Klein Meltsdown Over McCain

Talk about a meltdown. I'm thinking Joe Klein over-reacts so incredibly to a statement by McCain simply because McCain dared to challenge the messiah-in-chief.

John McCain said this today in Rochester, New Hampshire:

This is a clear choice that the American people have. I had the courage and the judgment to say I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.

This is the ninth presidential campaign I've covered. I can't remember a more scurrilous statement by a major party candidate. It smacks of desperation. It renews questions about whether McCain has the right temperament for the presidency. How sad.

Not only is McCain speaking the simple truth on Obama, he's echoing the thoughts of many good Americans ... like me, for example! ; )

Ever notice how liberals talk tough and pretend to be looking for a fight, then turn into whiny little biatches the minute you hit back? That - and the fact that they so readily eat their own might be their two most telling traits. Obama would disown Klein as a third rate hack if he ever wrote an item worthy of note, for something other than its stupidity, that disagreed with Obama.

Comments

[IslamoLlama]

ZOMG! McCain Post! I haven't seen one of these in ages. Almost thought you'd forgotten he existed (I'm sure you've tried). But it's reassuring to see that you can still pop a chubby for a guy that makes Bob Dole look lively and exciting.

"-- Not only is McCain speaking the simple truth on Obama, he's echoing the thoughts of many good Americans ... --"

*snort* *giggle* Sure thing.
Truth to power, baby! Stick'n it to da man! Why doesn't everyone realize that WE'RE WINNING?!

"-- Ever notice how liberals talk tough and pretend to be looking for a fight, then turn into whiny little biatches the minute you hit back? --"

Kettle, you da blackest!

[The Carpenter]

"-- Ever notice how liberals talk tough and pretend to be looking for a fight, then turn into whiny little biatches the minute you hit back? --"

Come say that to my face.

No really. I'm a libeal that will pound your fat sorry holocaust denying bitch ass into the dirt.

Big mouth fat ass bitch.

[The Carpenter]

That goes for the rest of you.

You want a piece of this "whiny liberal"? I'm so sick of you neo-con pedophiles... just e-mail me, I'll give you my personal address to meet so I can kick your sorry asses. Then I'll sew your fucking mouth shut so we don't have to be grossed out by the shit that pours from it.

In the words of the chimp-in-chief "Bring it on."

[templar knight]

"I'm a libeal..."

Yeah, you are, and an ignorant one as well. You do your kind credit, my friend. Thanks for the window into the liberal soul.

[templar knight]

Dan, I think your new best friend is confused. I've never heard you deny that the holocaust happened, frankly, just the opposite. I think the new troll needs to address that particular statement to his friends on the Left.

[Fred Beloit]

Do re mi mi mi. If I were a carpenter, and you were a gaffer, I would vote for you anyway, you would be my Obie.

Here is another good answer for Mr. Klien.

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2008/07/joe-kleins-scurrilous-meltdown.html

BTW. Someone has become very confused between messages from the brain and those from the emotions: "...reassuring to see that you can still pop a chubby for a guy that makes Bob Dole look lively and exciting."

Sexual attraction just may not be the best way to choose a candidate for POTUS, Moe. Of course it still is a free country, at least partially.

[Mark E]

The left's phony outrage really is one of their ugliest traits and Klein is a lefty despite his denials, another ugly trait of the left - lying about their bias.

[templar knight]

Klein's overeaction is about what I would expect from one of Obama's water-carrying boys in the media. I laughed my ass off at the idiot.

[Fred Beloit]

Incidentally, one of the badly educated asshats who come here has been whining that he doesn't know what the word victory means. Here you go, asshat:

"

[Fred Beloit]

Oops

"vic·to·ry (vkt-r)
n. pl. vic·to·ries
1. Defeat of an enemy or opponent.
2. Success in a struggle against difficulties or an obstacle.
3. The state of having triumphed."

Of course now we would have to add Number 4. "The state of having Mr. Maliki agree with you, sort of."

