The Garden of Betrayal - Lee Vance [33]
He was in a groove now, having segued seamlessly into what sounded like a pretty standard stump speech. He held forth on the evils of big government for a few minutes, mainly battering the Democrats and the decisions of our current president but also careful to disavow Republican follies, such as the infamous Alaskan Bridge to Nowhere. Realizing perhaps that his audience had a limited attention span, he wisely circled back to his starting point just as the energy started to leave the room and eyes began drifting back to BlackBerrys.
“So, it seems an irony that I’m a politician, the very thing I profess to dislike, and the very thing all of you so clearly despise. But let me tell you something I learned as a boy back home on the range—there’s a delicate balance in nature, and everything and everyone has a role to play. Coyotes are pests, but they keep down other pests, like rats and mice and rabbits. Financiers can be predatory, but they’re an instrument of market discipline, and they’re necessary if we’re going to get our economy going again. And politicians—well, maybe we can talk the truth sometimes, and tell people that more isn’t always better, that wishes are never fishes, and that strength and dignity are possible only when people accept responsibility for their own lives.”
There was some spontaneous applause despite the fact that he’d just compared his audience to animal pests, and it occurred to me that I might actually be listening to the future president.
“Let me turn now to the reason I’m actually here today, which is to share some thoughts on the economy. I recognize that you all probably know more about this subject than I do, so I’m going to work my way though some introductory material quickly and then get straight to my point.”
I listened carefully as Simpson sped through a coherent overview of our current precarious economic situation. He had his facts and figures correct, which gave him a leg up on most politicians.
“What, then,” he concluded, “is the greatest long-term threat to our collective hope of rebuilding American prosperity for the generations to come? The Democrats are focused on a declining manufacturing base, the export of middle-class jobs, and rising income inequality. All important issues, I admit, although I differ on the appropriate policy response. But, ultimately, all trees in the forest. Where does America’s greatest strategic vulnerability lie? What is it that’s the actual lifeblood of our economy?”
“Energy,” I said, abruptly understanding why I’d been invited to lunch.
“Thank you, Mr. Wallace,” Simpson said, nodding in my direction. “That’s exactly right. Energy. The only production input that drives every single sector of our economy. The only input that drives every single sector of the global economy. We Americans currently import more than a third of the energy we consume. And rising demand for that same energy from countries like China and India means not only that energy prices will spiral ever higher in the future but also that the countries possessing that energy will increasingly have the luxury of deciding precisely who they’re willing to sell to—and who they aren’t.”
I glanced at Narimanov, who had his eyes half shut. Simpson seemed to be working toward a variant of the argument that had been advanced against the Nord Stream pipeline—that energy dependence gives energy exporters too much political sway. I wondered again why Narimanov was here, and where Simpson was actually headed.
“Slow down a minute,” one of Walter’s more cantankerous protégés interrupted. “You’re not suggesting an Apollo program or a Manhattan Project to make us energy independent, are you? Because we can vote for Al Gore if we want that. Jack taxes even higher, keep domestic growth in the toilet, and all walk to work in the snow while a bunch of Poindexters at some government