Daily Show: "Off shore drilling has already saved us!"
By SilentPatriot Wednesday Aug 06, 2008 2:30pm
Jon Stewart traces the roots of off-shore drilling from Bush 41's initial ban, to both candidates' realistic and sensible positions against it, to both candidates' public opinion-pandering flip-flop in support of it.
Download | play 
Download | play
You really have to marvel at how the GOP is able to transform a problem they're primarily responsible for creating into an issue that they base their entire 2008 strategy on. What's worse, they somehow manage to convince a majority of Americans in the process that their so-called "solution" -- which is nothing other than a Big Oil land giveaway that would have ZERO short-term impact -- is somehow a great idea. It really is a classic example of what Naomi Klein has coined the "Shock Doctrine."
Login or Register to post comments.
You also have to marvel at how the GOP is attempting and could succeed at taking the term "energy independence" as meaning "from oil" to meaning "from other counties' oil" thereby eliminating alternative energy from the debate. That is clearly what they were attempting to do during the stunt they pulled the other day.
The problem is there is soooo many ignorant, stupid, uneducated people, that blindly vote for the lying Rethugs.
Obama:
GOP - "It's Like They Take Pride In Being Ignorant"
GOP:
We Take Pride In Showing You How Ignorant Americans Are
Limp-Dick Blimpaugh @ 2:
Not quite.
The problem is the insipid, feckless, compliant media that allows these jokers to get away with their outrageous claims and only feeds an intellectually lazy populace (whose intellectual laze the the media actively promote for their own gains). You saw that progression in the clip of how somehow, it'd take more than 20 years to get any real oil from new offshore drilling to McCain's claim of months. Which I presume was left utterly unchallenged.
The MSM is a complete propoganda organ for big oil. It has gotten so ridiculous that the Daily Show is closer to reality than anything on TV. This country is fucked.Naomi Klein is partially right in that corporations take advantage of disasters but the media is their most potent weapon in creating artificial disasters and covering it up.
john j @ 3:
LOL
GOP gets the last laugh
Nixon's jettisoning of the 1940s Bretton Woods agreement on the gold standard + the rejection of Carter's plans for energy self-sufficiency + neo-con/neo-liberal greed = the mess that the US is in and possibly (hopefully) the death knell for an outdated economic model.
This is no surprise....
That's the M.O. of the Rethugs.
Anyone that works with the public (i.e. banking, customer service) will know exactly how stupid the public is at large. There are some ignorant people out there (just look how Bush got elected 2 x's) that will believe rumor and propaganda spewed out by the GOP (Rovian style) without ever checking WWW.FACTCHECK.ORG
Also you can check out:
PolitiFact ranked the Strategic Petroleum Reserve reversal a “full flop” on its new Flip-O-Meter, unveiled Tuesday, but rated the offshore drilling shift a less-severe “half-flip.”
McCain on offshore drilling
McCain’s recent support for offshore drilling is actually not as stark of a flip-flop as has been portrayed.
It’s true that McCain never actively pushed for it until this summer, but there is scant evidence that he opposed it or supported a federal moratorium on it.
Two California newspaper stories from his 2000 presidential run paraphrase McCain as supporting the moratorium, but many more accounts include direct quotations in which McCain says he would support states’ decisions on whether they want to drill.
In February 2000, McCain said, “I understand Texans want offshore oil drilling. That’s fine with me. Off Florida, they don’t. I think that we should allow these decisions, to some degree to be made — significant degree to be made by the people who are directly affected by them.”
As for his voting record, McCain in 2003 was among 10 Republicans who voted to call off a survey and inventory of possible offshore oil and natural gas deposits. And in 2006, he voted to authorize drilling in about 8.3-million acres of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, off the coasts of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
However, in 1992, McCain voted against an amendment that would have increased coastal states’ input in federal government decisions about offshore drilling.
Still, the shift from his states-rights position to offshore-drilling cheerleader warranted a half-flip from PolitiFact.
