Carter's Little Pills!

Thirty years ago, Jimmy Carter looked at the folks watching him on television and said, " Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns." President Carter told Americans they had a "crisis of confidence" and because of "fragmentation and self interest" we were preventing ourselves from facing the coming energy crisis. Carter told Americans "every act of energy conservation is more than common sense, it's an act of patriotism".

That speech, commonly referred to as the "malaise" speech, has been reworked by conservatives interested in distorting history to be the antithesis to Ronald Reagan's dopey optimism and gasbag patriotism. Carter's speech back in 1979 was a winner at the time. Americans agreed the country was becoming a land of self centered slobs. But due to sloppy followups and the Iran hostage crisis, in which Cronkite told us every goddamned day how many days those people had been held, Reagan's vapid sense of delusion took over. The rest is unfortunate history.

Had we listened to Jimmy Carter's warnings back in 1979, we wouldn't be a slave to giant oil overseers like BP, Shell, Exxon and the rest of them. We'd be further along in getting rid of the 19th century technology known as the internal combustion engine. Coal and oil? Are we serious? This is the future? Meanwhile, coal miners and oil rig workers continue to be murdered by profit gulping energy conglomerates unconcerned with safety and very concerned with growth rates and dividends.

We now are finally witnessing this oil gusher's path of environmental destruction. I challenge anyone to see oil engulfed birds and mammals and not be moved. This is an absolute crime. Not only the crime of negligent homicide, but of crimes against humanity. The Hague needs the crank up its court docket. Right after Bush and Cheney, admitted war criminals as of this week, the BP, Trans Ocean, and Haliburton executives needs to be dragged back there for justice.

To close, let's just say President Carter was right. He still may not be the best President who ever lived, but being right once is one more time than you can say about his successor, his successor, and that successor's stupid son.