Obama On U.S. Oil Imports: Lying Or Just Ignorant?

In a 6 July 2009 interview with the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Obama gave the same false information on U.S. oil imports he has been repeating since at least February of this year:

We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy.  Yet we import more oil today than ever before [Emphasis mine].

That quote is from the official White House transcript of the interview.

Obama was wrong in February and is wrong today.

The above chart from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, shows that U.S. oil imports peaked in November 2005 and have been declining ever since.

On the page at the above link, you may view a data table of the U.S. weekly oil imports from 1991 to date.

Now, I know the facts on this, you (now) know the facts on this, but the President of the United States keeps spouting inaccuracies about U.S. oil imports. I found this data very easily, and I would kinda think Obama—backed by dozens of staff and a trillion-dollar bureaucracy—could as well.

Yet Obama has been spouting this drivel since at least February 2009—even though the facts are laughably easy to obtain.

So my question is this:

Are Obama and his administration lying or simply ignorant and inept?

The answer has to be one of those two choices.

Frankly, neither answer sits well with me, nor should it with you.

Is Obama Smooch Impaired?

Passes on supermodel, hesitant with co-ed

Sarkozy coerces Obama into accepting kiss from girl

Kissing confusion and protocol faux pas were in abundance during Obama’s latest embarrassment French sojourn.

The first clumsy moment, (yes, yes, this administration has consisted almost entirely of clumsy moments, but let’s focus on this one); the first clumsy moment came when Obama and… his wife… ah… I’ll think of it… Michelle—who appeared, yet again, to have dressed in the Salvation Army donation bin—were greeted in Strasbourg by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his main squeeze, Italian Supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Outside the Rohan Palace, (not the Rohan Palace from The Lord of the Rings), Carla gave Mrs. Obama that european, double-mandible kissy-kissy, while the hubbies made-do with manly-men-type pats on the back.

Or they were both choking.

Swapping sides, (no obvious political pun intended), Sarkozy kissed both of Michelle’s upper cheeks, while Carla leaned toward Obama's jowl.

Obama balked.

Carla, her offer of a kiss spurned—likely for the first time in her life—pulled away and offered her hand.

While Sarkozy and Michelle were locked in embrace, Obama and Carla pumped paws.

“A handshake instead of a kiss?” Carla wondered to herself. “Could it be… my breath?”

Already having embarrassed himself and offended the First Lady of France, Obama was again reluctant as he and Sarkozy—ever the posing politicians—took to the streets and worked a crowd.

Cecilia Dervogne, a student whose name—unlike Strasbourg or Sarkozy—actually sounds French, called out to Obama.

"I said in slightly hesitating English… 'A kiss for me?' " Dervogne recalled. "He showed me his bodyguards,” (which is when you know you’ve got a guy’s attention), “who were surveying everything. I think there was a security gap we were supposed to keep to," she said, ending her sentence with a preposition.

After a somewhat longer clumsy moment than the first one of the day, Sarkozy peered at Obama and said, "What, you're not going to give her a kiss?"

"He offered his cheek timidly, and I gave him a kiss," Dervogne said, ending her sentence with a noun.

As Mlle. Dervogne noted, Obama does seem timid around girls: Perhaps he thinks they have cooties.

Racist Russian Ad Features Obama

Russian PRAVDA notes racism, sloughs it off

An ice cream-making company in Yekaterinburg, Russia, is promoting a flavor of its ice cream in a racist advertisement using Barack Obama’s image.

The slogan of the chocolate-in-vanilla ice cream titled as “Duet” says: “The Flavor of the Week! Black in White!” The image of a black man standing against the background of the US Capitol was considered a manifestation of racism.

The Russian Company Voskhod (Sunrise), which designed the campaign, said that the image was not meant to carry any racist meaning in it. A spokesperson for the company said that the picture simply marked the presence of the black president in the White House.

Andrei Gubaidullin, the author of the advertisement, said his campaign was not linked to racism, because Russia, unlike the West, had a different point of view about ethnicity.

“This is not racism for Russia. It’s just fun,” the creative director of the advertising agency said.

The Russian nationalist online news site Pravda (Правда)—which ironically translates as Truth—noted the racism of the ad, but didn’t think it serious nor did it comment on the obvious insults to the US government.

Obama To Celebrate St. Pat’s With Irish PM

Brian Cowen Taoiseach of Ireland

Catholic Prime Minister brings genealogical gifts

When he arrives at the White House to celebrate St. Patrick's Day—now that that Brazilian guy's been sent packing—Irish Taoiseach, (tea-shock, equivalent to Prime Minister), Brian Cowen will present Obama with a copy of baptismal records which prove Obama's Offaly connections, (that's just too easy, folks—I'm not even going to touch it).

Prime Minister Cowen will give Obama a photograph of Templeharry Church in Moneygall, where Obama's great-great-great-grandfather, Fulmouth Kearney, (um... nope, still too easy), was baptized, along with parish records and a picture of the schoolhouse his ancestors attended.

Mr. Cowen will also extend an invitation to Obama to visit Ireland and Moneygall—which has nothing to do with Obama's economic policies.

Top of the agenda during Mr Cowen's visit will be the global economy, Cowen's proposed relaxing of work visa requirements for Irish entry to the US, and the rekindling of “The Troubles" in Northern Ireland.

White House aides are reportedly scrambling to find a menorah to honor Mr. Cowen's visit.

Obama Manages To Offend President Of Brazil As Well

Obama 0 for 2 as he offends two Heads of State in a row

Obama and his staff managed to offend Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, (known simply as Lula), before he even arrived.

Obama arranged a White House meeting during a telephone call to Lula, the two leaders agreeing to meet on 17 March—St. Patrick’s day. Obama also agreed to meet with Ireland’s Taoiseach, (tea-shock, equivalent to Prime Minister), Brian Cowen and formally celebrate—you guessed it—St. Patrick’s Day.

Isn’t there anyone in the White House familiar with the basic uses of a calendar? Hair-dressers don’t make such bumbling goofs, how on Earth does Obama manage to do so?

Lula’s trip was pushed forward from Tuesday because, remarkably, someone in the White House possessed of more than two working neurons, dimly realized that it made somewhat less sense to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a Brazilian than an Irishman—and kudos to that rocket scientist.

Lula’s aides and the Brazilian press interpreted this as a snub, saying the offhand schedule shuffling made Latin America once again look like an afterthought.

Adding yet another insult to the mess, the White House announcement of the Obama-Lula meeting misspelled Lula’s name as "Luis Ignacio" and put "Lula"—a nickname that decades ago became a legal part of the Brazilian leader's name—in quotes.

How will Obama treat the Prime Minister of Ireland? Serve a traditional English breakfast? Pipe him into the White House with a rousing rendition of God Save the Queen? Re-gift Cowen with the Winston Churchill biography the UK prime Minister gave him?

The stumble for statesmanship continues.