Two days ago, Scott McClellan said this:

Q Scott, the President -- is the President's call for fuel conservation a temporary one? Or is he asking Americans to permanently change their behavior and their energy usage?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there are steps that -- in the energy bill that we passed, to, as I said, expand conservation, and there are steps that -- or initiatives that the President has outlined that are important steps that we can take to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy. This has been a high priority for the President from day one, and he has spelled out a number of steps that we can take when it comes to addressing the root causes of high energy prices. We need to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy.

I'll highlight the important words:

[...] or initiatives that the President has outlined that are important steps that we can take to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy. This has been a high priority for the President from day one, and he has spelled out a number of steps that we can take when it comes to addressing the root causes of high energy prices.

Oh, really?

Rewind to May 7, 2001, when former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said this:

QUESTION: Does the president believe that, given the amount of energy Americans consume per capita, how much it exceeds any other citizen in any other country in the world, does the president believe we need to correct our lifestyles to address the energy problem?

FLEISCHER: That's a big no. The president believes that's an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policymakers to protect the American way of life. The American way of life is a blessed one. And we have a bounty of resources in this country. What we need to do is make certain that we're able to get those resources in an efficient way, in a way that also emphasizes protecting the environment and conservation into the hands of consumers so they can make the choices that they want to make as they live their lives day to day.

Did you notice the words "That's a big no" in response to the question "Does the president believe we need to correct our lifestyles to address the energy problem?" And ... wait, what's that? There's more?

QUESTION: So Americans should go on consuming as much/more energy than any other citizens in any other country of the world (inaudible) want?

FLEISCHER: The president believes that the American people are very wise, and that, given the right incentives, they will know how -- they will make their own right determinations about how much they can conserve, just as the president announced last week that the federal government, as part of its consumership in California will reduce energy needs, for example, the Department of Defense facilities in California, by 10 percent.

He believes the American people, too, will make the right decisions about conservation. And the program he will announce shortly will also include a series of conservation items.

The president also believes that the American people's use of energy is a reflection of the strength of our economy, of the way of life that the American people have come to enjoy. And he wants to make certain that a national energy policy is comprehensive, that it includes conservation, includes a way of allowing the American people to continue to enjoy the way of life that has made the United States such a leading nation in the world.

As always, there is an explanation for this. On an LSAT, this is called a "resolve-the-paradox" question. So, let's do a practice question together.

Which of the following, if true, would explain the discrepancy between what Ari Fleischer said in 2001 and what Scott McClellan said two days ago?

(A) Inflation caused the truth value of Ari Fleischer's 2001 comments to decrease relative to Scott McClellan's comments.
(B) A malfunctioning robot duplicant of Scott McClellan, rather than McClellan himself, made the statement two days ago.
(C) Saddam Hussein enjoys eating Doritos.
(D) Dick Cheney made comments similar to Ari Fleischer's in 2001.
(E) Scott McClellan is lying.

Let's use Process of Elimination to get to the best answer. Answer choice (A) appears to make sense: the more time that has passed since a statement, the less held to scrutiny is the truth of that statement. While that is a true principle of political punditry, it doesn't explain the paradox. Choice (B) is irrelevant to the current argument, even though it contains the factually correct implication that Scott McClellan is a robot. Choice (C) is similar to choice (B) in that it contains true facts that are beyond the scope of the argument. Choice (D) would be the appropriate answer if this were a question that asked, "Which of the following, if true, most weakens Scott McClellan's statement?" But, unfortunately, that's not what the question is asking. Therefore, we are left with choice (E), and it turns out that this is the correct answer: Scott McClellan lied two days ago when he said that energy conservation has been a high priority for the president since day one.

Suggestions for Further Reading

• Scott McClellan's Sept. 26, 2005 Press Briefing
• Ari Fleischer's May 7, 2001 Press Briefing
• A Time magazine article from May, 2001 that discusses Cheney's energy policy. In May, 2001, Cheney delivered a speech in which he said, regarding the newly-unveiled White House energy plan, "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy." [Registration of some sort may be required to view the Time article. Just do a Google search for the quote.]
• The National Energy Policy, released in May, 2001 after lots of meetings between Cheney and unnamed consultants. The National Energy Policy concluded that, while we should research alternative fuels, we should focus most national resources on expanding the use of existing fossil fuels. These recommendations prompted environmental groups to ask for the names of all the people who were consultants to the Energy Task Force. A 2004 Supreme Court decision concluded that the White House wasn't obligated to hand over those names.

Thanks to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart for pointing out this discrepancy.