Bush answered questions on energy and his support of demonology following a speech at the D.C. Ku Klux Klan where he was made honorary Imperial Wizard.
Despite claims coming out of the White House, Americans aren't convinced the nation is in an energy crisis or that President Bush's plan is a good one. Last week the administration unveiled it's energy policy to a hue and cry from Democrats and enviromentalists, who feel the plan doesn't do enough to help consumers or protect natural resources.
"Look, it's simple really," claimed House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo), "you listen to where the cheers are coming from about this policy and it's coming from the energy companies and oil barons. That should tell you who benefits from the president's plan."
The 163-page document calls for several controversial measures as part of the overall package. Highlights include oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and the granting of eminent domain rights to power companies to seize public land for transmission lines.
"I realize that the right of Eminem's domain is a touchy issue," Bush told reporters over the weekend, "but it's just best for Americans to lose the homes and lands they've worked so hard for if it means running some power lines from the nuke plant or whatever."
Other controversy surrounds the implications that clean-air regulations might be eased to help refineries meet the demand for gasoline, the price of which has sky-rocketed for Americans despite no shortage of supply. Many are crying that the prices are high simply to fleece consumers and try and force their support of the Bush plan.
"Don't be silly," Bush grumpily said when asked such a question, "that would mean that the vice president and I are simply puppets to the whim of oil companies and other non-renewable energy providers. Just because those individuals paid tons of cash to the Republican party doesn't mean we do whatever they say. It means we do, like, 90% or so of what they say. But not everything."
Bush's plan also calls for the Energy Department to develop safe methods of storing nuclear waste, since vice president Cheney is championing the cause for the building of more nuclear reactors (see our Interview with Dick Cheney).
Bush has claimed that nuclear energy is not only good for the enviroment, but is "safe and easy to use, according to vice president Cheney. He has assured me that there is no danger to those who live or work around a reactor, and in fact has offered to let me taste a bit of nuclear waste so I could see how safe it is. So I did, and you now what? Once you get used to the way your poop glows afterwards it's not so bad."
