But Doggone It, the New York Times Columnist Love Paint Thinner

Greg Mitchell has an op-ed ripping into New York Times columnist John Tierney. He pulls a piece of Tierney's punditry that is truly priceless.

“When something finally comes along that's cheaper and more reliable than oil, no national energy plan will be necessary. Capitalists will be ready to sell it to eager American drivers. For now, the best strategy is to buy gasoline and stop worrying that it's sinful or dangerous.

“When you hear politicians calling you an addict and warning that you'll be cut off, try my plan for energy independence…. After you fill up your tank, twist the rear-view mirror so you can gaze at yourself. Repeat these words: ‘I'm good enough, I'm rich enough, and doggone it, people in the Middle East like my money.’"

When conservatives resort to quoting Stuart Smalley then you know we have an energy crisis.

The obvious problem is that Tierney refuses to criticize Republicans. For all of George Will's and Andrew Sullivan's faults, they can drop the hammer on a Trent Lott. Tierney is incapable of such a task.

In Tierney's defense, he still hasn't written anything as nutty as Thomas Friedman's brain fart idea for Osama bin Laden scholarships.

Maybe we could even call them the "Bin Laden Scholars." I sort of like the idea of bin Laden sitting in a dark cave somewhere, composing his latest nutty video message, and suddenly learning that all the reward money we were devoting to killing him will go instead to killing his ideas - and to bringing young Arabs and Muslims closer to America rather than pushing them farther away.

There isn't one politician in this country who would advocate for "Bin Laden Scholarship."

The funniest thing is people are paying $50 dollars a year for this punditry.