[seekeronos]

OT but grist for the racism grist mill:

White cop tasers black (alledged) coke/PCP user to death:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/22/taser.death/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Clock started at 11am, place your bets now for how long it takes Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to start pimping this up as the next Jena Six/Rodney King incident.

Incidentally, Jena is only 45min. away from the place this tasering took place.

[The Carpenter]

All talk...no walk. Keep talking. One day, someone's gonna walk up to you and shut that fucking scabby wound you call a mouth for you.

[Mr DeBakey]

Thanks for the definition of victory.
Why can't John McCain define "victory in Iraq"?

Something interesting here - there is something wrong with this exchange:

Kate Couric: Senator McCain, Senator Obama says, while the increased number of US troops contributed to increased security in Iraq, he also credits the Sunni awakening and the Shiite government going after militias. And says that there might have been improved security even without the surge. What’s your response to that?

McCain: I don’t know how you respond to something that is as, such a false depiction of what actually happened. Colonel McFarlane [phonetic] was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that’s just a matter of history.

And it began the Anbar awakening....
Thank-you for the history lesson Mr McCain

[seekeronos]

As for our carpenter "friend" :

"--- You want a piece of this "whiny liberal"? I'm so sick of you neo-con pedophiles... just e-mail me, I'll give you my personal address to meet so I can kick your sorry asses. Then I'll sew your ****ing mouth shut so we don't have to be grossed out by the shit that pours from it. ---"

Hmmm. You're a violent sort, aren't you. A real "internet tough guy", who would like to think that he scares us with his bloviations and empty threats of shocking bodily harm.

Right then, so let us go no with your projection of yourself as some large-boned bully: what shall we imagine you to be, a big gay biker/mixed martial arts fighter with enough gang tattoos that one might mistake for a road map, or perhaps an "eco-warrior" fighting registered Republicans everywhere for their violations against Mother Gaea?

Whatever. You leave yourself little room to be taken very seriously.

How typically fascistic of you as well: like your brownshirt predecessors, you level blind, groundless accusations at your opponent (i.e. claims of holocaust denial) as well as assuming that many of us are either NeoCons (I'm a PaleoCon for that matter) or paedophiles ; then by offering to sew our mouths shut after you've rendered us a "righteously sound thrashing", you expose yourself as a self appointed censor.

Please, your diatribe bears the stench of hypocrisy and hate... an altogether too evident characteristic of the mind-poisoned far left. Go back to your haunts on DKos or DU where your hatred can be enjoyed for what it is.

Pure tripe.

[Fred Beloit]

The Carbender speaks. So far I haven't noticed his Email address, perhaps I missed it. Why aren't you up there hammering and sawing, my very good friend, instead of showing the world your rabid propensity for violence in political matters I wonder? Are you an Islamist extremest by any chance? If you are, calm down and go get a porkchop sandwich.

[seekeronos]

@ Mr. DeBakey on "the Anbar awakening"

Feel free to correct those of us who think otherwise, but unless I am mistaken, wasn't the "Anbar Awakening" the result of many Sunni sheikhs beginning to work with US forces to suppress/evict the non-Iraqi Al-Qaeda operations that had previously been terrorizing the region?

While the beliefs of those sheikhs or the people under them had much in common with the extremist Wahabbism of the Al-Qaedists is debatable, but for these sheikhs and the people under them who hold them in very high regard, for them to work with the American military (contacting them initially) says much for their desire towards their own liberty over that of interloping foreigners (specifically the Saudis, Yemenis, Qataris, Jordanians and others) spreading their message of extremist Islam to a people more concerned with getting their own houses in order.

Sen. McCain is not mistaken in his statement as far as I can tell: without the additional troops supplied by the surge, we really would not have been able to properly aid those sheikhs, and we would not have gained their trust which had been been hurt in the previous Gulf War in the early 1990s.

[Totally Heterosexual Conservative]

" Ever notice how liberals talk tough and pretend to be looking for a fight, then turn into whiny little biatches the minute you hit back?"

Haha. I nominate this for the award for the most irony-challenged statement of the year. Chickenhawk.

