Replies: 33 Comments
Comment #1: tahoebasha1 said on 4/24/06 @ 10:45pm ET...
JC
I watched "60 Minutes" last night. It was somewhat surreal. The events that Drumheller spoke of, as I recall, transpired before the Wilson episode. Drumheller, as I watched him, seemed like he was in an incredible "dream." He, as the head of the CIA Operations in Europe, who had, what he believed to be the most credible information from a high-level Iraqi individual, who stated, "Saddam has no programs for WMD's, etc." presented that information to Bush, Cheney, et al., who seemed "quite interested." But, a little later, had absolutely NO interest in those revelations, and proceeded to propound the notion that Saddam, indeed, had WMD's, in total abeyance and refute of what "they" had been told. I could also "see" and "feel" Drumheller's obvious discomfort in speaking about these "truths" -- I only hope he has lots of bodyguards.
I don't know how much more evidence is needed to prove that this was a "trumped" up effort to engage in war with Iraq, no matter how much advice and efforts were made by those "higher-ups" in the know. As I have said many times before, the agenda that was established by this so-called Aministration was what what it was from the get-go and no one, no matter the source, was going to change it. And, slowly, but surely, we are seeing that that is the truth!
Comment #2: tahoebasha1 said on 4/24/06 @ 11:01pm ET...
Just one other thing I would like to mention, my elation yesterday over three Illinois Representatives haven taken a stand to call for Impeachment had to do with the fact that I was so happy that, finally, some Congressemen had decided to take action, and, thereby, in my mind, "joined" Cong. Conyers in so doing. But, as Koryannder pointed out, it fell short of naming all the "culprits" and, I, immediately realized that that was absolutely true. (I simply got caught up.) So, I took my elation back some and proceeded to call the Congressmen involved (once again), as well as my own, and urged them to involve ALL the culprits in their Illinois HR bill. Impeaching Bush alone will not cut it. Look at it this way, a rotten apple has spoiled the barrel -- so you have to empty the barrel entirely to remove the "rot" and thorougly cleanse it afterwards.
Comment #3: tahoebasha1 said on 4/24/06 @ 11:13pm ET...
And by the way, JC, have I told you lately how much I appreciate you as a human being, as well as a fellow countryman? Lest I seem maudlin -- I sincerely mean it. (I'm trying to refrain from too many uses of quotations, as my mentor, Rusty, has made comment about my usage of the same. ;) I'm sure you understand!
Comment #4: DTW 06 said on 4/24/06 @ 11:15pm ET...
Rep. Conyers,
I keep coming back to the theme of the press acting as an enabler of all of this. They are neglecting their duty because they pick the headlines! Instead of covering the tragedies of electronic voting machines, mis-guided patriotism, incompetence, and PNAC inspired elective wars, these stories are buried in the back of the papers.
Thank you for enabling this forum. Thank you for your tenacity. The truth will set us free.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Making the World Safe for Hypocrisy
Why are we in Iraq? First we were told it was because Saddam had WMD and we could expect mushroom clouds over American cities if he were allowed to stay in power; then the goal was getting rid of a brutal dictator who gassed his own people and by the way has a "blood feud" with America; the latest rationale is that we are bringing democracy to a troubled part of the world.
The rad-con democracy domino theory is that Iraq will become a shining example of representative democracy in the middle east that all its neighbors will desire to follow. Despite a couple elections, this utopia seems further away than ever.
Meanwhile, back here in the USA, the Bush administration is quietly choking off funding to the primary organizations that are actually training Iraqis on how to set up and run democratic political parties, elections, and governments. Is this hypocrisy?
"The commitment to what the president of the United States will say every single day of the week is his number one priority in Iraq, when it's translated into action, looks very tiny," said Les Campbell, who runs programs in the Middle East for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, known as NDI. Apparently, there has been no response to these reports from the White House.
It appears that military and security spending is cutting back the only legitimate pro-democracy efforts America is conducting in Iraq. This is just the latest example of the Bush administration's failure to put the money where its mouth is. If we really want to know what politicians value, we need to find out what programs they fund and which they cut.