McCain on the Bush tax cuts
Fresh off his stinging defeat to George W. Bush in the 2000 GOP presidential primary, McCain burnished his reputation as a maverick by opposing the tax cuts proposed by President Bush in 2001. He was one of the few Republicans to do so, and he opposed their renewal in 2003, both times asserting they were fiscally imprudent.
But McCain voted in favor of the cuts, which also reduced taxes on capital gains and dividend income, when they came up for renewal again in 2006, as he was working to mend fences with the Republican base in preparation for another bid for the party’s presidential nomination.
McCain explained his reversal by asserting “American businesses and investors need a stable and predictable tax policy to continue contributing to the growth of our economy. These considerations lead me to the conclusion that we should not reverse course by letting higher tax rates take effect.”
Justification aside, this is an actual change of position for McCain, and PolitiFact rated it full flop.
This is no surprise....
That's the M.O. of the Rethugs.
Anyone that works with the public (i.e. banking, customer service) will know exactly how stupid the public is at large. There are some ignorant people out there (just look how Bush got elected 2 x's) that will believe rumor and propaganda spewed out by the GOP (Rovian style) without ever checking WWW.FACTCHECK.ORG
Also you can check out:
PolitiFact ranked the Strategic Petroleum Reserve reversal a “full flop” on its new Flip-O-Meter, unveiled Tuesday, but rated the offshore drilling shift a less-severe “half-flip.”
McCain on offshore drilling
McCain’s recent support for offshore drilling is actually not as stark of a flip-flop as has been portrayed.
It’s true that McCain never actively pushed for it until this summer, but there is scant evidence that he opposed it or supported a federal moratorium on it.
Two California newspaper stories from his 2000 presidential run paraphrase McCain as supporting the moratorium, but many more accounts include direct quotations in which McCain says he would support states’ decisions on whether they want to drill.
In February 2000, McCain said, “I understand Texans want offshore oil drilling. That’s fine with me. Off Florida, they don’t. I think that we should allow these decisions, to some degree to be made — significant degree to be made by the people who are directly affected by them.”
As for his voting record, McCain in 2003 was among 10 Republicans who voted to call off a survey and inventory of possible offshore oil and natural gas deposits. And in 2006, he voted to authorize drilling in about 8.3-million acres of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, off the coasts of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
However, in 1992, McCain voted against an amendment that would have increased coastal states’ input in federal government decisions about offshore drilling.
Still, the shift from his states-rights position to offshore-drilling cheerleader warranted a half-flip from PolitiFact.
McCain on the Bush tax cuts
Fresh off his stinging defeat to George W. Bush in the 2000 GOP presidential primary, McCain burnished his reputation as a maverick by opposing the tax cuts proposed by President Bush in 2001. He was one of the few Republicans to do so, and he opposed their renewal in 2003, both times asserting they were fiscally imprudent.
But McCain voted in favor of the cuts, which also reduced taxes on capital gains and dividend income, when they came up for renewal again in 2006, as he was working to mend fences with the Republican base in preparation for another bid for the party’s presidential nomination.
McCain explained his reversal by asserting “American businesses and investors need a stable and predictable tax policy to continue contributing to the growth of our economy. These considerations lead me to the conclusion that we should not reverse course by letting higher tax rates take effect.”
Justification aside, this is an actual change of position for McCain, and PolitiFact rated it full flop.
The Gang of 10: Obama's Checkmate?
it's sure going to be interesting to see how jon handles the next visit with mcMAVERICK...
comrade Murrow hussein jong il @ 5:
Golly. You'd think intelligent, sophisticated people would by now have figured out that there IS NO FUCKING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CORPORATIONS THAT OWN THE COUNTRY AND THE COPRORATIONS THAT OWN THE MEDIA!!!!
Jeeeziz on trisquits, people, these are meaningless distinctions.
"It's not the corporations, it's the media..."
"it's not the Dimphux, it's the media..."
The Corporations OWN the ALL-fuuking--LLLL Media. The media cover what their paymasters want covered, do not cover what their paymasters do not want covered.
To blame 'the media' for this is like blaming leaves for falling in the autumn. It's what they are SUPPOSED to do. If they weren't, people would be getting fired. Since people AREN'T etting fired, you can probably be assured they're doing EXACTLY as ordered...
