Overkill

This may not be a popular sentiment with some readers, but I honestly believe the Dems are going off the deep end with their Bush/Republican bashing. Not that he/they don't need some bashing, but seriously -- the hard core left is getting just as crazy as the hard core right was with Clinton. Remember the whole "they killed Vince Foster" thing? I'm afraid the Dems are following the same path. Evidence? Okay, I know this is anecdotal, but two things in the newspaper in the last week or so got me to thinking about this.

Exhibit 1: a letter to the editor in the HSV Times a week or so ago (sorry, no link). One Mr. Alan M. Heuiser took exception to Bush's claim in the State of the Union that we as a nation are addicted to oil. According to Mr. Heuiser:

In the State of the Union speech, President Bush said that Americans are addicted to oil. Once again he misspoke. Once again he tried to lay the blame on the average American. ... If Americans are guilty of anything it is an unwillingness to stop doing what we like and to sacrifice our way of life.

Okay, I can see that last point, but it doesn't really seem to refute the claim that we are "addicted to oil". Moreover, how is this Bush's or the Republicans' fault? Ah, Mr. Heuiser enlightens us:

This reluctance is what the oil companies are "banking" on. ... The people who profit from selling us gasoline and heating oil sure don't want us to use something else. Those same people spend a lot of time and money making sure Congress understands what they want and what they don't want.

Here's my favorite part, though:

If someone would come up with an alternative to gas that cost close to or a bit more than gas, Americans would never touch gasoline again - especially if it meant that we did not have to depend on foreign countries to get it.

Ahh, there's the rub. If someone would (magically?) invent a product that works just as good, costs about the same, and could be produced domestically, well then Americans wouldn't be addicted to foreign oil! Wow! I'm sorry, Mr. Heuiser, but that's just a useless comment. As noted above, Mr. Heuiser claims the real problem is an "unwillingness to stop doing what we like and to sacrifice our way of life." Yet his "solution" is a magical elixir that will allow us to keep doing what we like and not sacrifice our way of life. Plus, how does his solution reflect on Bush and the Repubs? Is he insinuating this "magical solution" is just lying around collecting dust while Bush keeps it under wraps to help his oil buddies? That's the only connection I can see.

Exhibit 2: a small story from the AP in Wednesday's paper (sorry, can't find a link for this either). H. Josef Hebert reported on a "quirk" from a 1995 law that is allowing oil companies to avoid some big royalty payments on oil even though oil prices have skyrocketed in the past year or so. Evidently there was some sort of law passed in 1995 that gave oil companies "royalty relief" in an attempt to encourage exploration when prices were low. Okay, that probably looks like a bad plan RIGHT NOW, so I understand trying to change the law today. What I don't get, though, is this remark by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA):

The American people are getting stood up and hung out to dry by an administration that favors sweetheart deals with big oil.

Excuse me Mr. Markey, but the law was passed in 1995 WHEN CLINTON WAS PRESIDENT! Note to the hard left: Not EVERYTHING is Bush's fault!

Everyone relax and have a nice weekend.