...or is watching the American President on his knees a sight no one should see?

Have the children look away. No one under the age of eighteen should be allowed to watch. The White House press corp should switch off their cameras and recorders from a sense of sheer decency. The Leader of the Free World, America's Fearless Leader, the man who stood amid the rubble of the towers and threatened anyone who would attack America, Old Mister "Bring it on" has been reduced to a beggar on the world stage. If he weren't such a jerk I could almost feel sorry for him. Naaaaaaaaah!

George W. Bush packed up his prayer rug last week and headed for Saudi Arabia. He went, ten-gallon hat-in-hand, to implore the king of the sand dunes to pretty please increase the flow of oil so that Americans wouldn't have to pay $4.00 a gallon to fill their SUV's. What a disgrace! The country that survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, won the Cold War and, by force of will, put a man on the moon in ten years, is reduced to grovelling to a dress-wearing goat herder for a gallon of regular.

The President makes a great target here (and everywhere else!) but he isn't the only villain in the piece. Americans have spent the last twenty-nine years (the time since the Carter "energy crisis") using the size of their car as the outward manifestation of their prosperity. They should have been bending over right next to George. Detroit has been feeding us a steady diet of Explorers, Escalades, Yukons, and, of course, Hummers and we couldn't get enough. The next time you see a V-8 Chevy Blazer with an "I love America" bumper sticker, punch out his tail lights.

We have the best scientists (imported from Asia & India) and the best engineers (having immigrated from India and Germany). Do you think, maybe, we could have figured out a way to use a little less oil? We still can and we still should. China and India are burning all the petrol they can get and their thirst is increasing every day. If you think that Iraq is a war for oil, wait 'til China, with a million men under arms, joins the fight.

The next time you see an article in the paper about a robbery at a gas station don't be surprised if the sub head reads, "The thief left the cash and made off with a tank full of premium". America: the size of your car will not compensate for inadequate equipment under the hood. Our National pride should be worth more than the size of your Land Cruiser...or your trouser-monkey.