Will America Lead?
Comment #5: Nolip said on 4/24/06 @ 11:16pm ET...
With this latest revelation, maybe the drum beat will get so loud that even Sensennbrenner will be forced to pony up a real Congressional meeting room (instead of the seventh level of hell where Congressman Conyers held his initial discussion on the Downing Street Memo)so that subpoenas can be issued and culprits brought before Congress and Congressman Conyers, much like Senator Sam Ervin before him during the Watergate era, can lead the charge to bring the Bush monarchy to justice via impeachment.
Comment #6: Genghis Khan said on 4/24/06 @ 11:31pm ET...
I prefer to wait until January 2007 when Senselessbrenner will be impotent to stop Congressman Conyers.
Someone once said that revenge is a dish best served cold.
I prefer mine delivered via flamethrower, with a urine chaser.
But then again, I'm a Khan and we're known for our hot blood...
Comment #7: cali said on 4/24/06 @ 11:40pm ET...
In December 2003, the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board -- a discreet panel of administration friends and national security experts -- quietly advised President Bush that he shared blame with the CIA for using the false claims, according to a Washington Post article an anonymous TPMm reader passed along. "The findings of the advisory board. . . make it clear that the White House should share blame with the CIA for allowing the questionable material into the speech," wrote Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus, citing anonymous sources. (The PFIAB -- an eclectic group of individuals who are either very wealthy, very powerful or very knowledgeable -- does not publicly discuss its work.)
By contrast, the White House's Robb-Silberman Commission blamed the intelligence community for the President's use of the Niger uranium myth. On "60 Minutes" last night, former senior CIA official Tyler Drumheller disputed that conclusion. "It just sticks in my craw every time I hear them say it's an intelligence failure. It's an intelligence failure. This was a policy failure."
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000448.php#more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A25935-2003Dec23?language=printer
Comment #8: Ohiodem1 said on 4/24/06 @ 11:54pm ET...
Tahoe - Anyone who reads the newspapers and news magazines has known for years that what Mr. Drumheller says is true.
It is also true that the chicken stonewalling congress lacks the integrity and toughness (Conyers and a few others excepted) to take on those in the Executive branch who trample the Constitution, laws and Congress of our nation. They are using up our military, putting every American family in hock for $150,000 EACH with absolutely NOTHING to show for it. For many families, $150,000 is three to five YEAR'S salary, financed at long term interest, and I can guarantee that in 30 years of paying interest only on this massive debt, the government in 2036 will be forced to roll the debt because there will be no cash to retire it.
I believe that millions of Americans are emerging from their slumber, learning of the mass betrayal by the Bush adminstration, and will come out of this slumber in a rage.
The Bush admin has betrayed America and its base as well by failing to deliver on any promise in their six years in office.
They have failed to unite America, despite the President's insistence during his first campaign that he is a uniter, not a divider. His political team specializing in splitting constituencies, and creating cleavages in our nation that will take generations to heal. President Bush has divided America such that only the Civil War in 1861, 145 years ago, was our nation more divided. The President has failed.
The President failed to present an honest case for war against Iraq. The Congress was presented with information that has now been proven to be false, and it has become increasingly clear that the President and his National Security, Diplomatic, and Intelligence agencies knew to be false. The President has failed.
After 9/11, the President sought and received from Congress the authority to deal with Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan, who harbored him. He also received broad authority to defend America from terrorist attack in the form of the passage of the Patriot Act, and changes to the FISA Law that permitted a 3 day delay before it became necessary to seek a warrant for continued surviellance of persons suspected of terrorist acivities or financing, etc. This was changed to a program that misused the National Security Agency to do domestic spying which is outside the scope of activities permitted by the NSA law. The domestic spying program was re-authorized over 30 times, and continues to be re-authorized in the face of calls by Congress to restrain such activities. Instead, Congress has been asked to, on an ex post facto basis to legalize the illegal activities. This is a failure by the President and of the Congress to fulfill its duty to provide oversight over the Executive Branch. Once again the President has failed America.
