Uh oh--doubleplusungood

Check out this brilliant and effortless fusion of Luntzspeak* and Newspeak:

"'We push for laws that promote a commonsense balance between economic growth and environmental conservation. That is our mantra,' said Jim Sims, the [Western Business Roundtable’s] executive director, who served in the White House in 2001 as the communications director for Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force. 'Any group that opposes that commonsense approach is, by definition, an extremist group . . .'"

Damn. In one fell swoop, this passage demonstrates A) the incredible message discipline of the Bush camp and their devotion to Luntz memo principles* B) their skill at framing the debate ("commonsense" vs. "extremist") C) the revolving door between the government which is supposed to regulate industry and the industry it's supposed to regulate (White House staffer becomes development lobbyist).

What makes this even funnier--or scarier--is that these comments were delivered during a four-day resort junket designed to build access between energy development interests and members of Congress. Read more here--Energy retreat at resort draws fire (AP)

*From Frankie Luntz, the GOP pollster who wrote a 2001 memo on how to put a positive spin on the backwards environmental policies seen by some at the time as the Bush administration's achilles' heel. The National Environmental Trust has set up a hilarious website covering the use of Luntzspeak.