$4 gas

WASHINGTON – One of my favorite newspaper comic strips as a child was the Katzenjammer Kids, about two mischievous boys who were always getting caught red-handed and spanked.

The final frame of the cartoon often showed a wily kid named Rollo, who would point to the wailing Katzenjammers and explain to their tutor, “They brought it on themselves, Miss Twiddle!”


Today, with gasoline prices climbing past $4 a gallon, and diesel near $5, I am reminded of the Katzenjammers. As Rollo might say, “We brought it on ourselves, Uncle Sam!”

More than 30 years have passed since the first “energy crisis” pummeled the American economy. It hurt. People lost jobs. Prices for gasoline went way up, people waited in long lines to refuel, and some service stations even ran dry.

What have Americans done since? Not nearly enough. And that explains some of our current distress.

Christian Science Monitor