-Caveat Lector- Fwd Post: Wag the Dog part 3 greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread 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. -- ([EMAIL PROTECTED]), September 25, 2000 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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