It really does seem to me that the script for the future of America is being written by Vince McMahon's crack staff of writers.
I'm not quite sure why anyone feels the urge to say that there will be no "short term" impact on oil prices due to off shore drilling.
I mean, who is drilling that oil? The oil companies. You really think they're going to bump up the supply enough to cut prices? No. There's already more supply than demand! They'll pump just enough to meet rising demand, and keep prices high. There isn't going to be enough additional demand from minor price drops to make up for lower prices.
I don't know why anyone thinks otherwise.
Here's a quick primer on offshore drilling. I should emphasize this part:
I don't have a huge problem with Obama's position of trading modestly expanding OCS drilling where states will allow it in order to get his really impressive energy agenda through.
Also, one tertiary benefit of offshore drilling is that it provides a lot of technical support for offshore wind, and rigs on depleted fields can be converted into wind farms.
But anyone claiming that offshore drilling will significant;y change oil prices is lying or ignorant.
katy @ 11:
Didn't they mutually agree on air (last fall) that McCain wouldn't be visiting TDS anytime before the election...? I seem to remember that Jon already gave the old bugger enough rope on that show to go and hang himself -- and now he's actually going out and doing it.
Don't hold your breath for another appearance by McCain on Stewart's show.
Even IF we could get the oil out in 5years, who says that the oil comp will sell it to us? If China is willing to spend more for oil per bbl than we are, who do you think big oil is going to sell to? If you think that big oil will sell oil at a discount out of patriotism then you have not been paying attention during econ class on capitalism or understand the greed that permeates corp boardrooms.
Even If we could get oil out in 5years, where are we going to get it refined? We are running at full capacity right now with no new refineries in sight, how are we going to handle the increase? Those they say it will simply displace foreign oil is mistaken b/c demand has increased along with shrinking supply.
The time of the internal combustion engine has to end, the sooner the better. I like the sound of big V-8 has much as the next guy, but not at the cost of lives and cost of living. The problem is not oil, the problem is the cars, trucks, and the plastic industry, they have to change to new ideas and soon. The environment, economy, and the politics of oil have put us in a bad situation that will take a generation or more to fix, and it HAS TO BE FIXED OR ELSE.
I really still haven't stopped laughing at McCain's appearance in Sturgis. It had so many excellent moments of the aging senator, but my favorite has to be, "That's the sound of FREEDOM!" ROFL. I'm not saying that he's out of touch, but McCain thinks a Blackberry is something that he puts on his shredded wheat in the morning. If the only way you can get an audience is to go where the people have congregated for something else and then...you've got big problems.
Why are the sailors from American nuclear-powered submarine USS Houston leaking radioactive water in Japan so shamelessly pro-Obama? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080807/ap_on_re_as/japan_us_nuclear_sub How dared they invalidate McCain's major argument that "nuclear power is safe" and "there has never been an accident in 60 years!" As it's no longer true, I'm sure that the McCain campaign will clarify John McCain's assertion shortly. Anything short of an apology for spewing misinformation shall not be accepted. To put it simply, it's a blatant lie now.
ExxonMcCain08
This thing about the republicans turning some failed policies to their advantage is nothing new. The Republicans have figured out that the majority of the voters in this country are idiots. Don't you ever wonder why there are so many republicans when these idiots are the worst in the world! The republicans know how to used the media to get their lies accross. Just watch what is going on in this election. Who do you think is the best candidate by far. Obama for sure. It isn't even close. The world knows this, but not the American people!
Scandalous
The Obama campaign tried to run ads on gas pumps. They purchased the time and space, and then the gas stations rejected the ads because they attacked oil companies and John McCain.
