Clearly we face another conspiracy this Memorial Day weekend. Once again the nasty big oil companies have manipulated gasoline prices. So they can rip us off at the pump and pocket obscene profits.

Gollee gee, you did not see any such headlines this year did you? This is because gasoline prices did not shoot up as the holiday weekend approached. In fact, they remained about where they were, across the country.  In some areas they went down.

Remember the last time gas prices shot up? The oil company haters told us big oil manipulated prices. Big oil companies were simply gouging us when they felt like it.  Big oil companies were willing to let us suffer the high prices so they could stuff their coffers with profits.

Remember when the politicians trooped oil company executives before the cameras for their hearings? Remember when they accused them of leading the pillage of the consumer?  Remember when they belittled their explanations?  Remember when they chastised them for their profits?

Where are the critics now? They have moved on to the next fake crisis. Our problem was not that oil companies manipulates prices. It was that oil-haters manipulated consumers.

Meanwhile gas prices have settled down. And oil company profits have tumbled.  For the last six months Exxon-Mobil profits have slid $10 billion from last year.  Earnings per share fell 25 percent for one quarter, 54 percent for another.