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For those who did not live through the Carter administration, the Obama administration is becoming eerily similar to the Carter administration. Like Yogi Berra said, "It is like de ja vu all over again"!
1. An unknown politician comes to office as a backlash against a previous administration, rather than their own political merits.
2. Incompetent cabinet members and advisors.
3. Presiding over a poor economy, with no effective answers.
4. High unemployment
5. A feeling of despair and a sense that America's best days are behind us
6. A POTUS asking citizens to make ridiculous "sacrifices" to cover for failed policy (Carter wanted us to walk more and wear sweaters. Obama wants us to give up cell phones and cable tv).
7. Russia taking advantage of a weak president to press thier political goals
8. Diminished global prestige for the US
The only thing missing here would be a hostage crisis. However, we have two and a half more years of Obama, so we may get one yet.
Its pretty obvious that the op has no idea what was going on when Carter was Pres. In fact he has no idea what was going on in the 8 years prior to Pres. Obama
For those who did not live through the Carter administration, the Obama administration is becoming eerily similar to the Carter administration. Like Yogi Berra said, "It is like de ja vu all over again"!
1. An unknown politician comes to office as a backlash against a previous administration, rather than their own political merits.
2. Incompetent cabinet members and advisors.
3. Presiding over a poor economy, with no effective answers.
4. High unemployment
5. A feeling of despair and a sense that America's best days are behind us
6. A POTUS asking citizens to make ridiculous "sacrifices" to cover for failed policy (Carter wanted us to walk more and wear sweaters. Obama wants us to give up cell phones and cable tv).
7. Russia taking advantage of a weak president to press thier political goals
8. Diminished global prestige for the US
The only thing missing here would be a hostage crisis. However, we have two and a half more years of Obama, so we may get one yet.
Excellent post!
I think there are yet other parallels. Carter came along at a demographic fault line, when baby boomers were entering the work force. Obama came along when they were entering retirement years.
Carter had Viet Nam syndrome. The failure of Viet Nam policy made the US electorate afraid to exercise military might generally. Carter himself fell in line with this thinking. Likewise we now have an Iraq syndrome, and Obama has fallen in line with this thinking.
Its pretty obvious that the op has no idea what was going on when Carter was Pres. In fact he has no idea what was going on in the 8 years prior to Pres. Obama
Gee............... I lived through the Carter administration and saw its effects. I have a pretty good idea of what happened during the Carter administration and see the same dismal performance in the Obama administration.
Weak presidents are not only bad for the economy, but put us in greater peril globally.
Before I'd lay off all the bad economy on one POTUS, remember the wage and price controls put on by the previous bunch. When they were removed, every seller of anything raised their prices as much as they legally could.
Don't forget the Hunt Brothers messing with the silver market plus the problem with beef producers got the entire nation worked up into a frenzy about inflation.
On top of that, add the Shah and the almost civil war in Iran and then the oil embargo. The moderate Iranians left and were all in the USA so it was inevitable that the crazies would control the place.
Sometimes, a country or a POTUS cannot control everybody and everything in the whole world, no matter how much some folks wish they did.
Viet Nam taught me that no matter how much you spend on war, there is always somebody more committed to winning. Especially when the war is in their country. We had no business in Viet Nam. Just like we had no business in Iraq.
The expectations of the contemporary American non thinker are so unrealistic, why anybody would want to be president is a mystery to me. Must be a patronage thing.
Ah, the good old days! How well I recall when President Nixon went on national television (only three networks back then!) and asked people to keep their thermostates (it was winter) at 68 degrees, saying that his doctor had told him that the human body is more efficient at that temperature. I also recall the wage and price controls, followed by rampant inflation.
When President Nixon resigned in 1974, Gerald Ford took over. One of his brainstorms was to issue lapel buttons with "WIN!" for "Whip Inflation Now!" Alas, it turned out that lapel pins were not the answer to double digit inflation rates.
I agree that President Carter was rather ineffective as a president. I also recall his 1979 televised speech in which he talked about the 'crisis of confidence' (reported as the 'malaise' speech). From his speech:
"The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us. For the first time in the history of our country a majority of our people believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years. Two-thirds of our people do not even vote. The productivity of American workers is actually dropping, and the willingness of Americans to save for the future has fallen below that of all other people in the Western world.
As you know, there is a growing disrespect for government and for churches and for schools, the news media, and other institutions. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning.
These changes did not happen overnight. They've come upon us gradually over the last generation, years that were filled with shocks and tragedy."
I feel that President Carter's speech helped to lay the ground work for President Reagan to win the 1980 election, for Reagan spoke of hope for the future, and of the trickle-down economic theory (voodoo economics!). One thing that Reagan did, which Carter did not, was reduce the very high income tax rate. That helped the economy a lot.
So, are there parallels between the Carter presidency and Obama's? Perhaps. Both inherited a mess of an economy, at the least. People blamed Carter for the inflation that began in the early 1970s.
I think each president has had dudes in their Cabinet. President Reagan, for example, had James Watts, who famously said something along the line of "We might as well use up our national resources, for Jesus may be back at any time" (paraphrase; I do not recall the exact line, but it was funny).
I will say this: the Carter Clan (including Billy the alcoholic) were entertaining.
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