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Jan. 8, 2009

Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Arab regimes secretly rooting for Israel?

Larry Elder: Israelis and Palestinians: Who's David, Who's Goliath?

Jeff Jacoby: Yes, it's anti-Semitism

Jan. 7, 2009

Jonah Goldberg: Who are the real Nazis?

Anne Applebaum: Pointless Peace Proposals

Jan. 6, 2009

Caroline B. Glick: Iran's Gazan diversion?

Dennis Prager: Dissecting Dershowitz

Jan. 5, 2009

Mark Steyn: Gaza has its version of rocket scientists

Mona Charen: The So-called International Community

Jan. 2, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Having a holy tongue

Caroline B. Glick : Hamas' march to victory

Dec. 31, 2008

Dore Gold: Is Israel Using 'Disproportionate Force'?

Renee Enna:: Succulent 'stewp' is quick, easy fix

Dec. 30, 2008

Jonathan Mark: Israel's Response Is Disproportionate

Wesley Pruden: It's time once more to blame the Jews

Dec. 29, 2008

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Chanukah: 'Give me Judaism or give me death'

Michael B. Oren: A crisis and an opportunity

Dec. 26, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: When the past meets the future

Caroline B. Glick: Iran and Hamas do Christmas

Dec. 24, 2008

Rabbi Dovid Zauderer: Judaism's Santa problem

The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman CHANUKAH FORK-FINGER FOOD FEAST

Dec. 23, 2008

Caroline B. Glick: Repeating failure in Gaza

Dec. 22, 2008

Rabbi Boruch Leff: Too many Jews today are missing the intended purpose of one of Judaism's most beloved holidays

Barry Rubin: Liar, liar, pants on cease-fire

Dec. 19, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Final Battlefield

Caroline B. Glick: Betting on a dead horse

Dec. 18, 2008

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: Juicy Chef's hella top, hella bottom, hallelujah in the middle

Craig Crossman : More gifts for geeks --- and those who love them

Dec. 17, 2008

Dion Nissenbaum: Israel kicks out outrageously biased UN official

Craig Crossman : Gifts for geeks --- and those who love them

Dec. 16, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: The Gift of Joy

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Uncle Shariah

Dec. 15, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Expert witnesses who put themselves first

Barry Rubin: What they say isn't what you hear

Dec. 12, 2008

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Can the Bible be a secular language?

Caroline B. Glick: What a PM Netanyahu faces from Washington

Dec. 11, 2008

Rabbi Leiby Burnham: Our role in the Divine's global corporation, World Inc.

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: A retro-tasting pareve pot pie made with a light hand

Dec. 10, 2008

Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn: Groom admits he was caught "red handed"

Kara McGuire: No money for gifts? No problem

Dec. 9, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Can I make my boss treat me fairly?

Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Next Steps in the Indo-Pakistani Crisis

Dec. 8, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: 'Chanukah Bush' flap and graciousness

Mark Steyn: Jews get killed, but Muslims feel vulnerable

Dec. 5, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Truth --- The Key to Gratitude

Jeff Jacoby: UN's obsession is grotesque and Orwellian

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review June 6, 2006 / 10 Sivan 5766

Advice for the GOP: Want to remain in power? Pretend there's a viable energy policy that goes beyond running cars with Mazola

By James Lileks


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Republican panic might be misplaced. All may not be lost. The good news? There are still a few months until the election. The bad news? Most of those months are in the summer, and most people would rather have their teeth extracted through their nostrils than pay attention to politics now. That said, here's some valuable advice for the GOP, if they want to remain in power: Pretend you have a viable energy policy that goes beyond running cars with Mazola.

Conservation is wise, of course; the GOP should come out against parking your Yukon in the desert with the windows down and the AC running. Electric cars are nice — just plug them into the wall, and they recharge with pixie dust! Or coal, or something. Whatever. Bird-shredding wind farms will help out too, and they're very pretty. But until we have Mr. Fusion personal reactors that run on coffee grounds and beer cans, these measures are insufficient to meet our future needs. So press for nuclear energy, and lots of it.

If someone brings up Chernobyl, point out that hungover Russians will not be building our plants. If someone brings up "The China Syndrome," note that more people have probably been injured driving to a Jane Fonda movie than harmed by nuclear power. But that's just the start. Get behind ANWR drilling, and if someone asks if it's worth disturbing barren wilderness so a soccer mom can drive her SUV, answer, "Yes." You'd be surprised how well that polls. Especially among soccer moms.

Press for laws that open up the coasts to drilling, too. If people complain that the rigs will spoil the ocean view, propose legislation that will dismantle the Washington Monument, whose oil-rig-style shape obviously ruins the peace of the Reflecting Pool. Hire Jon Stewart's audience to whoop at your rhetorical comeback, because in the modern style of debating, that'll mean you're right.

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Propose tax breaks for new refinery construction, funded by raiding the National Endowment for the Arts budget. When the usual suspects shriek, note that affordable gas is more important to national security than subsidized dance performances about transgendered Tibetan goatherds. The removal of a subsidy will be seen as an attempt to "censor" the arts and return us to the stifling cultural conformity of the '50s, when it was illegal not to watch "The Dinah Shore Show." Ignore the critics. There are worse things than snooty Washington Post arts section articles that accuse you of philistinism. Five dollar gas is one of them.

What's the downside? It's not possible for the left to demagogue the GOP's Mother Earth policy any more than they have. President Bush could invent a time machine, go back to the 19th century, impose the Kyoto accords and smother the inventor of the internal-combustion engine in his crib, and the GOP would still be regarded as the party that wants to drive Hummers through melting glaciers. Those evil conservatives hate the Earth! They have a secret spare planet on the other side of the sun. Of course they don't care about anything.

That's the reality. Deal with it. Accept a few tepid hellos from Sierra Club lobbyists at the next rubber-chicken soiree; you'll live. Eventually, we'll have to face facts about our insufficient self-reliance — call it an inconvenient truth, if you must. Be the party whose plan doesn't consist of putt-putt hybrids and the goodwill of Iran and Venezuela. Nukes and rigs; big, chuffing refineries. Jobs. Energy independence. It's a bit more inspirational than expecting Nancy Pelosi to wave her hands and trump the laws of supply and demand.

What do the Democrats have to offer, anyway? Demonization of oil companies, "windfall profits" taxes, regulatory strangleholds that forbid drilling anyplace photogenic, punitive sanctions on heavy cars. (Congressional limos excepted, of course.) Best of all: Sen. Clinton has suggested we reimpose the 55 mph speed limit. And a grateful nation cried out, "Huzzah!"

Or not. On second thought, GOP strategists should ignore everything above. Concentrate on Sen. Clinton's proposal. It's perfect: economic malaise, Vietnam redux, diplomatic impotence toward Iran and double-nickel speed limits. Pass a law that lets Jimmy Carter run for president again. Watch the Democrats vote yes. Trap sprung! Victory assured.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor James Lileks is a columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Comment by clicking here.

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