[The Carpenter]

mmmmmm pork chop sandwiches.

[Mr DeBakey]

"Feel free to correct"

September 29, 2006
Col. Sean B. MacFarland: ....This is a different phenomena that's going on right now. I think that it's not so much the insurgent groups that are fighting al Qaeda, it's the -- well, it used to be the fence-sitters, the tribal leaders, are stepping forward and cooperating with the Iraqi security forces against al Qaeda, and it's had a very different result. I think al Qaeda has been pushed up against the ropes by this, and now they're finding themselves trapped between the coalition and ISF on the one side, and the people on the other.

I believe "The Surge" wasn't announced until early '07

[John]

Carpenter everytime you open that poor excuse for a communications device you show your lack of knowledge and understanding of the real world. You have NO understanding of the politics of this world and should based upon the drival that you spout should reside in a cave like structure and wear anaimal skins (probably uncured). You think to intimidate people because you can talk tough but you know in your soul that you will run and cry and scream like a little to the nearest police officer if anyone really showed up to confront your stupidity.

[GL]

Klein is only outraged because he shares Obama's opinions 100%... and the truth hurts. Maybe we should really start to question whether Joe Klein has the temperament for a journalist. How sad. :)

[LN]

OOOOoooooohhhhh! I see the great O's point now!!! This is just like the left's Cold War strategy.... for YEARS you whine, scream, and cry - that the war is un-winnable.... and then when a conservative backed strategy proves that you don't know your @ss from your elbow by winning the war - you just claim it was due to other factors, was inevitable, and would have happened without benefit of conservative involvement.

I heard this one before, haven't you? LOL

[Fred]

Klein is not, and has never been an Obama supporter - quite the opposite. Templar knows this, but why not lie to the Low Information Voters? They don't know any better and Templar can appear knowledgeable in their eyes. That is not such a difficult thing to do, such as being the finest ice skater in all of Equador. An easy way for Templar to rain wisom down upon us.

When your brand name is toast. When your candidate cannot determine what year his is living in, or what countries are actually on the planet, you got some issues. That is why you lie and cheat; It's the only way to win - and that is your goal, simply to win.

This election is going to be a rout, an absolute pounding. McCain was the very best you all could do? Really? Pity...

[Fred]

Klein is a watercarrier for the Bush administration - always has been. The fact is, the Kool-aid is wearing off and Klein needs to stay employed, so he says what certain folks want to hear. If that changes, he will change too. I think they call that being a whore.

[SacTownMan]

Wow! Time magazine is the latest MSM rag to attack McCain, Now there's a suprise.

Wake up America this is the new tactic of the left.

After several months of gaffs including the bitter, clingy white folk line and Reverend Wright (you do remember him right?) they have been doing a much better job of keeping him on script. They did a complete makeover for the bitter wife and interviewed the kids. Until he embarked on the most recent scripted media focused world romp he was avoiding any kind of real scrutiny. The thing is he can't hide is his arrogance, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when he had to meet the General.

Barry's handlers strategy in this election is to just "wait it out". They have no intention of doing any more than the minimum number of debates and with CNN and MSNBC in the tank and September as the earliest date they hope the rest of America is as stupid as our resident trolls.

These guys would defend Barry if he got drunk and killed a bus full of Nuns!

Katie asked Barry yesterday three times, "Did the surge work" each time his scripted answer was something like.. "the troops have done a good job of reducing sectarian violence". He can't say the words "Yes, the Surge has worked" because it would highlight the fact that he was completely wrong or as he put it"

"Had those political factors not occurred, I think that my assessment would have been correct."

What a tool!

[Worst President Ever]

Actually it sounds more like McSame is getting desperate. He attacked Obama for not having gone to Iraq. So Barack goes to Iraq and hits a home run. Every Middle East leader is lining up to meet with him making Obama look like the American-President-In-Waiting.

Meanwhile, McSame, who should remember to be careful what you wish for, is left complaining that he's not get any media coverage - this from a guy that's called the media his base. Seems like just last week his campaign was telling Americans to quit whining.

