Hastert's short, hydrogen drive (pictorial)

[underpants]

Schumer and Emanuel turn the gotcha game around on the press.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/04/hastert_and_the.html

As On Deadline mentioned earlier today, a photo of House Speaker Dennis Hastert switching cars leads Yahoo's most-sent photo list this morning. The Republican lawmaker had attended an event to promote hydrogen-powered vehicles, appeared to head back to the Capitol in one, and then switched to a regular SUV, the Associated Press caption reported.

Fox News explains more: "What appeared more ironic on Thursday was the decision by several House lawmakers to drive to a photo opportunity on Capitol Hill, a few blocks from Congress, to blast high gas prices. In separate events, members of both parties arrived at the BP station on Pennsylvania Ave. in shiny fuel efficient hydrogen cars. Speaker Hastert arrived on foot after being dropped off by his big Suburbans, which parked down the street. Under the pressure of publicity, Hastert got into one of the hydrogen cars to drive back to the Capitol, but got out a block down the road to return to the Suburban. His office insisted that the speaker's security detail demanded that he drive in the gas-guzzling SUVs."

The Washington Post has those comments, from Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean. "In any event, 'the security officials demanded that he ride in the much more secure armored SUV,' Bonjean said." The Post also has a picture of Hastert sitting in the hydrogen-powered car.

"The most dramatic moment arose when a reporter asked Schumer and Emanuel on how they personally had traveled to the press conference, apparently hoping to catch them in an admission that they'd used a gas guzzling limousine. Schumer was happy to say he came in a Toyota Prius, an economical hybrid car, and that his family vehicle was a Ford Taurus. When the reporter pressed Emanuel, the congressman said he came in a Ford Taurus. Then, saying 'I'm not playing this game,' Emanuel defiantly opened his wallet and pulled out cards from the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Washington's Metro system, proving he uses public transportation."

[underpants]

1. Link to earlier GD: P thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2595361&mesg_id=2595361

[Rose Siding]

2. That's how to do it: Walk the walk

:thumbsup:

[rodeodance]

3. Glad to see that the hypocite is getting coverage.

[rodeodance]

6. Does anyone know if any news aired this?

[underpants]

10. The article says that Fox did

and apparently tried to cover for Hastert...in a fair and balanced way.

[formerrepuke]

4. Taking a 'lil spin in the photo-op-mobile............n/t

[BlueEyedSon]

5. "fuel efficient hydrogen cars" ..... what does this even mean?

where did the hydrogen come from?
how much did the fuel cost?
what "other" hydrogen vehicles is this compared to?

[slackmaster]

17. From his remarks yesterday he has no idea what any of that means

He included hydrogen in a list of energy sources.

Hydrogen fuel is a delivery mechanism for energy, not a source of energy.

[madame defarge]

7. I hope someone in Denny's district uses this...

during the mid-term campaign. This is definitely good publicity for his opponent.

[RaRa]

13. I'm in his district

and I doubt this will gain much coverage. Denny gives too much pork here for anyone to dare question anything he does. This is a nauseating district.

[madame defarge]

14. Don't give up!

I know it's a stretch, but you just never know how many eyes can be opened now... I know in my (fiscal republican) district, lots of people are really pissed off at this regime... We'll never know what we can do if we don't try. (I'm not trying to be a rah-rah cheerleader...honestly...)

[AndyA]

8. Do as I say, not as I do...

The Repugs sure know how to work the media, don't they? They want everyone else to sacrifice, but they won't do it themselves.

Nazi pigs.

[Faryn Balyncd]

9. photo-ops for the masses

[leveymg]

11. Actually, Hastert is short and fat, but he's methane-driven. Photo.

[LiberalPartisan]

12. Technology as a Silver Bullet

Ultimately technology will advance to the point where real reductions in the use of fossil fuels will occur. But what bothers me is the blind faith in some vague future technology as the cure all as an excuse to avoid change now. It's as though people believe we can just go along as we are today and sometime down the road we'll all flip a switch to some new power source with no disruption whatsoever.

[UpInArms]

15. "he ride in the much more secure armored SUV" - WTF? is he in Iraq???

This is freakin' ridiculous!!!

This pig acts like he is so freakin' important that he has an "armored SUV"?????

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

[quaoar]

21. Don't be so harsh on Hastert

If you were as unpopular and had helped fuck up the country as much as he has, you'd ride around in an armored car too.

[cascadiance]

24. Yup, he's got to watch out for bummed Armenians and Turks!

who've he's been in bed with at different times!

[yellowcanine]

16. So it was safer for him to change vehicles in the middle of the street

than to just stay put until he drove another couple of blocks to the Capitol Building? Oh, ok.

[GregW]

18. Why does Hastert *need* a security detail?

Surely his security detail would spot a dude with a peg leg, big white scar, and harpoon from miles away!

:shrug:

[JPZenger]

25. 4th in line to be president

Believe it or not, Hastert is fourth in line to be president.

I still liked the line from the Daily Show last year. They said Hastert looked like he just ate Ebert.

[bikebloke]

26. More help, than security.

I saw him once have his security detail pack his lard ass into an SUV. He couldn't climb in on his own.

[DS1]

19. How about they rig his hydrogen-powered car to a doomsday device

security system. Ya know, shoot at the car, get nuked kinda deal ...

:rofl:

[shenmue]

20. Dennis Hastert...

stupid and useless no matter what he does.

:dunce:

[orleans]

22. randi rhodes just opened her show with this bit today

kept referring to him as fat ass (maybe lard ass!)

she was cracking up

made me go look for the picture.

found it.

what a dick he is!

[ToeBot]

23. He is third in the line of succession

So if George really pisses Dick off (Like he starts thinking he's actually in charge or something) and the two of them go at it big time, then Taft would lose his one claim to fame; being the fattest asshole to ever be POTUS.

[garybeck]

27. the whole hydrogen "solution" is a SCAM

driving cars on hydrogen does not solve anything. it is no big deal that his car ran on hydrogen.

hydrogen would be great to use, if it only *existed* somewhere, where we could just grab it and put it in our tanks.

the problem is, it exists everywhere, but it is bonded to something else. (the best example is H20).

to get H or H2 from anything, it takes energy. so you have to have a different energy souce, like petroleum, or whatever, to GET THE HYDROGEN.

so it doesn't solve anything. unless we're going to talk about using renewables to extract the hydrogen, it's just another way to store and transport the energy that was taken from petroleum and coal.

when you see all the repubnix talking about hydrogen, they are just talking about using more and more petroleum and coal.

[barb162]

28. he's so fat, he probably can only be comfortable in a hummer

[bklyncowgirl]

29. Looking at Speaker Hastert er--portly--frame I have to say....

Forget the PhotoOpmobile, fatboy.

A short walk back to the Capital would have done some good.

Burn flab not gas you big tub of lard.