Happy Malaiseversary Day
I know it's not likely catch on as a national holiday, but what the heck, Happy Malaiseversary Day! (You can celebrate by not opening ANYTHING!) It was 30 years ago today that Jimmy Carter thought the land would fray (so sorry for that). His famous "malaise" speech—a word he never actually uttered during what is now remembered as a landmark throwdown to the nation on energy policy and our shared national future—was received quite positively at first by the U.S. body politic. Carter warned that our caparicious consumption and hoggish ways with the world's finite energy reserves would eventually come back to haunt us. (BTW: Thank goodness you were SO WRONG on that one Mr. President Carter, sir!!!)
Carter called for common good sense and sacrifice in an effort to save the nation from itself. Ronald Reagan said it was morning in America. We know the rest; now we're all mourning in America. A recent guest of U.S. Catholic, Andrew Bacevich calls the speech a pivotal moment in recent American history. (Here's the complete interview.)
Our rejection of the Carter's call to sacrifce set a course that has led to our ever-widening and ever-costly interference in oil-rich parts of the world, stalking stability when we should have been nurturing self-restraint and -reliance. President Obama seems a likely candidate to revisit Carter's message ere long. Perhaps by the 35th or 36th Malaiseversary we'll be ready to hear Carter's hard message.
Comments (2)
Once again, I agree with
By MT (not verified) on Sunday, July 19, 2009Once again, I agree with Carter in principle. Once again, principles aren't solutions. Even with a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, Carter failed to produce a coherent, workable plan to tackle the myriad of problems that were facing this nation. Ironically, much of the opposition to his agenda came from Democrats who thought he wasn't liberal enough!
Obama should take note: you can't lecture your way out of a crisis. Four years is more than enough time to turn the lofty rhetoric into tangible results. And if he can't, you can say hello to President Palin.
Malaise
By Jerry on Thursday, July 16, 2009Pres. Obama is the leading us to a Jimmy Carter malaise. As our economy implodes as Obama is working to raise state and federal taxes for some people over 57% (plus carbon and sales taxes), we’ll be sacrificing. Obama’s stated philosophy is wealth redistribution as a state senator and during a slip in the presidential campaign.
The left is against the pursuit of happiness accomplished through individual discipline and fortitude, because the results are not equal. Better that we bring down all of society it that what if takes to make the results more equal. Under Jimmy Carter’s vision there would still be a Warsaw Pact and we’d live more like them in Soviet style apartments.
We can dream for the better living using our creative nature endowed by God. We can have nuclear power and increased drilling to free our dependence from Middle East oil tyrants, but liberals in America have stopped us from gaining independence. Obama offers sacrifice with oppressive carbon taxes justified by global warming hysteria as the earth cools. He offers us wind and solar insufficient for our needs and even these are blocked by wealthy environmentalists such as the case of halting a wind farm which would spoil the view from the Kennedy estate. It's just wouldn't be fair if we enjoy nuclear power that people in Ghana don't have.