So yeah, it's been a bad week for McSame.

Sactownman - it would be easier just to post a link to those Republican Talking points rather than go to all the trouble of typing them in.

[Scrapiron]

It's really comical watching the liberals make fun of McCains age without the slightest facts. They ignore the fact the man spent 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton and several bones were broken by people who practice real 'torture'. He moves funny (liberal description) due to injuries and as he said when the liberals made fun of his (Inplamts)teeth, these aren't mine, "I left mine at the Hanoi Hilton".
I don't like McCain and haven't since 2000, but I respect his service to the country, and I would rather vote for Osama than Obama. At least Osama accidently tells the truth once in a while, Obama never. Has anyone seen Obama's 'American' birth record, or any records of his service in Il? I don't think he has either, legally.

[Worst President Ever]

Scrapiron says "and I would rather vote for Osama than Obama."

Glad to see you come out in support of Osama Bin Laden for President, Scrapiron. Really, really classy. I guess it's the wingnuts that are the true supporters of terrorists. Some f***** patriot.

[StratRat]

It's really comical watching the liberals make fun of McCains age without the slightest facts. They ignore the fact the man spent 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton and several bones were broken by people who practice real 'torture'. He moves funny (liberal description) due to injuries and as he said when the liberals made fun of his (Inplamts)teeth, these aren't mine, "I left mine at the Hanoi Hilton".

****Soooo, the fact that he crashed his (our) plane and got captured qualifies him how to be Prsident? How does that work? Seems his bad luck (he crashed 4 additional planes - two of which he stole) and the act that he made propoganda films for the vietcong should probably exclude him automatically for his treason to the USA. This is Alice in Wonderland at its finest.

You shower McCain with worship, but he has done nothing to deserve such worship. You make fun of Obama (ears, funny name, name similar to osama) but he has accomplished so much more than your guy it hardly seems like a fair fight. This election is going to be a pounding.....GOP is toast.

[Hanoi Hilton Guests For Truth]

John McCain had a tempurpedic mattress with variable massage during his stay at the Hanoi Hilton. He is unfit to lead.

God Bless America.

[IslamoLlama]

"-- I don't like McCain and haven't since 2000, but I respect his service to the country, and I would rather vote for Osama than Obama. --"

SPOOF! I call SPOOF!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/23/mccain-camp-attacks-obama_n_114486.html

But seriously, this gets even better.

"-- The McCain campaign implied on Wednesday that Barack Obama's commitment to preventing a future genocide was not sincere, attacking the Democratic candidate during his appearance at the Israeli Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem. --"

I can't compete with John Cole on this, so I'll let Balloon Juice take it away.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=10902

[IslamoLlama]

"-- mmmmmm pork chop sandwiches. --"

OH SHIT! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, KIDS! GO GO! WE'RE ALL DEAD! RUN!

[Totally Heterosexual Conservative]

"After several months of gaffs including the bitter, clingy white folk line and Reverend Wright (you do remember him right?)"

Yeah, we remember. The librul media spent weeks agonizing over such tripe during the primary. No one but knuckle-draggers such as yourself gives a shit. But keep focusing on that; this will be a winning strategy for you in the General.

[templar knight]

Fred the liberal, I don't know whether Klein supports Obama or not, but he says he is a liberal and a Democrat. So there. And you have to admit that the particular statement McCain made could hardly be the most scurrilous statement Klein has ever heard, considering his time on the job. Oh, wait, he said he couldn't "remember a more scurrilous statement". That explains it, liberals don't remember anything that makes them look or sound bad.

As for the statement McCain made, it sounds quite reasonable to me. I believe Obama would do almost anything to get elected, and I believe you would do just about anything to help him. Unless you are a different kind of liberal than the ones I know. Check out what ACORN is up to. Makes you proud to be a liberal, I'm sure.

[IslamoLlama]

My god, July has been a terrible week to be a conservative.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/drill-now-pay-l-oops.html

So, how about that off-shore drilling proposal? Yeah, that should fly real well.
Conservatives lose again :-p

[IslamoLlama]

:-p Terrible month.

