The American Spectator

Reader Mail

In the Driver's Seat

2.1.06 @ 12:01AM

VOLVOS ON THE RIGHT
Re: Ben Stein's Oil Is Well:

Ben Stein's article is a great reminder about just who gets the profits from oil. The bigger problem is our head in the sand approach to refineries and U.S. exploration of oil. The Bush administration has to engage the American population in a debate about the need to increase U.S. oil extraction and refining capacity.

The U.S. does not lack for oil. We lack the urgency to extract oil on U.S. land and off our coasts. Couple this with an almost suicidal rejection of building refineries and we find ourselves at the mercy of every tin pot dictator and autocratic regime.

It is no longer valid to say oil is a finite resource. U.S. oil exploration and increased refining capacity will ensure sufficient assets are available until new technologies come on line in the next 10-20 years.
-- Dave Ward
Washington, D.C.

Hey, tell Stein to lay off Volvo. I'm tired of Volvo being a code word for bashing the left. Please bash the left but leave Volvo out of it. Would you prefer Volvos on the road or red Civic coupes with fancy wheel, a big, loud kazoo, crap hanging from the mirror, spoiler, neon lights under the rocker panels and some cool dude with his cap backwards sticking his hand out the window shaped in form of handgun going "bang, bang"?

Up until Volvo became Ford and went front wheel drive, they made cars with very good drive trains. I have learned how to work on them, and rebuild them for parents who want to put their 16 year olds in one or the handicapped, too poor to afford even broken-down Caviliers and Neons. I own a couple dozen Volvos. Wise up -- the left now drives SUVs, black, fancy wheels, Escalade preferred.
-- Eric

Once again, Ben, thanks for taking the time to try and explain to the morons in the Media and Democrat party a simple economic truth. I'm afraid that this, too, will fall on deaf ears. Ten BILLION = Obscene!

Funny how such great socialists like Kennedy, Corzine, Kohl, Dayton, Rockefeller and others forget how they got their money. I'm waiting anxiously the call for an investigation of Goldman Sachs, Kohls Department Stores and Dayton Hudson.

Yeah, I know, not in my lifetime.
-- unsigned

Great article as usual Mr. Stein. Now if we could get the loony environmentalists to stop blocking drilling in America, maybe we could keep the oil here and not worry so much about what was going on in the rest of the world.
-- Elaine Kyle

Right on the point, as usual sir!

However; would not drilling off the Gulf and ANWR give us greater control?
-- Jim

HOWLERS OF THE YEAR
Re: Christopher Orlet's Word of the Year:

I must take issue with the level of snark in Christopher Orlet's "Word of the Year." While I certainly agree there were others who deserved Time's "Person of the Year" designation more than Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono in 2005, nevertheless, of all the celebrity self-appointed experts on geopolitics, surely Bono ranks near the bottom of the list of those who deserve to be mocked for their efforts. Bono has actually taken the time to educate himself on the issue of African debt by talking to people with all kinds of different ideas on how to resolve it, and he has worked seriously with American government officials in particular, regardless of politics (he gets along well with Jesse Helms and President Bush). Sean Penn, Bono is not. Mr. Orlet should lose some of the attitude (and, if I may suggest, also try out a few U2 albums post-"Joshua Tree" -- they're still outstanding).

And as for "The Colbert Report," lighten up! I'm as conservative as they come, and I find the show hilarious. The American Dialect Society might have picked "truthiness" as a slam against President Bush, but that's their spin. Colbert is just spoofing O'Reilly (who also likes the show, by the way), and "heartfelt" wouldn't have been nearly as funny as "truthiness" in context. Of course the word is awkward -- it's a joke. So roll your eyes at the ADS -- but then go download "Colbert" to your iPod, and enjoy.
-- Kimberly Blackwell
Rockville, Maryland

Letter to the Editor

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