I get the feeling that "Good Ole T. Boone Pickens," wouldn't care as much

[RB TexLa]

about foreign oil if the Saudi royal family looked more like this





And less like this

[redstateblues]

1. T Boone

All T Boone wants is to switch cars to natural gas so he can continue to rake in billions when the oil runs out

[jobycom]

3. Nah, not anymore. Maybe a while back.

I think he's got a messiah complex now. He wants to save the world with all the money he's made from the world. Whether it's guilt over how he earned the money, or guilt over having such an easy life, or his ego wanting to go down in history for something other than money-grubbing, I don't know. But I don't think it's about money for him. He's 80, he's got $4 billion dollars, and the only thing he can't buy is immortality, so he's trying to buy the next best thing.

Same reason he donates so much money to Oklahoma State. His money no longer satisfies him, he wants to buy the type of success and respect he's never been able to earn.

That's my interpretation, anyway. Yours is just as valid, I'm sure. :) Though it should be noted that the Sierra Club is behind him on this, so maybe whatever the cause, he might do some good.

[madokie]

6. I think you have it figured out :)

[jobycom]

2. Back when Bush Daddy invaded Iraq, Pickens spoke at a dinner in Texas

and criticized Bush's invasion. He claimed the Kuwaitis had a word for us that meant "White slaves." The whole speech, from what I remember, was how we were wasting money and resources and lives to liberate Kuwait when Kuwait would do nothing for us. I don't know if he was against the invasion, or just against us not demanding payment from Kuwait for our help, or what. But I do remember that a lot of people walked out on him, and he was booed for it, and this was a Republican audience.

He's always been a bit more libertarian than Republican. I suspect he's more in line with Ron Paul's objections to our foreign oil dependence than with Al Gore's.

[Vincardog]

5. I believe his objection to foreign oil is that he does not make his piece on it. He wants us to

spend billions so he can sell us Natural gas and make himself billions.

[jobycom]

10. I don't think it is.

First, he's a commodities speculator, so he makes money on foreign oil as well as domestic. Second, he's a geologist, and he's believed in Peak Oil for a while now, so I think he's got a patriotic fear that America must be saved from running out of energy. Third, he's 80, and won't be around to see any economic benefits from his efforts anyway. He'll be broker when he dies because of this, not richer.

I have a 90 year old friend who had a stroke when he was 84. Before then, he was all about business and the dollar. After that, he became religious. He always was, but now he focuses everything on his religion. He wrote pamphlets preaching about being a better person, and God's plans for the world, all that. He's spent much of his time reading the Bible, doing research, talking to people, and writing. He's spent a lot of the money he's saved over his lifetime paying for these pamphlets, and paying for church improvements and feeding homeless people who come to his church looking for answers, and he's turned the business over to his kids to run. He's seen his own mortality, and that put money and things into perspective, and now his only real desire is to spread his message, his cause. All the energy he once used for business, he now uses for preaching. And there's no artifice there. He's not hoping to gain anything, not even the Heavenly stuff. He just believes he understands the truth now, and wants to tell as many people as he can before he dies. Frankly, he might have died a few years ago without that purpose driving him.

I think that's what's up with Pickens. I don't know why I think that, but I do. There's something about him that's different than, say, Cheney, who is all about money and has no soul. Pickens has something else going on. There's a little more depth to him than the average money grubber. Like Howard Hughes and his planes. Pickens wants to do more than make money. That doesn't mean he doesn't care about the money. But it's not the bottom line for him anymore. I think. I'm not a fan of his, but I'm cautiously encouraged by what he's doing. I'm also ready to believe the worst at the slightest indication of betrayal, though.

[stray cat]

4. I'd rather send money to England than Saudi Arabia as well

Saudi oil money goes to at least some militant Islamic groups - like the 9-11 hijackers from Saudi.

[RB TexLa]

7. As terrorists no one rivals the english.

I'm sure this will get removed, but nothing will change my thoughts on that.

[tabasco]

8. T Boone would gladly take it up the ass from the Saudis

if he could make a buck.

[fla nocount]

9. I think Mr. Pickens wants R.O.W. corridors around the state for

natural gas and electrical power so that he can pipe water down them. Old money acts differently in different parts of the country, this is the way it acts in West Texas. This old coot controls water rights in one form or another from Oklahoma to the Mexican border. He doesn't mimic BushCo, he inspires them. He's a trendsetter, like Tom Clancy in cowboy boots, how did he know?