We all like to bash the Washington Post for its privileged status in the MSM — especially the editorial page. Who can resist, with easy pickings of in-house columnists E. J. Dionne, Eugene Robinson, and Richard Cohen (though to be fair, Cohen frequently departs from the party line)? And, while I’m here, I’ll point out that I’ve been known to beat down on the Post’s house-trained conservatives, too. So when the Post editorial page gets something splendidly right, we should take note of it.  

Today the Post lead house editorial notes Obama’s incomprehensible remarks in Brazil supporting more offshore drilling there (and more foreign oil imports), while still opposing it here at home: 

When was the last time an American president stood before an audience in a foreign country and announced that he looked forward to importing more of its oil? Answer: Just over a week ago, when President Obama joined political and business leaders in Brasilia in hailing the fact that their newly discovered offshore petroleum reserves might be twice as large as those in the United States. . .

Privileged residents of scenic landscapes in America have long cried “NIMBY” — “Not In My Back Yard” — to stave off unwanted but necessary projects, from railway tracks to wind farms to power lines. Now NIMBY-ism, it seems, has become U.S. policy on offshore oil production. But the Nigerias, Angolas and Brazils of the world do not have that luxury. This makes no sense, economically or environmentally, and, sooner or later, a more balanced view must prevail.

I predict that “more balanced view” will come to sight once gasoline starts topping $4.25 a gallon, which come as soon as . . . next week?

There is this lingering mystery, however. This is not the first sensible unsigned Post editorial I’ve noted over the last few months. We’ll have to wait for the next ice age before seeing such an editorial in the New York Times. How is it that the Post’s anonymous editorial scribes are so much better than their marquee columnists?