April 19, 2004 by s.z.

Bush's Saudi Brothers From the NRO's Corner: NO OIL FOR WAR? [Michael Graham] Jeff Greenfield of CNN says the most disturbing revelation on "60 Minutes" last night was Bob Woodward's claim that the Saudis plan to flood the international market with oil to bring down gas prices in time for the American election. To which I say "Great!" Why shouldn't the Saudis help out the president who's bravely led a coalition against an enemy on their own border, an enemy who has repeatedly threatened to invade Saudi Arabia? If the Democrats want to argue that having President Bush in office means oil-rich nations will try to help out the American economy, go right ahead. If these nations were driving gas prices up in order to punish Bush, you can bet Teresa Heinz Kerry's dead husband's last dollar that the Democrats would be holding Bush responsible. Instead, they’re helping a brother out. What's the prob? Posted at 09:05 AM And what help is he expected to offer to a non-Democratic foreign government in return for its manipulation of the oil market to favor his reelection?  And has he already shown a disturbing favoritism toward Saudi Arabia by (to cite another of Woodward's claims) briefing their ambassador, using Top Secret/NOFORN documents, on his war plans BEFORE telling the U.S. Secretary of State that he was going to war?  Who cares!  What's the prob anyway, when we're going to get cheaper gas AND another four years of Bush and his God-mandated plan to bring stability to the region by insuring that all the Saudi troublemakers who could be trying to overthrow the Saud dynasty are instead trying to kill Americans for invading Muslim nations? 1:14:16 PM

Making Sully's Points for Him   Lileks battens down for a tornado with grapefruit-sized hailstones, but nothing happens.  So, he tells us about his weekend, and has a hissy because Andrew Sullivan (who gets quoted in maroon) has proposed a gas tax when he KNOWS that Lileks comes from a long line of Texaco stations. My weekend starts Friday, which is a stem-to-stern all-Gnat day. She had a playdate at a distant locale, so we drove there a few hours in advance to beat the traffic, and hit the local Target. (Which, grr, is much better than my Target.) She fell asleep as we pulled into the parking lot, so I drove around for 40 minutes.  [...] Okay. As you may know, Andrew Sullivan has famously proposed hiking gas prices by a dollar to reduce the deficit and pay for the Iraq campaign. [...] and by adding a cost to the wanton consumption of gasoline, Wanton. From dictionary.com: 1. Immoral or unchaste; lewd. 2. a. Gratuitously cruel; merciless. b. Marked by unprovoked, gratuitous maliciousness; capricious and unjust: wanton destruction. 3. Unrestrainedly excessive: wanton extravagance; wanton depletion of oil reserves. 4. Luxuriant; overabundant: wanton tresses. 5. Frolicsome; playful. 6. Undisciplined; spoiled. There you have it: driving your child to school and using fuels sold at market rate is immoral. If not gratuituously cruel and merciless. Maybe, maybe not.  But driving around for 40 minutes for no reason except that your kid fell asleep when you got to the Target parking lot does have to qualify as "undisciplined; spoiled."  So, Mr. Lileks, don't tell us "if there was a class of people who spent the day driving around in fume-belching VW vans for no particular reason, I missed it."  12:35:55 AM