[templar knight]

Yeah, we need to stop all oil production because of one oil spill. It's just too dangerous. And we can't import any oil, either, cause one of those giant tankers might crash and cause a huge spill, just like what happened in Alaska.

This wanker logic of the Left will leave us in the same shape as the Third World. Nutroot logic at its finest.

[PA]

"He can't say the words "Yes, the Surge has worked"

Narcissistic personalities find it physically impossible to admit they are wrong about something.

[seekeronos]

"---
John McCain had a tempurpedic mattress with variable massage during his stay at the Hanoi Hilton. He is unfit to lead.

God Bless America.
---"

HHG4T: Do you have proof of this? Can you produce links to any credible media source to back this claim?

"--- Soooo, the fact that he crashed his (our) plane and got captured qualifies him how to be Prsident? How does that work? Seems his bad luck (he crashed 4 additional planes - two of which he stole) and the act that he made propoganda films for the vietcong should probably exclude him automatically for his treason to the USA. This is Alice in Wonderland at its finest. ---"

StratRat: Do you have proof of this? Can you produce links to any credible media source to back this claim?

Are you SURE he actually crashed FIVE aircraft? And are you SURE that he STOLE two aircraft? Or that he made PROPAGANDA FILMS for the VietCong?

Try not to confuse the third John Sidney McCain with the first, then-CAPT John Sidney McCain Sr., who as a carrier captain took it upon himself to get his pilots wings in WW2, crashing five planes in the process and still attaining the rank of admiral in the USN.

As for then-LCDR John Sidney McCain III, USN, I'll take three for the price of five, Alex:

The fourth incident (on the USS Forrestal on 29 July 1967) was a matter of another pilot or WSO firing off a munition accidentally, which impacted McCain's aircraft, setting it afire. Hardly an aviator's "crash", wouldn't you agree?

The fifth loss was a result of him getting shot down by a surface-to-air missile, a weapon that even a skillful flyer is hard pressed to dodge, especially in the time of the VN war, where anti-missile active electronic countermeasures were not really very reliable as they are today.

As for his tenure in the Hanoi Hilton, I might be mistaken, but the VC were not in Hanoi. They were South Vietnamese operatives fighting US forces in Vietnam, and not a part of the North Vietnamese Army or the Viet Minh which would have been the group in charge of Hanoi during McCain's stay.

And the propaganda film charge is pretty serious business. Are you really ready to defend such a potentially slanderous claim?

Now I have little desire to see McCain as our next President, but I do ask that you be careful of how you drive that swiftboat there, sailor...them thar political fever swamp rivers can be mighty dodgy this time of year.

[templar knight]

And here's some more nutroot liberal wanker logic for your enjoyment:

No nuclear power, either. Who cares if the rest of the World is pressing on with nuclear programs? Remember Three Mile Island! We have wind energy and sun. What? The wind doesn't blow everywhere, and the sun doesn't shine all the time. Yes, it does. All we have to do is harness wind and solar, and everything will be perfect. Just because wind and solar power can't be transmitted long distances doesn't have anything to do with anything. Engineering, and loss of voltage over long distances doesn't mean anything. Hell, make those people move to where its windy and sunny all the time. Kumbaya!!!!!!! Save the Polar Bears. Prevent global warming...cooling...or whatever the hell it is right now. Just prevent it and everything I say prevent. Obamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[seekeronos]

"--- This wanker logic of the Left will leave us in the same shape as the Third World. Nutroot logic at its finest. ---"

TK, the liberal mind seems unable to accommodate the concept of hardworking people working to better their lives. Instead, they must take away from everyone, the lazy and the hard-working alike, and keep most of it for themselves and their closest enablers/friends, while equalizing everyone else at the level of poverty.

Socialism at its best, and this old broken horse is the only thing these wicked radicals know.

[IslamoLlama]

"-- TK, the liberal mind seems unable to accommodate the concept of hardworking people working to better their lives. --"

Lols! Yes, by pushing renewable energy and green collar jobs, the liberals have really shown their disdain for the hardworking American citizen.

