I actually agree with Bush?

The SPR was created in the 1970's as a direct result of the 1973 energy crisis. The SPR's role is to keep short term interruptions of oil imports from crippling our economy. The idea being, should OPEC decide to stop shipping oil to us, or to drastically curtail oil shipments to us, we would have some oil stockpiled while we tried to come to terms with our foreign oil suppliers.

The Senate passed a bill this week halting shipments of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to ease record oil and gas prices. President Bush argued that halting shipments to the SPR is a threat to our national security and would have little effect on cutting oil prices. The Energy Information Administration estimates the fill rate adds about $2 to each barrel of oil and 4 cents to 5 cents per gallon to the price of gasoline.

Sadly, since the vote was virtually veto-proof, Bush will probably sign the bill, even though he opposes it.

I support the stock piling of oil as a hedge against political threats and natural disasters. Has Congress already forgotten that we needed to tap into the SPR after the hurricanes of 2005, due to an interruption in the flow of oil? I realize that 1973 was a very long time ago for most people, but the Middle East is still a volatile region and we are even more dependent on foreign imports than we were then.

Morons! So, for a measly 5 cents a gallon at the pump, they are willing to take a huge risk. Let's just hope that no major hurricanes or other disasters take out any of the major oil importing facilities between now and election day folks. Or, let's hope that OPEC doesn't decide to cut us off or severely cut what they send us because they're getting tired of our occupation of Iraq (and Afghanistan, or again want to chide us for our support of Israel).

Cross your fingers you short-sighted boneheads.

Here's a new take on the Administration

Dennis Kucinich is a pretty liberal Democratic candidate for President. If I were twenty years younger I would applaud his idealism and I'd be voting for him. Sadly, I am now 45, and my political sensibilities tend towards realistic compromise. I fully subscribe to the political philosophy often mistakenly attributed to Winston Churchill, summarized thusly: if you are young and not liberal you have no heart, if you are mature and not conservative you have no brain. While still a Democrat (more or less) I am a right-leaning one (is that really possible)? But in my current home state of NH, I might as well be a Communist! (hee, hee)

Mr Kucinich recently questioned President Bush's sanity after Bush linked Iran's ability to manufacture nuclear weapons with an inevitable World War III. While some would say that the President's comments could be considered hyperbole, I think the guy takes everything he says in public totally seriously. (Plus, I don't know that he could pronounce the word if his speech writers gave it to him.)

Dennis, I concur with your assessment that The President should consider his remarks more carefully before making them. However, I think you give him too much credit. There are many highly intelligent people out there who suffer from mental disturbance. I do not think our President suffers from a mental disturbance, I just happen to think that he is deeply stupid.

He does not have to be insane to not "... understand his words have real impact". He could be merely ill-advised or his words could be ill-considered. Neither makes him mentally 'ill'.

I would like to chalk up some of the ridiculous actions of this Administration as the product of insanity. Sadly, most were well-calculated acts of disregard for the law of the land and the will of The People perpetrated by an oligarchy of right wingers appointed by a low-talent man who owed a lot of favors after barely getting into office the first go around. And some, were just the ill-conceived words and acts of ... well ... from all evidence ... a moron.