# Gas hits $2.21 a gallon -- where's the liberal media, dammit? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 5, 2005, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828 "2005-04-05T12:24:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/41 "2005-04-05T16:30:13Z")
Crap. Here’s the link: [http://www.energybulletin.net/3574.html](http://www.energybulletin.net/3574.html) > [@Arwin](#): > > Not for us - that just makes oil cheaper, normally. Imagine what would happen here if the dollar went up, oil would be even more expensive. So are you folks paying more to fill up at the pump? Or have fuel prices remained relatively flat over the past couple years? And a significant percentage of the automobiles in your country are fueled with diesel, right? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/42 "2005-04-05T16:33:47Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > Haven’t seen ANYTHING linking Bush’s Middle East adventures with rising gas prices, or noting that Bush is an oilman from an oil family and isn’t it interestng the way oil prices keep going up? > > If we had a liberal media … any kind of liberal media … I should think we’d see a LOT of stuff like this. It’s almost like the media is dominated by conservatives nowadays … Ummm, maybe because there isn’t a link??? Demand is going thru the roof, and that drives up the price. You heard of the supply/demand curve, right? As for the “liberal media”, what’s Air America got to say about this? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/43 "2005-04-05T16:34:46Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Here on the west coast of the U.S. our options are walk or drive. [Sez you.](http://transit.511.org/providers/index.asp) The lowest price right now in San Francisco is $2.40. via [Gas Buddy](http://gasbuddy.com/), which all North Americans should bookmark and check daily. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/44 "2005-04-05T16:50:05Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > What’s with the bongos ? 😕 I wish I knew, lad (or ladette), I wish I knew. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/45 "2005-04-05T16:59:32Z")
**Troy** Sure, some areas have SOME public transportation but I do not think they are comprable to Europe. I lived in Europe for several years and never had or needed a car. Now I live in California and could not get to work if I did not drive. My point was not that there is no Public Transportation in the U.S., but that it is not a priority here. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/46 "2005-04-05T17:05:07Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Drive 10K miles a year in an SUV and you’re a villain. Do 3X that mileage in a hybrid car and you’re an environmentalist. It all depends on why you’re driving your hybrid 30 000 miles per year. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/47 "2005-04-05T17:17:50Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > **Troy** > Sure, some areas have SOME public transportation but I do not think they are comprable to Europe. I lived in Europe for several years and never had or needed a car. Now I live in California and could not get to work if I did not drive. > > My point was not that there is no Public Transportation in the U.S., but that it is not a priority here. As I said, I lived in West L.A. While L.A. _does_ have a subway system of a sort, it’s of little use on the West Side. If I wanted to take Metro Rail to work, I would have had to drive to Hollywood (at least 20 minutes, depending on traffic), catch the train downtown, then take the train to Anaheim. From there, I would have had to have taken a bus or have a spare car to get to the office at the 22 and the 5. Alternatively, I could drive down to Long Beach (about half way to work) and catch a train there; but I don’t know where it would have taken me. So the only realistic public transportation on the West Side are the bus lines. I took the bus to/from Marina del Rey when I took my motorcycle to the shop. It’s about five miles, but the trip took as long as 45 minutes. So basically, if you live in L.A. you need a personal vehicle. I lived by the 405/10 interchange. I’d cross old RR tracks on Westwood Blvd., and there was a RR bridge over Palms/Exposition/National (the streets are minorly funky at that spot). In my 16 years in L.A., I saw the tracks over Westwood Blvd. taken up. Too bad. They could have left them there and provided light rail service from Santa Monica to downtown. The right-of-way is still there, as are some stretches of track. If L.A. were _serious_ about providing public transportation, they could make use of them; but the NIMBY folks would nix that idea if it were ever brought up. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/48 "2005-04-05T17:37:11Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > Hmm, good point, RTF. Here’s an [article from 12/11/04](http://www.energybulletin.net/3574.html') which makes a claim similar to mine. They, however, have added a kind of regulating valve between the relationship of oil prices and the deflated dollar - the trade deficit. Might be interesting to plot the numbers of all three of these things on a timeline for the last couple years and see if we can find a relationship. That may be, but there’s a lot going on there. If you’re espousing their argument in this discussion (I’m not sure you are), care to summarize? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/49 "2005-04-05T17:51:00Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Ummm, maybe because there isn’t a link??? Demand is going thru the roof, and that drives up the price. You heard of the supply/demand curve, right? > > As for the “liberal media”, what’s Air America got to say about this? Whether there’s a link or not is beside the point … if there were an active liberal media anything like the active conservative media that attacked Clinton and Gore and now props up Bush, you’d see attacks on Bush for rising gas prices as a matter of course, link or not. IT WOULDN’T MATTER. As for Air America, don’t have it in my area. You can get them live on the Internet via a website, but most of the time when I’m on a computer, I’ve got better things to do with than use it as a transister radio. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/50 "2005-04-05T17:55:06Z")
And may I add, it’s not so much the lack of liberal media I’m on about … that’s totally well established … but the total pass Bush is getting on rising oil passes in ALL media. You’d think even politically neutral media would be trying to stir up some controversy by blaming Bush for what’s going down in terms of oil prices. But NOBODY’S doing it. And not blaming a sitting President for economic misfortunes … that’s fucking weird. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/51 "2005-04-05T18:14:10Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > The current high pump costs are not driven by the price of crude but by the price of refining. The US has just about hit its current refining capacity, which appears insufficient to meet world demand. BP revealed just yesterday that its own refinining margins are rapidly contracting. Demand is certainly robust enough for refinining companies to further increase these costs. > > I am sure that Bush would love to solve this problem by inducing oil companies to build more refineries, but _somehow_ I doubt that this idea would gain much traction on the bongo circuit. Try to expand existing refineries or build new ones and we’ll be knee-deep in the shit passed collectively by the treehuggers. Look how long they kept us out of ANWAR. Build a new refinery? Like hell. It might disturb the habitat of the three-dicked titmouse or something. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/52 "2005-04-05T18:48:39Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > And may I add, it’s not so much the lack of liberal media I’m on about … that’s totally well established … but the total pass Bush is getting on rising oil passes in ALL media. You’d think even politically neutral media would be trying to stir up some controversy by blaming Bush for what’s going down in terms of oil prices. But NOBODY’S doing it. And not blaming a sitting President for economic misfortunes … that’s fucking weird. Bill O’Reilly has ragged on Bush quite a bit about the increasing price of oil. Maybe you’ve got your politically wings mixed up. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/53 "2005-04-05T19:54:00Z")
Why don’t you just buy yourself an [air powered car](http://www.theaircar.com/) and then you won’t have to worry about how much gas costs? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/54 "2005-04-05T20:13:44Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Bill O’Reilly has ragged on Bush quite a bit about the increasing price of oil. Considering how many other times O’Reilly has fellated Bush on his program, I’m sure this is just a token example of his alleged “independence.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/55 "2005-04-05T20:31:27Z")
> [@drm](#): > > It all depends on why you’re driving your hybrid 30 000 miles per year. Or on any of the tens or hundreds of voluntary decisions (beyond what model of vehicle one drives) that add up to being a responsible consumer of energy. Or not. The G.O.P. solution to diminishing oil resources seems to be “Let’s drill in the ANWR!” The Demo response is “No!!! Let’s make SUVs get better mileage!” While raising mileage standards for “light trucks” (including all the non-SUVs that no one talks about) makes some sense, neither of these band-aid approaches comes close to a coherent energy policy. It’s possibly the most colossal failure of GWB’s administration. And his opponents are too scared or distracted to do much better. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/56 "2005-04-05T21:01:41Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > FWIW, I refuelled Friday in Birch Bay, WA. $2.40/gallon. When I lived in L.A., gas was routinely $0.30/gallon more expensive than in WA. I wonder what it is now? > > . I paid 2.47 last night on the corner of Foothill and Mountain in San Bernadino County for regular unleaded. I have no idea if it’s much worse in LA. I expect by this time next week it’ll be 2.50. I know it’s in 3.00 at Baker. According to gas buddy, the cheapest you can find it in my area is 2.33, but I would have to drive pretty far out of my way, and that’s probably counter-productive. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/57 "2005-04-05T21:19:33Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I know it’s in 3.00 at Baker. So much for my trip to The Mad Greek for lunch! ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/58 "2005-04-05T22:03:25Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > And may I add, it’s not so much the lack of liberal media I’m on about … that’s totally well established … but the total pass Bush is getting on rising oil passes in ALL media. You’d think even politically neutral media would be trying to stir up some controversy by blaming Bush for what’s going down in terms of oil prices. But NOBODY’S doing it. And not blaming a sitting President for economic misfortunes … that’s fucking weird. Look. If you want to blame the coke-addicted, draft-dodging frat boy for something, blame him for something that’s his fault. Lord knows there’s no shortage. But prices go up because more people, worldwide, are driving cars. Period. As for the media, observing that they give a pass to Bush while blaming Clinto for high prices nine years ago, why bother? They’re the media. They’re controlled by the Republican Party. Giving Bush a pass is what they do. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/59 "2005-04-05T23:00:59Z")
> [@ITR champion](#): > > As for the media, observing that they give a pass to Bush while blaming Clinto for high prices nine years ago, why bother? Was Clinton blamed by “the press” nine years ago for high gas prices? How would one even go about determining that? The argument posed in the OP was made up. E.C. in fact has no idea what the press’s reaction would be if a Democrat were president during this recent run up in prices. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828/60 "2005-04-05T23:14:10Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Drive 10K miles a year in an SUV and you’re a villain. Do 3X that mileage in a hybrid car and you’re an environmentalist. > Go figure. What a meaningless comment. Drive 10K miles a year in an SUV _when you don’t need the SUV and could easily drive a more efficient car and just want to own it to make your penis feel larger_ and you’re, well, not a villain, but some sort of Bad Guy. It’s entirely possible for a true non-hypocritical environmentalist to drive 100K miles in a year in an SUV, if they really need to the SUV because the storage space allows them to transport tanks of baby salmon to new habitats (or what have you), and they walk or ride bikes when they can. Sheesh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-hits-2-21-a-gallon-wheres-the-liberal-media-dammit/297828.md?page=4)