Fair use Act usage: for research / educational purposes.

from:http://nypostonline.com/postopinion/editorial/11311.htm


hope this format works.

                                      WAG THE DOG,
                                          PART III 




                                  Not so long ago, when President Clinton
                                  wanted to distract the public, he'd lob
                                  some cruise missiles at terrorists - or
                                  maybe bomb Baghdad. 

                                  Times have changed. But not much. 

                                  Clinton's midafternoon announcement
                                  that he'll dip into the nation's strategic
                                  oil stockpiles came virtually
                                  simultaneously with the White House
                                  release of a log of recent Lincoln
                                  Bedroom guests. 

                                  Call it "Wag the Dog - Part III." (Part I
                                  starred Clinton bombing Sudan and
                                  Afghanistan days after 'fessing up to his
                                  Monica Lewinsky affair. Part II featured
                                  bombs over Baghdad in the midst of
                                  impeachment proceedings.) 

                                  Sleepovergate, of course, is not
                                  Monicagate. (Besides, the Pentagon ran
                                  down its cruise missile supply during
                                  the Bosnia adventure, and still hasn't
                                  restocked.) So Saddam needn't have
                                  feared fire from the sky meant to deflect
                                  attention from the Lincoln Log. 

                                  This time, Clinton's weapon was the
                                  Strategic Petroleum Reserve - a
                                  571-million-barrel stockpile created for
                                  use in wartime and other emergencies. 

                                  Yesterday, there was a sure-enough
                                  Clinton emergency - not a war, but a
                                  credibility gap. 

                                  The sleepover list - significantly -
                                  wasn't cross-referenced by date, so it's
                                  impossible to determine who visited
                                  relative to which donation. 

                                  But it did include major donors to the
                                  campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Al
                                  Gore and Democratic campaign
                                  committees. One, S. Daniel Abraham,
                                  reportedly gave $700,000 to the
                                  Democratic National Committee and
                                  $148,000 to the Democratic Senatorial
                                  Campaign Committee - this year alone. 

                                  And the Clintons' favorite big-money
                                  man, Terry McAuliffe - who ginned up
                                  the original mortgage money for their
                                  Chappaqua manse - was on the list as
                                  well. 

                                  This is all legal. But talk about
                                  chutzpah! After years of funny-money
                                  scandals, misuse of the Lincoln
                                  Bedroom and 

                                  a tenure forever known for deceit,
                                  dissembling and Oval Office
                                  extracurriculars, the Clintons once again
                                  are thumbing their noses at the public. 

                                  Another First Couple might bend over
                                  backward to avoid even an appearance
                                  of impropriety. Not this one. 

                                  White House Press Secretary Joe
                                  Lockhart said the sleepovers were
                                  mostly for friends. And "who do you
                                  expect you'd go to [for contributions] ...
                                  other than your friends." 

                                  Who indeed - as if the S. David
                                  Abrahams and Terry McAuliffes of the
                                  world would have two minutes, let
                                  alone $2, for the Clintons if they lived
                                  anywhere other than 1600 Pennsylvania
                                  Ave. 

                                  Hillary and Al Gore both stand to gain
                                  with this move. 

                                  * Hillary, because the oil ploy uses up
                                  newsprint, ink and air time that
                                  otherwise would have been dedicated to
                                  sleepover stories. 

                                  * Al, because Clinton's oil decision was
                                  just what Gore called for the day before.
                                  (What a coincidence!) 

                                  But it's still going to be an expensive
                                  winter in the Northeast. 

                                  Some 30 million barrels are to be
                                  drawn from the reserve - a million a day
                                  on average, compared with the country's
                                  18-million-barrel-a-day habit. 

                                  Talk about a drop in the bucket - OPEC
                                  can wipe that out by cutting production
                                  by as little as 4 percent. 

                                  And Gore understands this quite well.
                                  Check out what he said just last
                                  February: "All OPEC would have to do
                                  is cut back a little on the supply, and
                                  they'd wipe out any impact from
                                  releasing oil from the reserve." 

                                  But here's the kicker: The nation's
                                  refining capacity already is running at
                                  effective full capacity - 94.7 percent,
                                  according to the Petroleum Institute. So
                                  while the release of strategic-reserve
                                  oil may have a temporary,
                                  psychological, impact on market prices,
                                  it will scarcely increase the nation's
                                  supply of refined petroleum. 

                                  Meanwhile, a precious asset in our
                                  national defense is being squandered. 

                                  Better had Clinton bombed Baghdad. 




--  (perry@ofuzzy1.com), September 25, 2000

Answers

Big question on this particular Wag The Dog maneuver is....will it be effective?

This time, I think not.

-- R2D2 (r2d2@earthend.net), September 25, 2000.