From years and even decades to make a difference we could see to now only months and we'll all be Saaaved.....Mr. Maverick said so hissself.... Right.. who's selling bridges??? I'm getting sick and tired of the same ol same ol bullshit about oil and energy and all the rest of it... drill drill drill, it's the ONLY freaking way .... All so some fat fuck in an executive suite can maintain his second condo in Dubai or where the fuck ever...Oh yea, and the Saudies can get even richer off our backs and bank accounts... Jesus, even Paris fucking Hilton has a better idea on this shit... Ya know shit has gone round the bend when a rich gossip debutante chic has a better plan then the so called 'experts' in the biz or big shot politicians have to offer...... J.S. shows us the stupidity of it all once again... Will it wake anyone up to the fact we need 'real' alternatives to this oil addiction???...... sadly....it's doubtful.......JD
gonzalez @ 21:
And when Gingrich almost singlehandedly brought the entire religious right into the fold, it proved their theory to be very sound indeed.
It takes a comedy show to point out the flaws in our system, how sad.
"What’s worse, they somehow manage to convince a majority of Americans in the process that their so-called “solution” ... is somehow a great idea."
Yeah, they're really good at it...In fact they're so good, they convinced this guy too.
Now that's what I call "change".
Go figure.
Johnny2BadObamaCavedOnOffShoreDrilling @ 26:
This kind of disappointment breaks my heart too, but all I can tell you is that a McCain Presidency will be more of a Bushite "3rd Term" than an Obama one would be ... especially from Day One.
What America needs most right now is a president with the least amount of hand and footprints all over his (or her) body.
John @ 15:
Yep and they're all lying.
"The Democratic presidential candidate said he would back limited offshore drilling as part of a broader package, signaling support for legislation unveiled by a bipartisan group of senators just before Congress recessed on Friday. "My interest is in making sure we've got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices," Obama told The Palm Beach Post in Florida on Friday.
(my emphasis)
Johnny2BadObamaCavedOnOffShoreDrilling @ 28:
(Sorry....corrected blockquotes)
hello @ 27:
"Least" or less? Cuz with the guy with the least never announced his candidacy. Mores the pity.
Johnny2BadObamaCavedOnOffShoreDrilling @ 30:
ita
If I may just add-- Mr. Gore supports Barack Obama, so that's just going to have to be good enough for me.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/15/with_crises_in_fuel_food_housing
Democracy Now! July 15, 2008 (Excerpt):
AMY GOODMAN: Food, fuel, housing, climate change—talk about these crises. First, start with oil.
NAOMI KLEIN: Yeah, it’s—I mean, there really is a kind of a tsunami of shocks facing not just the economy but people’s lives, people’s real lives. They’re all intersecting. They’re making each other worse. And I think we really are seeing some very live examples of what a write about in the book, which is how there is a strategy. And this is what I mean by “the shock doctrine.” There is a clear political strategy, and has been for several decades, to exploit these moments when people are desperate for quick-fix solutions and more inclined to believe in a kind of a magical cure, to push through very, very unpopular policies that don’t actually solve the crisis at hand, that don’t actually help people, but are incredibly profitable for multinational corporations.
And I think we are seeing a very vivid example of this with this speech from George Bush yesterday, where he is taking a very real crisis, which is demanding complex and profound changes in the way we live, in the way we organize our economy, but particularly in the need to diversify our energy sources. And I think there’s a tremendous actual amount of support for this idea from the public. And he comes in—and I call him in my recent column the “extortionist-in-chief.” Basically what he’s saying is he’s holding the country ransom. He’s not taking any of these long-term policy routes to dealing with climate change, to dealing with high oil prices. It’s just let us drill, or, you know, nobody can go on summer vacation. And he’s selling a myth, which is that by allowing drilling, the price at the pump is going to go down, which is really interesting, because just yesterday, in response to Bush’s announcement, oil went up, and oil futures went up. And so, the price of oil is going to keep going up.
#33 CMINCA
Thank you very much for posting this quote. And for those here who would like to watch the entire interview, it's still available for download at:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/15/with_crises_in_fuel_food_housing
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3340274697167011147&hl=en here is a neat lil vid for you oil lovers out there :) I am sure you are used to being lied too...... Cheers!!
Isnt this interesting http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3340274697167011147&hl=en
Spickle @ 6:
That last laugh is bound to leave every thinking person in tears.
