When thieves fall out, honest men—and women—have cause to rejoice. The same can now be said for the decidedly former oil cartel called OPEC. Goodbye and good riddance. There was a time—the late ’70swhen the oil sheiks had the world by the throat because Jimmy Carter had adopted precisely the wrong way to break it up.
Alas, Mr. Carter doesn’t seem to have grown any wiser since. See his obsession with blaming the Israelis for all the troubles in the Middle East. Back then, his solution to the Energy Crisis (remember it?) was not just to hope for the best but to count on it, and hope is no substitute for a policy.
What changed? In a word, or rather two: Ronald Reagan, for the Great Communicator radiated optimism, confidence, the whole can-do spirit that once was synonymous with this country, and can be again if only our economy can be given free rein, its blinders removed, and the free market allowed to operate under the rule of law. O expertise, what crimes are committed in thy name.
For years, for centuries, since the pilgrims and Puritans were strangers in this strange land, this country was a magnet for those in search of liberty under law. Let it be so again. Just let freedom ring!