The President has failed to maintain our prestige and strategic alliances around the world, while at the same time creating enemies, fostering an arms race, abrogated treaty obligations, promotes the spread of nuclear weapons, violated a basic American premise to go to war with non-belligerents, walked away from the ABM treaty, shamed America not only permitting, but condoning the use of torture, renditions, unlimited incarceration with no right of Habeus Corpus, no access to lawyers, no notice to families of those who are incarcerated, many of whom have proven to be not guilty of any crime. The President has failed America one more time.
The President has failed America when it came to dealing with Natural disasters, from the Indian Ocean with the sunami, to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The President has failed America.
The President, in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence, in the face of overwhelming empirical evidence of melting icecaps, drowning polar bears, massive chunks of the Antartic Ice shelf breaking off, the reduction of 150 Glaciers in Glacier National park 100 years ago to only 35 today, and a prediction by climatologists and polar studies scientists that in 35 years there will be NO glaciers in Glacier National Park. The President has completely ignored the Kyoto Protocol, or even any effort to live up to its goals. Once again, on something important as saving the world we live in, the President has failed America.
The President is now taking out the same tired arguments against Iran that he used against Iraq. All of these arguments were proven to be untrue in Iraq, and we are still losing a soldier each and every day in Iraq. The warring factions in Iraq announced the selection of a President, and Prime Minister, who is charged with forming a cabinet and government in the next 30 days. Yesterday, the President shamelessy stood in front of soldiers and said that this is a breakthrough and a major milestone in the creation of a free Iraq. He then said that victory in Iraq was coming. Not one soldier in the film clip was smiling. This was a show of contempt and no confidence by the soldiers, knowing full well that this man has no scruples about sending them out to die or be maimed. President Bush has failed his military.
It is abundantly clear that President Bush is a complete and utter failure as a President of the United States of America. Do I feel glee or joy from this sad state of affairs? No. I believe that when the President of the United States fails, that also means that America itself has failed. This is where America is right now. America has failed, and we were led to that failure by our President, and those in his administration.
Our very freedom, which over 1 million American soldiers have given their lives for since 1776, is at risk today. No state of war, no national emergency, not even Civil War saw the executive branch usurp so much power, both from the Congress and the people, the source of all political power and all legitimacy to our government and system of laws. No president has the authority or power to authorize warrantless wiretaps in contravention of the Fourth Amendment.
No president has the power to authorize or compel our soldiers to violate Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This article covers the requirement by soldiers to obey lawful orders. It cannot be a lawful order to torture prisoners. I believe that if a soldier refused to obey an order to perform torture, that individual would not be able to be convicted in a Court Martial. My rule of thumb for determining if treatment of a prisoner is unlawful would be for the soldier to think back to how his/her parents raised them, and if the soldier knew the activity to be against the moral code that they were raised in, then the order to do it would be likely to be unlawful. This is a simple and good test.
Finally, it is my opinion, and the opinion of many of my friends and accquaintences, that if we Americans are willing to give up our freedom that over 1 million died for, then Osama bin Laden and his ilk have already won the war on terror. I for one will not cede my freedom in the name of a false security.
Comment #9: tahoebasha1 said on 4/25/06 @ 12:24am ET...
#8 - OD1
I don't know if anyone has summed it up as well as you. You have summarized all that has transpired with all its encumbent ramifications better than anyone I can think of -- many of us have "skirted" around the entirety, but, you have summed it up totally. I am with you 100%, we cannot cede our democracy and freedom "in the name of a false security."
Comment #10: Ohiodem1 said on 4/25/06 @ 12:46am ET...
Thanks Tahoe. It pained me to write that, but I believe it to be true.
Comment #11: Truth_in_action said on 4/25/06 @ 2:08am ET...
I did a Google search and found this article that really gives the flavor of the inner turmoil that resulted from Tyler Drumheller's Curveball argument with CIA Director George J. Tenet and his chief deputy, John E. McLaughlin. The article appeared originally in the LA Times dated April 2, 2005, and is viewable at Commondreams.org here.
I can only imagine Mr. Drumheller's frustration in working with this Administration. He is truly a patriot in risking so much to come forward and speak out.
