re: #279 Spare O’Lake

Do you not understand the vast difference between ‘kow-towing’ and ‘influencing’? Or in your version of the world, is there really no difference?

2. Explain the difference between a semantic ploy and a lie.

Well, in this case, as I said, ending our dependence on actual oil from the ME is a good strategic idea. I’m not sure what you’re not getting about that.

It doesn’t do anything about the price of oil— but the means by which we’d be doing so, reduction of consumption, would. So a semantic ploy in this case is a simplification of a very complex process into an easy-to-grasp concept that is not perfectly accurate but not a lie, either.

3. Explain to me why America cannot reduce its imports of oil from ME sources immediately and offset those reductions by temporarily increasing its imports from non-ME sources until alternate non-oil sources can be developed.

It can. It would not affect the price of oil, which is all that matters when talking about the funding of Islamic extremism in Middle Eastern states.

What don’t you get about this last part? You’ve asked this same question over and over, and I’ve answered it about four different ways.

If we buy a barrel of oil from Canada for $10, instead of from Saudi Arabia, and Japan buys it from Saudi Arabia instead, Saudi Arabia still makes money.

If instead we get rid of the need for that barrel of oil, and don’t buy it anywhere, the price of oil drops and Saudi Arabia has less money.

This is not a tough concept.