White House Watch: Bush's 'addiction' remark on oil rankles some in GOP
Some Republican congressional aides and conservative consultants are angry with President Bush for calling America "addicted to oil" during one of the more quotable sections of his State of the Union address.
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The conservatives, none of whom wished to speak on the record, said that Bush's language was "leftist" and would be seized upon by the nation's Middle East enemies as well as foes of opening up protected Alaskan wilderness to oil exploration.
"Does no adult vet his speeches for political hot spots that will damage our team?" e-mailed one consultant. Another said that the phrase will be "picked up by Osama" bin Laden and his terrorist gang. One aide said that few conservative lawmakers believe that the nation is addicted, language they viewed as the opening for radical attempts to curb fuel use.
"The left is going to rub my guy's nose in this language from now through November and beyond it. It will be ugly. We will have to eat his words," said a Republican lobbyist. "Every time we want to drill for oil, build a refinery, etc., the left will say, 'We don't want to feed your addiction to oil.' What a bleep-up!" he added.
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