Oh yes, another General has come forward to declare that Rumsfeld should go. This makes the eighth. Rawstory says Fox news interviewed Ret. Marine General Paul Van Ripper and he is calling for Rumsfeld's resignation. You can read the Rawstory article here.
Has anyone noticed that Fox News appears to be switching its stripes a little and getting out ahead of the more liberal press with liberal-esque stories? Sure seems that way to me.
Abaondoning a sinking ship is my gut feeling. Ratings are king, after all.
Comment #12: Reed31463 said on 4/25/06 @ 3:34am ET...
OD1 Submit your article here! Just direct it to the attention of Rob Kall. That needs to get out to print.
Random Thoughts
Also, I brought up the possibility last night in the locker room that, assuming you were PNAC, and you knew there was a good possibility your ship was going to sink in the Impeachment ocean, wouldn't you start to work on a plan B.
With all the talk of replacing Cheney and Rumsfeld, could they be actually be abandoning the wreck of the Bu$hler Fitzgerald, and doing it in such a way as to look like victory to appease the masses, and yet thay are still able to peddle influence from behind the scenes with their stolen booty?
Could they start preparing the next corrupt administration, while scuttling this one?
Keep them two in office I say. Right where we can see them!
Comment #13: Reed31463 said on 4/25/06 @ 3:41am ET...
Thank you TIA for the sinking ship reminder.
RE #12: Did I actually write a comment that short? Geez. I can't believe it.
Don't worry Tahoe, California followed suit with House Rulle 603 legislation.
Comment #14: Ohiodem1 said on 4/25/06 @ 6:14am ET...
Reed #12 - Are you referring to my Propaganda article?
Comment #15: koryannder said on 4/25/06 @ 8:36am ET...
OD1 #8 I hope you don't mind - I have printed your comment and sent it to my die-hardest rightwing, never listen to reason son-in-law. You don't have to believe it, but he's a retired Captain in the Navy, and, one would think, ipso facto has some intelligence, but it may very well be that the military mindset as described in "The Charge of the Light Brigade" is still operarional, even if less than rational. He still thinks that ARABS brought down the World Trade Center twin towers, and has no opinion about #7.
Another subject; the sleeping giant is beginning to stir. The American Prospect in the May 2006 issue is just FULL of good stuff, from praise for Liberal bloggers to dancing around the Maypole in celebration of absentee balloting, by way of a long article about Dick Cheney's thugs. The whole issue is worth reading - too bad I can't say the same about most of the MSM.
Comment #16: Ohiodem1 said on 4/25/06 @ 8:46am ET...
No problem Koryander. I am a Navy veteran from the Vietnam era. I had 9 months in the combat zone, which is 9 months more than Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld combined. To learn more about chickenhawks, go here:
Chickenhawk database
I did notice a few typos on re-reading my post. That is the down side of writing fast in a medium that has no editing or spell check functions. Oh, well.
Comment #17: Nolip said on 4/25/06 @ 9:04am ET...
OK, everybody let's see a show of hands on how much faith you put into Bush investigating prewar intelligence and his manipulation of same? Noboby? OK, let's try this one...how many here put any faith in Bush investigating big oil, his cronies, his buddies, his "base"? Nobody? Why am I not surprised? If ever there was a time in this nation's history when grand juries and special investigators are needed to investigate the bullshi* propaganda that BushCo continues to offload on the American people, NOW is the time! Bush doesn't even have to conduct his investigation. We can already here his apologetics..."Ah know ya'll ah hurtin'...heck Laura and I have had to cut back on our limozeen service...I may even have to ride mah bike to work if it keeps going like this...but hey, we all gotta make sacrifices...the twins may be forced to fly home only on weekends, no week day trips for them and ah figure I'm going to have to find help for the White House from the band of illegals who are marchin' in front of the White House as ah speak...it's that or I'll have to move those jobs to off shore countries!
"President Bush is ordering an investigation into whether the price of gasoline has been illegally manipulated, his spokesman said Monday."
Bush orders probe into gas prices
Comment #18: tahoebasha1 said on 4/25/06 @ 10:57am ET...