And only a true wingnut would take a look at a massive oil spill across the Mississippi river and declare, "Less regulation! More drilling!" Because $4 / gallon gas will turn America into a 3rd World Country. Just like in the UK, France, and Germany where gasoline is $2+ / gallon more expensive. But not like in Iran or Venezuela where gas sells for under 50 cents.

Why can't America be more like Iran and Venezuela and less like Europe?! You damn dirty liberals want to destroy our country!

[seekeronos]

"--- I can't compete with John Cole on this, so I'll let Balloon Juice take it away.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=10902 ---"

Heh. I figured that Mr. Cole has been tilting left of centre in recent years, but he's now nearly in the OMG! McHallihitlerburtonbushcheney is teh SATAN!!!1!! zone of the nutjob moonbat orbit, if he leans any further left with his persistent BDS.

Either that, or he is playing to the crowd of moonbats that are paying his light bill, which I suspect has a lot more to do with Mr. Cole's "epiphany".

As for drilling, what ever does that have to do with an oil barge and another ship having a collision?

That's like saying that we should ban building new internal combustion engines that are more efficient and more easily brought to mass production than some plug-in electric vehicle like the Tesla which only billionaires can get, and is years if not the better part of a decade or more away from reaching the mass market... AFTER some clod who drank too much killed some folks in a DUI collision.

Pure imbecilery.

Sorry to inform you that even a financial genius like T. Boone Pickens and his dream of stringing up windmills from Alberta down to Texas lacks some thinking through, in that even in the windiest states, you simply are not going to power America with a generation device that can only capture 10% of available windpower into electricity to turn your computer on. At best, it is a help, but not a replacement for fossil fuels.

No domestic and offshore drilling = no economic health.

[BobInStamford]

"These guys would defend Barry if he got drunk and killed a bus full of Nuns!"

That sounds like something Laura Bush has already done!

Oh wait, another seedy old conservative is trying to be like Laura!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080723/ap_on_re_us/novak_pedestrian_struck

Semper Fi, patriots!! Your candidate is full of vigor!!!

[IslamoLlama]

"-- Sorry to inform you that even a financial genius like T. Boone Pickens and his dream of stringing up windmills from Alberta down to Texas lacks some thinking through, in that even in the windiest states, you simply are not going to power America with a generation device that can only capture 10% of available windpower into electricity to turn your computer on. At best, it is a help, but not a replacement for fossil fuels.

No domestic and offshore drilling = no economic health. --"

K. Now tell us how evolution is a sham and the earth is 6000 years old. Not that I don't trust your scientific chops, but...

[BobInStamford]

Actually, the earth is 3214 years old. Cavemen rode on dinosaurs. Fred Flintstone was an actual person. He worked in a quarry and received the 10 Commandments from God himself. When he got the Commandments, Fred told God, Yabba Dabba Doo!!! The exact meaning of these words are being studied to this day in home schools and bible universities throughout our fair land.

Amen.

[SacTownMan]

Ace hits a home run!

"Narcissistic personalities find it physically impossible to admit they are wrong about something."

This sounds a lot like the resident trolls posting here today. They are absolutely soiling themselves over the tone of Dan's post concerning the "One".

The THC Abuser, Sock Puppet, Lame-O, their new recruit Carpo and who could forget President Carter are as agitated as ever. With lots of fresh Huffington Post links and cheap shots at Laura Bush they continue to prove that the hate on the left is as strong as ever!

Makes me get in the mood for a good old fashioned frothing, spittle flecked diatribe from Keith OlberFuhrer.

Ummmmmmm Goooooood!

[seekeronos]

"--- Just like in the UK, France, and Germany where gasoline is $2+ / gallon more expensive. But not like in Iran or Venezuela where gas sells for under 50 cents. ---"

Well, for starters, most of the Eurozone nations tax the living daylights out of their gas, and actually get the wholesale price, especially recently, for much more cheaply than we do.

