What Were They Thinking?

So the Bush administration finally figures out that maybe, just maybe, energy conservation is a good idea. (You might remember Dick Cheney's remark a few years back, calling energy conservation a "possible sign of virtue but not the basis of a sound energy policy.") OK, now with gas prices soaring and the promise of very high heating bills to come, Bush starts up with his brilliant new exhortations to not buy gas if you're not going to drive, and come to think of it, don't drive if you don't have to, and, uh, excuse me, I have this flight to make on Air Force One for, like, the fifth time in five weeks, because, boy, are my numbers slipping.
Quoth His Eloquence: "We can all pitch in by using, by being better conservers of energy." (Well, which is it, use or conserve?)
Best of all, though, the Department of Energy has trotted out, on its chubby little trotters, a new mascot for the "Easy Ways to Save Energy" campaign. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says the government hopes this adorable little cartoon critter will become as familiar as Smokey Bear and McGruff the Crime Dog.
And who is this charming new character, the symbol of our government's energy crisis, I mean conservation campaign, the little fuzzy lovekins who will whisper sweet words of encouragement when our willpower wanes and we start jonesing for a little dose of fossil fuel, please, just a tiny taste?
Meet Energy Hog!
(And, oy, what a lame Web site. Lamey-oh. Worth visiting to see how lame-a-tricious.)
I could not make this stuff up.