Dubya on & off script...scary

Jon Stewart must have the best crack research department in the political comedy business.

Bush has nominated Air Force General Michael Hayden to replace Porter Goss as head of the CIA. The other night on The Daily Show, Stewart played clips of when Bush announced both Goss and Hayden as his nominee to head the agency. Identical. Hilarious. Download and the view the clip Here. When you click on the link, you will have to go down the page about 2/3 of the way, but trust me, this is worth the effort - it's Bush at his scripted best (or worst?)!

I'm not so sure that Hayden is the best choice, but, to be honest, I view his having headed the NSA for six years as a positive, not a negative. But, I haven't done a whole lot of reading and research on him yet, so that opinion is off the cuff and nothing more.

Bush At His Unscripted Worst
During a question and answer session on May 9 at the Kings Point Clubhouse in Sun City Center, Florida, Bush answered (or attempted to answer) a question about the Alaskan pipeline. Take a read...

Q: I would like to ask one question about the Alaskan pipeline. My understanding is that most of that supply does not come to the United States, and I would like to know why that goes to other countries rather than to where it's needed here, so that we can --

THE PRESIDENT: You mean the crude oil coming down the pipeline?

Q: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: I don't know where it goes, to be honest with you. Sorry. I can find out. (Laughter)

Q: Okay. Could we just divert a little bit of that our direction, please? (Laughter)

THE PRESIDENT: I thought you were going to ask, how come we don't have the gas pipeline coming down yet - because there's a lot of untapped oil and gas up there that can be explored in environmentally friendly ways. And I think we ought to be drilling in ANWR - it's called ANWR. I know we can do it and protect the environment at the same time. And I know there's a lot of untapped gas up there that we ought to get down through pipeline, as well. I don't know where all the oil goes coming out of the pipeline now. I'll try to find out for you.

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Now I may be nitpicking here, but it cracks me up that the president knows so much about all of the natural gas and oil that we should drill and explore for in ANWR, yet he cannot even answer a question about where the oil goes now. No wonder he played to carefully screened and selected audiences prior to the '04 election, and why his advisors don't want him in many unscripted situations.

I won't get into an ANWR rant right now, except to say this: When the president says that ANWR can be explored in "environmentally friendly ways," he should be wearing a brown suit, because he's 100% full of shit. Anyone remember the Exxon Valdez disaster? That's when about 12 million gallons of crude oil were dumped into Prince William Sound in 1989 when the Exxon supertanker ran aground, devastating the environment, wildlife and the lives of fisherman and residents. To date, Exxon has paid a measly $300 million in cleanup costs. I say measly because Exxon, the world's biggest oil company, lost a court ruling and has been ordered to pay over $5 billion to the people whose lives the drunken, iceberg slaloming captain of the Valdez ruined. Yet, the company continues to fight and appeal instead paying the settlement and allowing these people to move on with their lives. By the way, last year alone the company had over $30 billion in profits .

So, there isn't exactly a good precedent of oil companies being friendly to the environment up north, and when an accident does happen, big oil hasn't exactly been contrite and willing to do the right thing. So, why should the government whore out more of its lands to big oil? And let's be honest here, if this was a puddle of black gold the size of the Saudi Arabian oil fields, that might outweigh the risks. But, it's not - all of the oil extracted from the ground might supply the U.S. for less than a year, and that's an optimistic estimate. Depending on where you get your numbers from and the ax that source has to grind, estimates on how much oil is in ANWR vary widely. But, even with the most optimistic of estimates, it's not like we're sitting on a gigantic, untapped oil reserve that could change the course of our foreign oil dependence. Experts have been saying this for years, but deaf Republicans obviously aren't listening - we cannot drill our way out of foreign oil dependence. (Maybe Republicans are "deaf" because of all the green that big oil lines their pockets with.) So, I still think drilling in ANWR isn't worth the environmental costs and risks, at least until the oil companies can totally prove they can do it without screwing the environment, and until they sign a legally binding pledge to pay all cleanup costs in the event of an accident, and not fight damages Exxon style. When those two conditions are met, maybe, just maybe, it'll be time to drill.

Speaking of ANWR, the president sure seemed happy that he knew it's called ANWR, didn't he? Doofus. I bet he had one of those snide grins when he said that, too.