A Lame Excuse for a Lack of an Energy Policy

“[Measures to conserve energy] will work if you coerce the entire system and if you pretend the American people are Japanese and Europeans,” Mr. Gingrich says. “Our culture favors driving long distances in powerful vehicles and the car as a social expression.”

That’s like saying I will always be 15 pounds overweight because I favor eating good portions of high-fat foods as a form of personal expression. It couldn’t be the simple explanation that I don’t want to go on a diet. It must be a form of social expression. (See the picture of me participating in the social expression going on at Madison's Bratfest this year.)

I thought Republicans were supposed to be for taking personal responsibility for your actions. The social expression excuse is pretty lame. The only way this could get any lamer is if he convinced me that driving long distances truly was his attempt at expressing himself.