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# Deception and distraction
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/deception-and-distraction-editor/
- Published: 2008-08-18T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:44:14.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Ron Lowe Santa Monica*

GOP politics of deception trumps honesty once again as Republicans pick offshore drilling as their wedge issue for the 2008 presidential election. If you fall for this high gas price, offshore drilling scam you deserve another four years with a Republican in the White House.

Fifty one percent of Americans believe that removing restrictions on offshore drilling would reduce gas prices within a year. No less an authority than oil magnet T. Boone Pickens says that this action will have no appreciable affect on the oil crisis at hand. This is a Republican ploy to confuse voters. And have you noticed how John McCain’s campaign has become a mirror of the two prior Bush campaigns — down and dirty.

The GOP offshore drilling campaign is about subtle lies and distortion of truth. Will the American electorate be bamboozled by the masters of deception again?

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 18, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081808.pdf?ref=smdp.com)