"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That's not leadership. That's not going to happen."--Barack Hussein Obama

At $4/gallon, apparently we can't drive our SUVs anyway. He's talking about gluttony. Do you know what that is? It might be in your bible somewhere. His point is that it is virtually impossible for America to effectively lead other nations to become responsible members of the international community if we aren't very responsible ourselves.

I'm sorry, to understand that requires you to think through multiple stages beyond what is immediate and simple and you're not well equipped for that.

"I don't drive an SUV but if I wanted to, I'd like to be able to with out the GOVERNMENT telling me I can't!"

1) Actually, the government CAN tell you that you cannot drive. No American has the right to drive a car. Driving is a privelege, one that can be granted or denied.

2) Freedom of choice is great. But it comes with responsibilities and consequences. Energy has been so cheap for so long that as a society, we have forgotten this. This is what you fail to understand: the government isn't telling anybody to park their SUV's, the free market is. All that added demand for fuel has SUV owners pricing themselves right out of driving.

"And I don't want the Bible and its views of gluttony telling ME what to do, nor Obama!"

Glad to see that you're not a theocrat. Again, the world is a little more complex than ME, ME, ME, it's all about ME!!! You sound like an anarchist.

Desperation.

Experience all by itself doesn't really count for much. Is it good experience or bad experience? You can have a track record of losing and still have lots of "experience." If experience is the yardstick by which we measure, then Dubya would be far more qualified for a theoretical third term than either McCain or Obama would for a first term, and Dubya has what - a 25% approval rating?

I read the article in your link. What a horrible writer - he meanders all over the place. If this is an attempt to discredit Obama, it think it's pretty weak. Here's what I go from it:

1) A mediocre reporter is trying to draw some attention to himself and he got his feelings hurt when Obama yelled at him (see below).

2) A handful of fellow legislators are jealous of his success (gee, maybe there's a reason the party wanted to promote him over some of the other clowns with more seniority).

3) Something, something Rezko...

4) Obama yelled at the guy for writing an article that began, "It can be painful to hear Ivy League-bred Barack Obama talk jive." Why wouldn't he be pissed?

To all you conservative readers, a few questions.

If the oil companies are allowed to drill in new sites off the coast of Florida or wherever:

1) Is that oil that will stay in America or is that oil that will be sold on the global market where the declining American dollar will have to compete for it with with demand/currencies abroad? (Think: Free market / free trade...) Would the permission to drill be tied to a protectionist policy governing how and to whom the oil would be sold? - Should the federal government mandate that the oil companies make that oil available only to American consumers when, perhaps, it could be sold for more money to a foreign buyer?

2) If we want a government that is more localized versus directives being issued from Washington DC, then should it not really be up to the people in Florida (for example) to decide whether or not drilling should be allowed on their shores? Bear in mind that a lot of wealthy capitalists own high-value properties along the coasts - not just fancy residences, but hotels and resorts too; should the specter of an oil spill be allowed to put another business sector in jeopardy? Or should the federal government tell Floridians to fuck themselves and give up the oil for the collective good of the nation?

The other big problem with more drilling is that it doesn't address the core problem, which is that at some point there simply won't be any more oil. Then we will need to figure out how to adjust a socio-economic system that for decades thrived on the availability of cheap and abundant oil. We would just be staving off the inevitable.

Name another country where people drive 60 miles to and from work each day simply because they feel like it. Some people are in for some very rude awakenings.

... that at least half of those PUMAs were Republican capmaign workers assigned to spread amti-Obama rumors. Think Operation Chaos, Part Duh.

... about not everything needing to turn a profit. Did you drive to work today? Did the road that you drove on turn a profit? Does the local school system turn a profit? How about the police department?

We provide ourselves with those things in the public interest so that the rest of us can go about our business (of turning profits).