The British pay about GBP £1.18 per litre, or £4.46 per US gallon, which at current exchange rates (GBP £1 = USD $1.99) is about $8.90 per gallon.

Now as of May 2008, the petrol tax is £0.52/L or £1.97/gallon, or about $3.92/gallon (US)... and this is before you tack on the 17.5% VAT (which includes the petrol tax as well as the base cost of the fuel).

So let's do the maths:

var x = the base price of petrol in the UK in USD$

( $x/gal + $3.92/gal ) * 1.175 = $8.92/gal

Isolate var. x:

1. Multiply out the gallons

($x + $3.92) * 1.175gal = $8.92

2. Divide out the percentage-gallons factor:

($x + $3.92) *1 = ($8.92) / (1.175gal)

3. Subtract out the base petrol tax (the $3.92)

$x = (($8.92)/(1.175gal) - $3.92)

4. Solve for var. x:

$x = $7.59/gal - $3.92

$x = $3.36 = the base price of UK petrol per gallon in USD$ before ANY taxes are added

THEREFORE:

The British actually pay LESS than we do for our for our gas per gallon.

I'll qualify this further:

In NY, I expect to pay about $4.25/gal for my gas. About 62.5 cents of this is state and federal taxes: I'll drop the half-penny and say then that before any taxes, I am ponying up $3.63... so pretax gas to pretax gas, the our cousins in the UK are getting their gas cheaper as well.

Now the UK and the rest of Europe pay such exorbitant taxes which fund their massively developed mass transit infrastructures - among other things.

Europe - and particularly the pre-EU nations before the EU had the advantage of a higher population density and much smaller intercity distances, and excellent urban planning, some of it extant of centuries and some of it as a result of post WW2-rebuilding that made rail, tram, and bus systems a far better choice than developing the ugliness we have here in the USA known as suburbs and their related even uglier, pedestrian-unfriendly traffic patterns.

That, and the lot of the average wage-earning European was quite a bit worse than the same man in the USA, with higher "democratic socialist" taxing schemes depriving Europeans of the same living standards enjoyed by their American cousins.

So I can't speak for anyone else, but the Euros have had access to cheaper gas than we do (being geographically closer to the Middle East as well as having actually developed THEIR own domestic sources (the North Sea and the pot of oil Norway sits on) at the same time we ignore ours and let the Red Chinese have at them.

Bear in mind that what has worked for Europe is not guaranteed to work here, except on the issue of developing their local petroleum sources.

That said, I'm not particularly bothered by a higher oil tax, provided that there is some transparency and limitations on how that revenue is spent... nor am I dead set against developing green energy.

On fuel taxes, we should have implemented them back in the late 90s when oil was $10/Bbl and nearly $1/gal... that would have helped put away that useless SUV binge we had a few years back, and spurred the housing bubble in the direction of inner-city development and gentrification and higher-density multi-family housing over that of massive exurbanization, as well as prevented much of the oil speculation that is also affecting other commodities.

On energy development, we need to do a full-spectrum development approach to energy: building more nuke reactors, safe reactors, S-STAR Municipal Reactor Capsules, windmills, hydroeletric, tidal wave-fall energy collectors, solar concentrator towers, geothermal sumps in geologically active areas, and of course, opening ANWR and our coastal supplies for our consumption (i.e. not selling it off to the Red Chinese or other nations at discount).

[seekeronos]

"--- Now tell us how evolution is a sham and the earth is 6000 years old. ---"

Actually, I'd tell you that evolution is unreliable as a theory, and that it is an alternative to the truth of God's creation. And the earth is about 5800 years old, if exactly traced through Adam to the present time following the Bible's allocation of patriarchal lifespans and lining them up with written history.

But Mrs. Seeker is pushing me out the door, time for some discount shopping...

[Terry Gain]

Dan,

Randall Hoven has an insightful article at American Thinker, which your pro-America readers will enjoy. And the comments are terrific.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/07/the_complex_success_of_the_sur.html

Thank you for you patience in the face of such ignorant and extreme provocation in the last few years from your countrymen who put party ahead of country.