# Damn, that didn't take long. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 2, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624 "2006-02-02T03:26:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624/21 "2006-02-02T12:14:08Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > But go ahead and learn. It sounds like a valid pursuit of knowledge that you can pass on to future generations. The subject matter should produce great thinkers that will actually be able to work on these great problems we face in the near future. > > Not like science and math have any more importance than Early Spanish modern literature. It’s a nice subject and all, and worthy of continued study, but someone with a strength in that field better make a better argument than you did in your OP. Wow, Duffer, I already had a sneaking suspicion that you were a complete jerk, but thanks for proving once and for all that you are a condescending, smug asshole of the highest order. That was totally uncalled for, and since we are in the Pit : fuck you with a fucking pneumatic jackhammer ! ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624/22 "2006-02-02T13:07:05Z")
Hahahaha science. Experts. ROFLMAO. LOL. This is the same Bush who quite often gets called on twisting scientific data (or ignoring it completely) in order to further political “agendas”. Oh please. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624/23 "2006-02-02T13:10:39Z")
Did you even read the fucking article? This is what wasn’t meant literally: > [@](#): > > He said the broad goal was to displace foreign oil imports, from anywhere, with domestic alternatives. He acknowledged that oil is a freely traded commodity bought and sold globally by private firms. Consequently, it would be very difficult to reduce imports from any single region, especially the most oil-rich region on Earth. > > Asked why the president used the words “the Middle East” when he didn’t really mean them, one administration official said Bush wanted to dramatize the issue in a way that “every American sitting out there listening to the speech understands.” The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he feared that his remarks might get him in trouble. The non-literal part was “Middle East” not “reduce foreign oil” The goal is still the same, reduce imports by an amount equivalent to 75% of what we would import from the ME. Of course, most of the Bush Bashers will read the headline, come up with their own evil scheme for Bush and tell us all about it, instead of actually attempting to understand what is said. ---
**Author:** ![aurelian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@aurelian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurelian)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624/24 "2006-02-02T16:05:03Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Of course, most of the Bush Bashers will read the headline, come up with their own evil scheme for Bush and tell us all about it, instead of actually attempting to understand what is said. Oh, clearly. That’s why he’s cutting money to the government agency that funds research into alternative energy. And I’ll tell you what **duffer** , I’ll “learn” to accept your “concession” when you learn to give one that doesn’t contain poorly veiled potshots. Deal? After all, if Bush had studied something about the Spanish empire, he might have been able to learn something about the world today. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624/25 "2006-02-02T16:14:55Z")
> [@aurelian](#): > > From [here](http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/13767738.htm?source=rss&channel=krwashington_nation) > > \< **aurelian** groans.\> Another day, another Bush Pit thread. Who does he think he’s fooling? Dude, we know that whenever you praise a committee/ organization/ department/ idea as being really important and significant, it means you’re about to slash its funding. Why bother with the rhetorical curlicues? I already know you’re going to do things that go against my beliefs; why bother pretending otherwise? Yestarday, I was talking to someone about this. I said "When I heard that part about getting rid of our oil addiction, I wondered “How long before he forgets all about it?” Then I looked at my watch and said “Okay, he’s forgotten”. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624/26 "2006-02-02T16:29:56Z")
> [@aurelian](#): > > Oh, clearly. That’s why he’s cutting money to the government agency that funds research into alternative energy. Then complain about THAT, not some pathetic misinterpretation of a quote from someone on his staff. This flipflopping nonsense is just moronic “I hate Bush” babble. There was no flip flop from the SOTU speech, he isn’t reversing course after one day, there was a clarification about Middle East oil vs worldwide oil imports, big fucking deal. A real cut of a real budget from a real important energy department is a real deal and deserves complaining about. Inventing a complaint because of your choice to misinterpret a quote is bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624/27 "2006-02-02T16:30:45Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > You’re defending bullshit **duffer**. > The president pulled that 75% number out of his ass. Methane production! ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624/28 "2006-02-02T16:42:36Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > the Jonathan Winters routine \*What the Colonel meant was… \* about the drunken Air Force Colonel giving an interview in which nearly everything he said was followed up and corrected by a PR man who was in constant attendance. This is what bugs me most about this. This press release will get little or no attention, while the SOTU had millions of viewers. ---
**Author:** ![aurelian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@aurelian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurelian)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624/29 "2006-02-02T16:59:58Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > A real cut of a real budget from a real important energy department is a real deal and deserves complaining about. Inventing a complaint because of your choice to misinterpret a quote is bullshit. Yowza, someone forgot their Prozac today. I’m sorry, where exactly is the misinterpretation? The only misinterpretation I made was actually interpreting each word in the sentence as being a deliberate, literally-meaning element of what must have been a carefully-crafted speech. If he didn’t mean Middle East, he shouldn’t have said Middle East; and if he wants to reduce oil dependence, cutting the agency in charge of research seems contrary. But now I know: when Bush says “Middle East”, he really means “not the Middle East.” My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624/30 "2006-02-02T17:01:00Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Then complain about THAT, not some pathetic misinterpretation of a quote from someone on his staff… Did you not bother to read the OP or did you just kneejerk defend Bush? Comments about the cut budget are in there. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624/31 "2006-02-02T17:08:20Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Then complain about THAT, not some pathetic misinterpretation of a quote from someone on his staff. This flipflopping nonsense is just moronic “I hate Bush” babble. There was no flip flop from the SOTU speech, he isn’t reversing course after one day, there was a clarification about Middle East oil vs worldwide oil imports, big fucking deal. > > A real cut of a real budget from a real important energy department is a real deal and deserves complaining about. Inventing a complaint because of your choice to misinterpret a quote is bullshit. You know… if he just said what he meant, he wouldn’t have this problem. But of course, we do have the Bush appologists who… well… come up with reasons not to blame Bush for anything. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624/32 "2006-02-02T17:21:04Z")
Was that so hard? Now you’re complaining about what he actually did, which was say Middle East, implying a targeted reduction, when the reduction can only be general instead of targeted. This clarification has zero to do with any immediate backpedaling on his goal to reduce dependence on foreign oil, that reversal will come later I’m sure. Nor does an October budget cut indicate a change in plans from two days ago to today. There’s nothing stopping him from throwing money their way next month and hiring more people. I’m not trying to defend the guy, it’s just that this statement is more or less a non-issue, it doesn’t change the intent or validity of the plan it just clarifies something that the speech left unclear. Feel free to think he isn’t going to come through, god knows he’s made more than enough screwups, but why bother citing this as your proof? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-that-didnt-take-long/342624.md?page=1)