#10 - OD1
The truth is painful -- it is painful to us all and we will be living and dealing with it for many years to come. Future generations will bear a "burden" that should never have been theirs to bear.
Comment #19: Ohiodem1 said on 4/25/06 @ 11:32am ET...
Just a thought. The 700 ton bomb, (0.7 kilotons) experiment is called Devine Strike. There is a drive by the PNAC crowd to weaponize space (see their 2000 Strategic paper). It has been publicized in the press elsewhere that one of the weapons that has been brainstormed is a weapon that sends a tungsten spear, effectively, to a target on the surface.
That program has a nickname of "Rods from God", in reference to the shape of the projectile that is sent plummeting from space, which is described as the Heavens, as we all know.
Is Devine Strike, a play on the words "Rods from God" and intended to be a test of the destructive power of that weapon? Is it a step to the weaponization of space, similar to what is proposed in the PNAC document?
Page 56 of that document discusses a "Space Command" or "SPACECOM". My view is that this should be considered a part of that mindset. Do you want space weaponized? I don't. Here is the link.
Click on Rebuilding America's Defenses
This seems to be a line of questioning rational Americans should be asking.
Comment #20: Ohiodem1 said on 4/25/06 @ 11:38am ET...
Follow up to #19 - This theory would also provide cover to the statement that this is not intended to be a nuclear weapons test. Any thoughts anyone?
Comment #21: Ohiodem1 said on 4/25/06 @ 11:54am ET...
Correction to #19 above. The name of the operation is "Devine Strake", not "Devine Strike". Someone ought to look up the meaning of "strake" in an unabridged dictionary. My Seventh Collegiate identifies it as part of a ship. Is the allusion to a spaceship?
Comment #22: Nolip said on 4/25/06 @ 12:07pm ET...
This is another shell game played out by BushCo...the amount of oil into this country's reserves bears no measurable significance whatsoever to the gas prices we are experiencing at the pump. What we have here is an industry that is running unchecked and reaping BILLIONS at consumers expense because its permitted by the Bush administration to manipulate and control the supply side (no new refineries) while eagerly anticipating the demand side to increase. BushCos move to cease deposits to federal oil reserves is another dodge. This avoids a Congressional investigation into the relationship between the Bush administration and big oil. Since Bush is investigating the high prices of gas, all he has to do is sit at his desk and ask himself how things are going. From his perspective everything is going just fine for just like our friends the Iraquis...when Bush has us by the balls, our hearts and minds are sure to follow.
"WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Tuesday ordered a temporary suspension of environmental rules for gasoline, making it easier for refiners to meet demand and possibly dampen prices at the pump. He also halted for the summer the purchase of crude oil for the government's emergency reserve."
Bush Halts Deposits to Oil Reserves
Comment #23: unspun said on 4/25/06 @ 12:09pm ET...
Ohiodem1 #8 & #16: Good comments and I agree. I've got some real issues with the chickenhawks so indifferently sending my child off to war while their children have more important things to do. If the presence in Iraq is as necessary as they keep saying it is, you would think they and their children would be joining the military and helping to support the "war effort".
Reed #12: Also agree that they should be kept right in the spotlight where we can see them.
I've been busily writing to members of the Senate Foreign Affairs, Senate Armed Services and Senate Intelligence Committees. I've been strongly encouraging them to perform their oversignt functions.
Comment #24: ljm said on 4/25/06 @ 12:38pm ET...
I agree Mr C. I just wish all the other Democrats on both sides of the aisle would be as strong in their conviction that now is the time for an investigation into the pre-war intel. Why isn't Hillary calling for this investigation? Feingold no doubt wants one, where is everybody else? I heard exactly the same thing you heard on 60 Minutes. Same words as in the DSMs from a former CIA top guy.
Comment #25: Ohiodem1 said on 4/25/06 @ 12:44pm ET...
Nolip #22 - The first Bush response to a gasoline supply issue is to lift envrionmental controls on producers and users. He did this after Katrina.
It was reported a couple of years ago that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was full. What purchases to the SPR can he curtail when the reserive is full? The Bush response to any emergency is screw the environment, don't worry about the people who have to breathe the bad air or drink the bad water.
