Carrots Or Sticks?

That's the question confronting Bush & Co. as they respond to the latest OPEC oil price hike. With US retail gasoline prices soaring to a record $1.76 per gallon, the White House is playing Good Cop/Bad Cop with OPEC

While the White House expresses "disappointment" and makes gentle appeals to "our friends" in OPEC, others assume a more forceful tone.

White House spokesman and resident Pit Bull Scott McClellan says, "Producers should not take steps that harm American consumers and our economy."

McClellan comments were made at a televised news briefing just hours after other White House officials insisted the administration, as a policy, does not comment publicly on specific OPEC decisions.

McClellan then put the blame on Democrats in the U.S. Congress for failing to pass the Republican president's energy plan. Yeah, right.