Gail Collins, "Where the Jobs Are": Where Can I Find Tums After Midnight?

Kudos to Gail Collins, who, as described in her latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Where the Jobs Are" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/opinion/collins-where-the-jobs-are.html?_r=1&ref=opinion), dragged herself away from Manhattan all the way west to Williston, North Dakota. Williston's economy is booming as the result of oil fracking, and, as observed by Collins, unemployment is nonexistent. The downside? Collins alludes to the dust, traffic jams from big trucks, and a lack of housing, before concluding:

"If the place you love can’t quite climb out of the recession, think of this as consolation. At least you’re not living in a man camp and waiting half an hour in line for a Big Mac."

Well, I don't eat Big Macs, so this would not engender much of a problem for me. Don't get me wrong: I'm no elitist. I simply don't eat hamburgers. Still midway through one of my annual walkabouts, I just finished a grilled chicken sandwich and several beers at another semi-fast, semi-reputable food establishment and am currently experiencing the volcanic aftermath.

What's that, dear? Oh, you know how it is. C forced me to go . . .


But enough about fast food, and back to the Collins opinion piece. Gail misses the bigger picture. Unemployment and vast expenditures on foreign oil are threatening to topple the US economy. America, like it or not, is in a war for survival, and part of the solution is energy independence. Yes, short-term it could result in dust and water pollution; however, there will also be technological solutions driven by science, which will also create more jobs.

Why can't Obama or Romney declare that American energy independence is one of the linchpins of their economic policy? Perhaps for the same reason that there is no discussion of America's tragic ongoing involvement in Afghanistan.

Enough said. It's past midnight, and I need to find some Tums.