{"id":3796,"date":"2008-12-11T13:58:20","date_gmt":"2008-12-11T18:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=3796"},"modified":"2008-12-11T14:00:47","modified_gmt":"2008-12-11T19:00:47","slug":"some-advice-for-you-grasshopper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=3796","title":{"rendered":"Some Advice For You Grasshopper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mr. Oprahma, the worst President in modern history is on line two and would like a word.<\/p>\n

A Past President’s Advice to Obama: Act With Haste<\/a><\/p>\n

Almost three decades later, Jimmy Carter recalls vividly what it was like trying to get Americans to turn down their thermostats and kick the oil habit.<\/p>\n

“It was like gnawing on a rock,” the former president says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…speaking from experience.<\/p>\n

Now President-elect Barack Obama is heading to Washington with a set of energy goals as ambitious as Mr. Carter’s back in 1976. He promises to free the country from “the tyranny of foreign oil” and to save “our planet for our children.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…so they can live to give…60% of their earnings to fill in the hole that you’ve dug for them.<\/p>\n

He’s calling for a “spirit of service and sacrifice,” and promoting hybrid cars and wind and solar power.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Guys, guys. It’s the economy, stupids.<\/p>\n

By the way, “That One”,\u00a0 a “spirit of service and sacrifice?”<\/p>\n

Huh?<\/p>\n

Is that what you call your proposed largest-ever ginormous government economic stimulus program?<\/p>\n

Obama would be wise to spend his dwindling political capital on the economy. Four years won’t be long enough to get to what should be ninth or tenth on your “Things to Do If I Become The Messiah” list.<\/p>\n

But Mr. Obama must now champion his $150 billion energy plans in the face of a sinking economy and oil prices that have fallen 70% since their record mid-summer high. Forces like these have killed at least four similar presidential efforts in the past. Already, falling energy prices and the credit crisis are laying waste to scores of alternative-energy projects, from huge wind farms in Texas to biodiesel plants in Mr. Carter’s home state of Georgia.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As it should be. Priorities being what they are.<\/p>\n

Mr. Carter offers Mr. Obama this advice: Try to inspire Americans to see the virtue in making energy sacrifices, a notoriously tough sell, especially in the face of falling prices. Get energy legislation to Congress quickly, during the presidential honeymoon. And stick with it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Don’t worry that people are losing jobs, retail is down double digits, the national debt clock in New York City to be pulled down for lack of digits and the auto industry – well never mind about them.<\/p>\n

Speaking of sticking it, Mr. Carter…how’d that all work out for you?<\/p>\n

“I think he can prevail if he does it early and with a great deal of dedication and enthusiasm — and with tenacity,” Mr. Carter says in an interview.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What out-of-work journalist sought to rejuvenate their career by interviewing Jimmuh?<\/p>\n

Mr. Carter says he had a key advantage over Mr. Obama — a national sense that something had to be done: “The energy crisis that I inherited was in many ways much more serious than it is now.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And yet he also failed. While you’re at it Mr. Former-Crappy-President, any stock tips?<\/p>\n

Just two weeks into his presidency, Mr. Carter gave his famous “fireside chat” on energy. Clad in a yellow cardigan that now hangs in his presidential museum<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…because no one else wanted it<\/p>\n

Please pass the malaise…<\/p>\n

Later, in his most politically costly address dubbed by critics the “malaise speech,” Mr. Carter announced a massive program to boost solar power and make synthetic fuel from coal. He vowed the U.S. would never again import more oil than it did in 1977.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…and a two-hour movie would soon fit on a small thin shiny disk. Oh, sorry. That actually did happen.<\/p>\n

Mr. Carter concedes that his battles over energy policy cost him political support. “It sapped away a substantial portion of my domestic influence to harp on this unpleasant subject for four solid years,” he says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh, well in that case, Mr. Oprahma should make great haste to\u00a0 heed this most sage advice of the wise and revered former President.<\/p>\n

At 84 years old, Mr. Carter hasn’t lost his fascination for the subject that helped to define his presidency. Eight years ago, he planted 10 acres of paulownia trees on several fields around his house. Native to China, the trees are among the fastest growing in the world. His groves already stand more than 50 feet tall. He sent one of the trees this summer to a lab at the University of Georgia, where it was pulped and turned into ethanol.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…and he sits in a rocker on his porch, donning another yellow cardigan, sipping it.<\/p>\n

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Mr. Oprahma, the worst President in modern history is on line two and would like a word. A Past President’s Advice to Obama: Act With Haste Almost three decades later, Jimmy Carter recalls vividly what it was like trying to get Americans to turn down their thermostats and kick the oil habit. “It was like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":228,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,51,44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-democrats","category-liberal-tyranny","category-stupid"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/228"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3796\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}