Umm @ 35:
*Fascinating*
Love the time shortening on how long it would take to see the drilling produce oil.....great job by the Daily Show.
short video...mcBush you missed vote for renewable why
your smitten with oil looks it's all over your hands
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/48114-get-to-work-mccain
drill.......short video
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/48011-the-compromise-drill-anywhere-plan
Umm@35;
Well I didn't have the time to watch all 75 minutes of it at this time, but I saw enough of Mr. Williams presentation to agree, yea, given what's been said, this is a very interesting alternative narative... And the fact is, given how many other lies about so many other things are touted as the truth by so many so-called honest brokers and experts these days, I wouldn't be surprised if its an accurate reporting of the real situaition....
But here's the thing for me... Whether or not the North slope has enough oil down there to suppy America energy needs for the next 200 years or whatever... It is still a major polluting agent to the environment. It's still the same technology that is slowly killing our planet. And whether or not you believe that, the facts are we homo-sapiens have screwed up the ecology faster in the last 100 to 150 years then mankind had managed to do in the previous 2000 plus years prior.... And this is totally tied to our technological advances in oil extraction as well as the creation of the car and our transportation choices regarding cars....
At this point, oil is a dead end because of what its doing to the environment as a by-product. And once we get to a certain point, it will be game over for us whether or not we have enough oil to run a fleet of 68 427 vettes for hundreds of years or not...
My opinion, And I don't cop to this lightly because I love a good 60's era muscle car as much as the next frustrated car jock...
But truth is... We need to leave that oil, however much of it is there in the ground and move on.. Put the money and energy and time into a reliable non-polluting alternative... Shitcan the internal combustion engine and just pry that oil monkey off our backs once and for all..... Or we'll all be paying with our health and lives sooner rather than later... And mother nature??? She ain't gonna give a damn either way.
Just like it is with the Marines t-shirt... She'll let us all die off and let "geeoodd' sort it out.........................JD
The Daily Show has really done a good job showing how inconsistent the Bush Administration and Senator McCain have been. Too bad some American's will most likely fall for this new strategy hopefully the democrats will step up and minimize these losses.
That was a great one.
Why doesnt anyone ever ask why the Oil Companies dont drill on the land they already hold?
Roger in Ohio @ 44:
obama has and he says "you don't use it you lose it"
McCain is morphing into an assclown before our very eyes.
Newt Gingrich was on CSPAN yesterday (he's doing his DRILL HERE DRILL NOW tour) and said he wanted every American to take out their cell phones when they are at the pump filling up and call their congressman and tell them they need to DRILL HERE DRILL NOW.
Question. Didn't I hear somewhere that you shouldn't use your cell phone at the pump because of the possibility of a spark starting an explosion? Anyone?
crazylikeafox @ 48:
A cellular phone while talking actually dissipates a lot of power, if you put that power near fumes from fuel you can very easily ignite. And thus, you can have a nice explosion.
It is actually illegal to operate cell phones near fuel pumps in many parts of the industrialized world.
Alas, I have seen people in the USA smoking while at the pump. I once asked an idiot at a gas station to please not smoke, and he not only yelled at but actually became belligerent. I don't care about the amount of stupid people in this country (there are idiots anywhere in the world unfortunately). What bothers me is the zeal which with they defend their stupidity... is as if people lost their sense of shame long time ago.
Drilling is going to cost money. Drilling is why gas prices are going up.
McCain made a good 3 or 4 hundred bucks in oil profits in those few seconds alone, that's why he wanted those Harleys-a-rumblin'.
//snark//
The only point John Stewart misses on, is the fact that, back in George H Bush's days, gas prices were low enough for oil companies to push for less drilling in order to bring prices at profit level (while pushing subsidies to make for the interim downsizing). Hence, the false environmental stand.
I forgot...
stenkarazine@hotmail.com
constituent @ 46:
No, he didn't he said..."Here's some more."
Don't let silly things like facts get in yer way.
The video's not working for some reason
mccain gives me the creeps. What an angry little runt. His wife scares me too. Very unpleasant people.
Remember we are 'The United Corporate States of America'.
Plain & Simple!
It is just too bad all Americans do not watch the Daily Show and a piece like that.... it just cuts through the bullshit...
Login or Register to post comments.