Republican Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave repeated Monday a lie told by Dick Cheney, falsely claiming that China is drilling for oil 60 miles off the Florida coast in Cuban waters.
In
an article in The Coloradoan, Musgrave was reported as repeating Cheney's June 12 whopper, which he was forced to retract when experts reported that, well, it simply wasn't true.
"Oil is being drilled right now 60 miles off the coast of Florida," Cheney said. "We're not doing it, the Chinese are, in cooperation with the Cuban government."
The Yellow Peril! A virtual stone's throw from Disneyland and the Daytona Speedway!
When confronted with that fact that it wasn't true, Cheney's office later issued a statement saying he had "erred." But that hasn't stopped multiple GOP congresscritters - including Musgrave - from repeating the lie.
The Coloradoan reported:
"Musgrave, when told of the [Cheney] retraction, said she would have her staff look into it. Chief of Staff Guy Short later said Musgrave misspoke about Chinese drilling."
Musgrave "misspoke" while promoting her proposed legislation to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling. It would divert an unspecified amount of the tax revenues towards renewable energy research, and forbid the U.S. from selling weapons to Saudi Arabia if that country's oil production drops below 10 million barrels per day.
Oddly enough, she has no Republican co-sponsors for legislation that would threaten the Bush family's closest friends and business partners, the Saudi royal family.
Let's face it - it's an empty gesture with no chance of succeeding, and Musgrave's strategists/handlers know that. It's pure election-year posturing.
Musgrave has grim prospects for re-election this year. Her opponent, Democrat Betsy Markey, has got an edge in the polls and is receiving support from a number of party and independent groups.