A recent article in the Special Issue of Townhall Magazine, Conservative Success, written by Cato Institute writer Patrick J. Michaels is WONK'd alright because he's way off base. Apparently Mr. Michaels doesn't much care that we continue to use foreign oil at an alarming rate. Mr. Michaels doesn't think much of Mr. Pickens and his Pickens Plan which can be seen at: The PickensPlan. He complains a lot about Mr. Pickens and what a waste his plan for energy independence, but I don't see him offering much of a plan himself. If he don't like Picken's plan, let him offer his own plan! I've been a Conservative Republican all my life and I like the PickensPlan just fine. I believe its an excellent plan and something that we can accomplish which will set this country free from the $700 billion dollars a year we have been spending on foreign oil. Granted the present price of oil is coming down, but who knows for how long. Michaels fails to address the fact that 3% of the world's oil consumers, i.e., us; are using 25% of the worlds available oil supplies. Now I'm all for drilling here and drilling now. I also support drilling in Anwar. However, I also am a strong supporter of Mr. Pickens and believe he is one of the few Americans that actually has a valid and workable plan. Michaels needs to spend a bit more time figuring out how we can become energy independent and less time bashing Pickens. If you'd like more information on my PickensPlan site, visit Mr. Pips @: My Pickens Page.