This apperars to be nothing but eyewash. Remember that just prior to the 2004 election, Bush jawboned the Saudis to temporarily pump more oil to reduce the spot market for a while, and reduce the urge to vote against him because of high oil prices.
Now, there is high probability that jawboning of both the oil companies and the Saudis will also take place in September/October to drive gasoline prices down just enough to make a few voters forget, or at least forgive for a few days the enormous shift of wealth in America from citizen's pockets, citizen's vacations, citizen's jobs, etc. to the pockets of the investors in the Republican Machine's election machine, which in turn, pulls out all stops to keep this corrupt bunch in power. Screw the people, let's line our pockets with their money.
A final point on the gasoline situation. Each year, the oil companies say that they have trouble switching over to summer blends for this excuse or that excuse. In all cases, they are excuses. Oh, the tank farms are subject to contamination because of the solvent properties of Ethanol, for instance. Oh, we have to shut the refineries down to switch over to summer fuels, oh what an ordeal it is to have to deal with putting clean air ingredients into the summer blends. Always an excuse to create a large spike in gasoline prices to consumers, then a ratcheting back to a high price that looks like a deal to a consumer who just recently paid 50 cents more per gallon, and all the while the oil company is laughing all the way to the bank.
So, we have oil company executives making $50-100 Million dollars per year, yet they lack the management capacity to predict and prepare for the summer fuel switchover after they have been doing it for 25 years? What the hell are the Stockholders paying these people for, it they cannot solve a simple resource allocation issue, and do tank farm scrubbing on an arranged preventive maintenance schedule?
Why do the stockholders pay these people for such incompetent management? Is the incompetence displayed in our national government symptomatic of the incompetence of the industry from which they came?
What is it? Are they willfully incompetent? Or are they really incompetent? Either way, they should be fired. And prosecuted.
Comment #26: Ohiodem1 said on 4/25/06 @ 12:49pm ET...
If purchases to the SPR are being made, and it is full, is it going out a pipeline at the back door? Is someone or some company getting free oil and selling it at full retail, pumping up profits? Fair questions, if, as previously reported that the reserve is full (750 million barrels). Anybody have any opinions on this?
Comment #27: Ron said on 4/25/06 @ 1:04pm ET...
Off Topic but need to know
Look at the Iran "Situation" from a different Angle. This lead is from CLG.
Are We There Yet ?
Attack Iran, destroy the US constitution
"President George W "All options are on the table" Bush, is acting as if the decisions that may get the US into another war - this time with Iran - are his to make and his alone. Indeed, there is considerable evidence that military action against Iran has already begun - without congressional approval. This is a usurpation of the US constitution". - This and more:::
Comment #28: Nolip said on 4/25/06 @ 2:19pm ET...
#25 & #26 Ohiodem...the other piece of the Bush Bullshi* puzzle is the fact that there are currently alternate fuels, that with the right government support, would remove our dependence on foreign oil. From today's USA today:
"LaNeve: I believe (E85) is going to continue to accelerate. I have never seen a technology that is so simple and elegant a solution to issues facing our economy, our oil independence, our industry. It is a renewable resource. It can be made from hundreds of different plant materials.
We don't need the whole industry to shift 100%. We shift 20%, 30%, that would reduce demand for foreign-imported crude to the extent where we would keep those prices under control over time. This is a real opportunity for our industry and for America. We are totally committed to it."
Q: There's a lot of interest right now in alternative fuels, especially E85, which is 85% grain alcohol and 15% gasoline.
So, with alternative fuels available NOW but not put into the marketplace one can assume that the real reason we continue to pay through the arse for foreign fuel is because BushCo is out to bleed the American public (what middle class?) and strip away any semblance of controls on the environment...Bush's legacy to our children and our children's children is pretty much a gutted mess of the Cadillac he stole in the 2000 election...
Comment #29: Reed31463 said on 4/25/06 @ 5:23pm ET...
