Information on previous presidential administrations goes to the National Archives, and snapshots of the previous whitehouse.gov are helpfully archived. Clinton’s complete letters and speeches are available as well.

The full context of the Bush quote turned up in the New York Times, December 21, 2000, from a news conference naming the treasury secretary.

Q. Mr. President-elect, this morning your office spoke about the need for a new energy policy. Can you tell us something specific that you would do, for instance, in the first 100 days, to correct rising energy prices?

A. I strongly believe that we must work in concert to increase the amount of supply available for American consumers. Supply of natural gas, supply of coal, supply of plant and equipment.

I believe we need to review all federal land policy to make sure that we’re not missing an opportunity to explore for natural gas in the country. Natural gas is hemispheric; I like to call it hemispheric in nature, because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods, and it is immune from price manipulation by OPEC. It is — there are supplies of gas to be discovered in America.

The issue with natural gas is not only its discovery, but its transportation. So we must review all policies that would prevent that construction of pipeline to be able to move gas from field to market.

When we’re undersupplied as a nation and demand increases, prices will go up. And that’s what’s happening in the energy field.

I look forward to working with Congress to pass clean coal technologies, money for clean coal technology, so that we can explore and develop the vast coal reserves in our country with the comfort of knowing that we’re not going to ruin our environment.

I look forward to working with our friends and allies in our own hemisphere to put together a hemispheric energy policy, an energy policy that will allow for the free flow of natural gas, in particular, across our respective borders to make sure there is ample supply, ample supply to meet the demand of this nation.

And so, Carl, I look forward to when I’m swearing in as to put together a strategy that will make clear to the American people that we will address the needs. . . .

Brooklyn Public has an archive of The Brooklyn Eagle that should be fun to browse, once the megablog traffic dies down. A writer for the Observer gives a pretty good impression of the subtle flavors of powerlessness involved in being a government functionary and a fascinating insight into Refusal Shoes. Librarians teaching people new to the net how to evaluate information used to give lectures on the difference between .com, .org, and .gov, but that has now all gone by the wayside. A horrifying discovery typifying this trend: Moneyfactory.com, which is actually the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing. And such an undignified name, too.

Being unable to rid myself of yesterday’s Bush quote from the calendar, I’ve been trying to find out what the context was. I haven’t been able to find it (he made the remarks before he was in office, but (I think) after he had been appointed), but I did find these remarks, which seem likely to be along the same tack. For instance,

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we had a good discussion. I had a very good discussion with Vicente Fox. And Secretary Abraham had a very good discussion with his counterpart from Mexico. Mexico has to make the decision as to whether or not they will be willing to allow foreign capital to explore for oil and gas in their country. That’s the Mexican decision to make.

I encouraged the President to begin allowing foreign capital to explore for natural gas in Mexico. It would be to our benefit. Gas is hemispheric. An MCF of gas found in Mexico is beneficial for the United States and Canada, even though it’s found in Mexico. And the Vice President and I have had discussions with Prime Minister Chretien about exploration for natural gas.

A good energy policy is one that understands we’ve got energy in our hemisphere and how best to explore for it and transport it to markets. So, you bet, we’ve continued discussions with Mexico, as well as Canada.

He’s still clearly an idiot, but he’s been coached better. I encourage anyone who is looking for a reason for suicide to browse through the white house news releases. I have glimpsed only the merest fraction of the horror that is there, and it’s, well, horrific.

Also, apparently, The White House didn’t exist before January 2001. What if I want to know what that other guy did in office? Do we lose all those handy records of Executive Orders and press releases and whatnot every time the administration changes? I rather hope not. It sucks enough if they’re off somewhere else. It would suck quite a bit more if that stuff’s completely inaccessible.

I have this calendar that purports to contain stupid things people have said, or written (it was an xmas gift). Most of them are clearly typos; granted, they’re sometimes funny ones, but not necessarily indicative of stupidity. By far the majority of the truly stupid things are quotes from W. Today’s, for instance: “Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods.” Usually it’s possible to tell where exactly his brain disconnect happened, and thereby figure out what a person familiar with the language might have said, but this reveals a breathtakingly profound thinking disability.

According to this review, the Funeral Home scent is a mixture of “Carnations, cigarette smoke and old oriental rugs[.]” Hmm.

Demeter Fragrances has a stunning line of perfumes for people who don’t just want to smell like flowers and musks. I had only seen a few of their scents at Sephora, and I’m thrilled to see so many more, but I may not really want to buy “Funeral Home” without knowing what it smells like…

As usual, the Straight Dope column comes through on a tricky topic: Passive Aggressive vs. Pain in the Ass.

Getfitnow and Hatherleigh publishers suggest that you can work out like a Navy SEAL (oooh!) or like the President (hmmmmm.)

It turns out I’m a geek. 40.63116% – Major Geek. If I got to include the whole Collective, the score would increase noticeably, since (inter alia) I’m not a librarian and didn’t marry a geek.

Justin has some interesting views on living and sleeping in Japan.