So long as free speech remains a fundamental human right, free people can and should say what they will about Islam. And until that faith’s most fervent adherents learn to count to ten before commencing carnage, one objectionable YouTube video or bothersome charcoal sketch could sever America’s vital supplies of petroleum.

Against this backdrop, the United States should end this dangerous game and move urgently to increase supplies of North American energy. We should capitalize on the vast hydrocarbon resources literally beneath our toes and under our oceans. With all deliberate speed, U.S. oil should be drilled and natural gas should be fracked. The Keystone Pipeline should be approved at once.

Henceforth, “foreign oil” should refer to petroleum from our calm, peaceful, and relaxed neighbors in Canada, a NATO ally. Keystone will create some 20,000 private-sector jobs at no cost to exhausted American taxpayers. It should tell voters plenty that President Obama torpedoed a privately funded, shovel-ready project that would decrease U.S. unemployment, increase American national security, and redirect petrodollars from the Middle East to middle Edmonton.

If President Obama has changed his mind on these matters after this week’s killings and chaos, he should lead the charge toward friendly oil. Otherwise — and perhaps by campaigning along the Keystone Pipeline’s proposed route — Governor Romney should champion this cause as boldly as possible between now and November.

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