New Quaker Notebook

For the second Saturday in a row, the President has wasted his Radio Address in order to perpetuate an egregious lie. I'm not talking about the lie that Congress is to blame for impeding offshore oil drilling, or even the lie that American-based oil drilling is a root cause of our current gas-price spike. Last week Mr Bush said:

One of the factors driving up high gas prices is that many of our oil deposits here in the United States have been put off-limits for exploration and production. Past efforts to meet the demand for oil by expanding domestic resources have been repeatedly rejected by Democrats in Congress.

To help address the pressure on gasoline prices, my Administration took action to clear the way for environmentally responsible offshore exploration of key parts of the Outer Continental Shelf, or OCS. Experts believe that these areas of the OCS could eventually produce nearly 10 years' worth of America's current annual oil production. So on Monday I lifted an executive branch prohibition on exploration in these areas.

Unfortunately, a full month has passed since I called on Congress to lift a similar legislative ban, and Congress has done nothing. This means that the only thing now standing between the American people and the vast oil resources of the OCS is action from the United States Congress.

While it's certainly false that "the only thing now standing between the American people and the vast oil resources of the OCS is action from the United States Congress," this also isn't the big lie that was emitted from the mouth of this infamous liar. The lie is that the oil that will come from offshore drilling will go directly toward domestic production of gasoline.

I would suggest that someone in the White House take this "oil man" aside and explain to him that the United States does not have a nationalized oil industry. Oil production within the US is under the control of private companies which may sell their crude and their refined products anywhere—and not necessarily within US borders. Indeed, their interests need not even be inclined toward America's transportation well-being. If demand is high and the value of the commodity goes higher, profits (and the love thereof) may dictate what these private companies do with their oil.

Shouldn't Mr Bush already know this? Well, of course he knows this. That's what renders this whole exercise a lie.

Brawn, Brains, Faith, and the Making of New Species

I'm still not sure which story is more unusual: the story about Chess-Boxing, in which competitors take turns boxing and playing speed chess (winner is by knockout, checkmate, or referee decision), or the news that Oklahoma City's Windsor Hills Baptist Church wants to give away a semiautomatic assault rifle as part of its evangelical outreach to teens.¹

Well, admittedly mutations are the catalyst for the divergence of new species and living organisms would not evolve without these mutations, but it sure is ugly to watch.

1. Scripture mentions picking up serpents as a sign of a believer, but Jesus said nothing about taking up assault rifles. See Mark 16:17-18 [NKJV]: "'And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.'"

Out, damn'd spot!

Brawn, Brains, Faith, and the Making of New Species