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2080389

"Diplomatically, Mr. Bush's ambitious call for the replacement of 75 percent of the United States' Mideast oil imports with ethanol and other energy sources by 2025 upset Saudi Arabia, the main American oil supplier in the Persian Gulf. In an interview on Wednesday, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki al-Faisal, said he would have to "seek an explanation" from Mr. Bush."


What a tough guy, huh?

[wordpix2]

42. Saudi ambassador wants to remind * that the royal fam & Bushies are in biz

together

[Tin Man]

52. remember this photo?

Who sez Bush is opposed to same-sex marriage?

[deadparrot]

37. LOL. That was quick. nt

[LynnTheDem]

39. UH OH! Somebody musta pointed out the FACT that under bush

the US INCREASED and is still INCREASING dependancy on foreign oil.

Sixty-six percent of oil consumed in the United States comes from foreign sources, up from 58 percent in 2000. Americans now spend $200,000 a minute on foreign oil and more than $25 billion annually goes to Persian Gulf states for oil imports.

Energy Information Administration
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mer/pdf/pages/sec1_15.pdf

American Progress
http://www.americanprogress.org/atf/cf/{E9245FE4-9A2B-43C7-A521-5D6FF2E06E03}/ENERGYCHAPTER.pdf

BUSH ENERGY BILL WILL NOT REDUCE RELIANCE ON FOREIGN OIL:

The energy bill signed and supported by President Bush “rejected a Senate provision that required reduction of oil consumption by one million barrels per day by 2015.” Under the bill, “our need for imported oil will continue to grow for as long as models are able to project.”
-U.S. House Committee on Government Reform, 7/05
http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/2005072...

[wordpix2]

44. * appears unduly influenced by a foreign power - possible treason?

If Bush is doing what SA wants him to do against America's best interests, and he receives financial gain, could be construed as treason.

Bush sure did a 180 when SA protested the energy independence part of his speech. "Didn't mean it literally," my ass.

[leesa]

48. Lying to Congress to start a war. Definite treason. Wiretapping US

citizens without a warrent. Definitely impeachable.

[leesa]

47. Ahh...here come the translations of what he MEANT vs what NUMBNUTS

said.

[Pirate Smile]

49. kick

[maxrandb]

50. When will the American people wake up to this crap??

How many times are they going to allow themselves to fall victim to the ole' "Bait and Switch".

I swear to God, if they weren't politicians, they'd be used car salesman, or dealing Three-card Monty on the street.

And that goes for Limpballs, Insanity, O'Really and every other "cookie-cutter KKKonservative wing-nut shock-jock" on local radio too.

How "effing" stupid do they think we are???

The Dems better make that a NATIONAL campaign issue. The fact that the Repukes think the American people are "stupid, snivelling little fuck-twit cowards". Hey DNC, clean my statement up a little, and you've got a winning issue/talking point.

[shantipriya]

51. Bush Clarification!

Does the idiot ever know what he says?

[samhsarah]

53. well that was quick.

[Vidar]

54. The old one day flip-flop. Fastest liar in the west.

[Az_lefty]

58. yep, he only said it because it sounded good...

no one takes the chimp literally, we all know he's full of it.

[kineneb]

60. Were his lips moving? Then he was lying.

The whole thing has become such a charade. Why did he even bother with the speech, when he said nothing?

[underpants]

61. DAMN! and I invested everything in wood chips

:grr:

[KansDem]

62. So where is the "Reduction Accomplished!" banner?

Bush's banners usually indicate the opposite...

[Megahurtz]

63. Flip Flop....

or just plain old lies?:eyes:

See...this Administration cannot give up their "addiction to oil":think: