Addiction

It was interesting to hear President Bush talk about America's oil "addiction." In reality, addictions are unhealthy dependencies on substances. So... addicted to Middle Eastern oil would be about being addicted to oil, regardless of location.

News flash, George: addicts don't care about the source of their drug. So to redirect them to Arctic or Cuban drilling to reduce dependency (currently 20% of oil imports), would be akin to switching from Afghan heroin to Columbian smack.

Mr. President, please don't insult the American people. If you are talking about weaning Americans from cheap oil, you have a partner in me and the Ameican Left. Conservation, mandatory minimum MPGs that make sense, tax breaks for using biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen fuel cells, or other alternative fuels, documented reduction in yearly vehicular travel, proof of use of mass transit are all great ways to reduce our use of oil. That and the promotion of non-petroleum substitutes for things like laundry detergent and soap would save Americans in real dollars and barrels of crude petrocarbons.

Cold turkey may not work for America, but changing dealers or drug sources does not count as breaking an addiction. You, as a former alcohol addict, shoud know that. Be ashamed. Be very ashamed, Mr. President.