Say No to Sycophantism

Massimo Calabresi at Time Magazine writes: "Conservation is one of the few things that would actually help drive down prices at the pump. Too bad most politicians are scared to utter the word" <http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1191252,00.html>

Reminds me of this exchange between then Press Secretary Ari Fleischer and a member of the WH Press Corps. I quote:

Q "Is one of the problems with this, and the entire energy field, American lifestyles? Does the President believe that, given the amount of energy Americans consume per capita, how much it exceeds any other citizen in any other country in the world, does the President believe we need to correct our lifestyles to address the energy problem?"

MR. FLEISCHER: "That's a big no. The President believes that it's an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policy makers to protect the American way of life. The American way of life is a blessed one. And we have a bounty of resources in this country. What we need to do is make certain that we're able to get those resources in an efficient way, in a way that also emphasizes protecting the environment and conservation, into the hands of consumers so they can make the choices that they want to make as they live their lives day to day. "


Makes you wonder what these guys were smoking, and to a great degree, continue to smoke.