I just rewatched Jimmy Carter's July 1979 speech.

[hifiguy]

The so-called "malaise" speech. What Carter said in that speech was as profound, real, and true as any speech given by a POTUS since FDR's New Bill Of Rights speech.

And he was crucified for telling the truth.

Carter was no paradigm of liberalism; his mealy-mouthed and always half-hearted support of reproductive rights and partial embrace of deregulation proposed by the loony U of Chicago "economists" is proof enough.

But he told in that speech hard and brutal truths that this country has never accepted to this day. And that refusal, together with the Russians' meaningless and ultimately pointless failed invasion of the backwater nothingness that is and was Afghanistan, and the inevitable blowback from Dulles/Nixon/Churchill coup in Iran which was approved by Ike and married the US to the corrupt and brutal Shah and the inevitable overthrow of that petty tyrant, by even worse petty tyrants as it turned out, sealed his doom.

Jimmy Carter was a maligned prophet and the most luckless POTUS of the 20th century.

He will be remembered far more generously by history than he is now.

Why didn't we listen to him?

[hifiguy]

1. Kick

[Octafish]

2. Many people don't like hearing the truth.

They prefer the ostrich approach to problem solving.

Unfortunately, many of the people who could do something about the problems causing the nation's malaise -- high oil costs impacting inflation, production, consumption, and the quality of life -- don't like paying for the solutions through taxes.

So, they did all they could to rid the nation of New Deal Keynesian Liberal economics and replaced it with the Supply Side Trickle Down crapola, the formula for the rich to get richer while the rest of the nation can go to Hades for all they care. Their instrument was the Ayatollah Khomeini, who held the hostages until the minute Pruneface was sworn in. His reward were Hawk missiles, various weapons and spare parts for weapons systems, what War needs.

Compared to what we've seen since, Carter is a Saint.

[Faryn Balyncd]

3. That speech was truly prophetic.

[malaise]

4. What do you mean he was crucified?

He is still being crucified by M$Greedia. ReTHUGs and big oil.

[Adrahil]

5. Politics is about way more than truth.

Read about Lincoln. He was a man who knew how work towards his desired goal, a step at a time. Politicians need to know that sometimes political acumt is more important than blunt candor when trying to cojole a ntion in a desired direction. Carter had many admirable qualities, but he was not a grat politician. Still, i wish he had won in 1980... Could have changed the course of the last 40 years.

[hifiguy]

6. Kick

[PowerToThePeople]

7. Is this the one?

http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/speech-3402