Gas prices are spiking again -- $5 a gallon for regular in Los Angeles -- and drivers are predictably up in arms. The obligatory media frenzy is stoking their passions -- particularly on local news shows. An easy-to-understand camera-friendly story profiling angry citizens? There's a no-brainer for news directors.
Politicians are certainly doing their part to fan the flames. Obama opponents are blaming the president, and some are even promising to bring back $2.50 a gallon gas. Maybe they'll bring back 15-cent McDonald's hamburgers, too. It won't be long before some public servant speaks up and urges the government to open the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to spare Americans from laying out more cash for a scarce and diminishing resource.
Meanwhile, drivers who confused themselves with Saudi princes and indulged their inner gas-guzzler when fuel was cheap are paying the price at the pump with their weighty rides. Here are some of their most notable offenders.
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