#28 Nolip
"Alternative" fuels were proposed 50 years ago, but global warming really didn't become an issue until the late 1970's, early 1980's. E85 makes a lot of economic sense, but this is now compounded by CO2 output and global warming. Maybe 15 and even 5 years ago this was a very viable alternative. But now, more than ever, we need to stop thinking in terms of a liquid hydrocarbon energy source, because in terms of our immediate global warming issues: this is still a No Go.
Source: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment
Comment #30: Genghis Khan said on 4/25/06 @ 5:35pm ET...
At risk of identifying myself, I work with the group where Bush gave his little speech in W. Sacramento, CA.
Hydrogen fuel cells are here and work pretty well. The only real limitation is range (easily overcome by packing more hydrogen pressure into the tanks) and infrastructure (hydrogen "gas stations" covering the land like the usual petroleum kind).
Infrastructure is the key. The tech is largely there already.
Comment #31: Nolip said on 4/25/06 @ 11:42pm ET...
As long as we're talking about set policies...the rise in gas prices was set in stone the day Bush took office...this from Arianna Huffington.
"The president may turn to God when it comes to shaping his foreign policy, but his energy policy is strictly courtesy of the Men Upstairs at Big Oil.
Which is why it is beyond comical to watch Moe, Curly, and Larry -- sorry, I mean Bush, Hastert, and Frist -- getting all blue in the face about skyrocketing gas prices, and calling on the Energy and Justice Departments to look into possible market manipulation by oil companies.
It’s the least believable call for an investigation since O.J. set out to find the real killers."
George Bush: Foreign Policy from God, Energy Policy from Big Oil
Comment #32: Reed31463 said on 4/26/06 @ 1:51am ET...
Comment #28 & #29: I must admit, upon further consideration, my assumptions on bio-diesel and other renewable liquid hydrocarboncarbon resources adversely affecting the overall atmospheric CO2 concentrations were wrong. I failed to close the loop. The carbon from renewable resources comes from, dare I say it, atmospheric CO2.
Renewable resources and transportation
For these very reason, this demonstrates that free information and an open honest debate concerning these issues are truly needed.
In hindsight, why does it not surprise me that the obvious answer to our bridge our energy needs and rising planet temperatures would come from our living world? Bio-machines and living organisms are the some of the most efficient and cost effective systems known to exist: always seeking diversity, opportunity, and balance.
Comment #33: Reed31463 said on 4/26/06 @ 2:57am ET...
The issues and problems with the "hydrogen economy" are complex and compelling, but the foremost basic problem with hydrogen (H2) is; that it is a carrier of energy, not a source of energy. As such, it takes energy, usually from fossil fuels, to generate the hydrogen for use. Now herein is where the problem lies and the laws of thermal dynamics take over.
The first law of thermal dynamics states that energy is neither created nor destroyed, it just transfers from one state to another. Unfortunately, just like all attempts to create a perpetual motion machine, energy naturally "leaks" out of systems. Through each conversion, there are natural losses in energy. The more conversions there are, the greater the overall loss of potential energy.
Carbon Dioxide associated with hydrogen generation
The most economical and current industrial method to produce hydrogen is by steam methane reforming (SMR) technology. Thus, the primary energy source for generating H2 comes from non-renewable fossil fuel hydrocarbon resources. Hence, to use H2 to generate the kinetic energy (KE) used to power vehicles, uses more fossil fuel than just using the primary energy source directly. The process can be summed as follows:
Hydrogen and fuel cells
Fossil fuel (Energy) ---> H2 + Heat (Energy loss) ---> KE (Vehicle) + Heat (Energy loss) = 2 energy conversions
Conventional Internal Combustion Engine
Fossil fuel (Energy) ---> KE (Vehicle) + Heat (Energy loss) = 1 energy conversion
What makes the technology intriguing is that hydrogen can be generated can be generated from renewable resources and through nuclear power plants.
A way forward?
The debate from this point on gets very complex. Issues include costs [Fuel cells use platinum and something called nanotechnology. With two ounces of platinum and manufacturing the price tag for a fuel cell is ≈ $300,000], storage, transport, methods of generating H2 and efficiency.
Costs
