Letter: Politics as usual from Friedman

Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2002 | 8:49 a.m.

In a Jan. 6 column, "Weaning America off Mideast oil should be Job One," Thomas Friedman reveals -- after the obligatory homage to President Bush's war leadership -- that now he wishes Al Gore were president. Doubtless, this revelation was meant to be breathtaking; and it would be, were anything in Friedman's column even a minor departure from his politics as usual.

He notes last week's OPEC production cut (an effort to raise oil prices), but neglects to mention that the current price at the pump is some 60 cents lower per gallon than it was a year and a half ago. At that time Las Vegans were paying $1.60-plus per gallon (Chicagoans $2), and Friedman's columns were a blessing to those of us unable to receive Gore's campaign press releases verbatim.

Friedman's solution then? A stiff new gasoline tax (regressive both in its initial impact, and in its effect on food and commodity prices). One shudders to think what the economy would look like now, especially one as dependent upon travel as Southern Nevada's, had that particular scheme been enacted into law.

Friedman pays brief lip service to domestic production, but it's clear that his heart's not in it. What he's really saying (and what he's been saying as long as he's been documented) is that if Joe and Mary Six-Pack refuse voluntarily to conform voluntarily to his vision, they must be coerced.

BOB ASHMAN