Four years of crappy governance has ruined the present day
Thank you SGT Andy Cockrell! Your undying loathing of Carter was the inspiration for this article...
Well, the world seems to think that everything is George W. Bush's fault. Nope, guys. It goes much farther back than that, trust me on this. Follow my logic, if you will back to 1977...
Sources: Information Please; Inflation Rates from Economic History Resources
1977: Carter pardons Vietnam draft evaders. This totally empowered an entire movement to think that civil disobedience was okay, they would never get punished; let's just keep on keepin' on.
On Sept. 7, 1977, Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera and President Jimmy Carter signed treaties giving Panama gradual control of the canal, phasing out U.S. military bases, and guaranteeing the canal's neutrality. Carter's relinquishment of the Panama Canal and the subsequent installation of a government secretly influenced by Manuel Noriega leads to an invasion of Panama in 1989. And the overthrow of Noriega.
Federal debt: $706.4 billion
Median Household Income (current dollars): $13,572
Unemployment: 7.1%
Inflation: 6.62%
1978: "Framework for Peace" in Middle East signed by Egypt's President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Premier Menachem Begin after 13-day conference at Camp David led by President Jimmy Carter (Sept. 17). Not only did it last as long as a snow cone in hell, but it actually led to the assassination of Sadat.
Federal debt: $776.6 billion
Median Household Income (current dollars): $15,064
Unemployment: 6.1%
Inflation: 7.59%
1979: Carter refuses to believe that the radical Islamic student movement will lead to an overthrow of the Shah of Iran. And he withdraws his support for the Shah in his time of need. The Shah is deposed on January 16th, 1979, and the infamous Iranian hostage crisis started when those same radical Islamic stormed the American Embassy in Tehran. Iranian Muslim clerics still have power in Iran, inspiring the even-more Taliban regime in Afghanistan and becoming part of GWB's "Axis of Evil". Oh yeah, and they're about to get nukes. And they want Israelis to die at their hand.
Gas lines extend for hours and miles as gas shortages plague the nation. Adjusted for today's dollars, prices reached almost $2.60 per gallon (this graph adjusts to 1996 dollars though it was made in 2003, dunno why):
Carter's reaction to all the energy crisis and the lack of unity in the country? His "malaise speech", which failed to galvanize the public at all and just showed what a milquetoast president we'd actually elected. My favorite line from the speech: he actually quotes an unnamed Southern Governor who said "Mr. President, you are not leading this Nation -- you're just managing the Government."
The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan on December 27th.
Federal debt: $829.5 billion
Median Household Income (current dollars): $16,461
Unemployment: 5.8%
Inflation: 11.28%
1980: Despite several inane and undermanned efforts to free the hostages in Tehran, six embassy workers are freed through Canadian intervention. And a group of Delta Force soldiers are left to die in the desert: "eight US servicemen are killed and five are injured as helicopter and cargo plane collide in abortive desert raid to rescue American hostages in Tehran in April."
The Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan causes the CIA under Carter's lead to train the local people into an insurgency to fight the seriously more powerful Red Army. The training brings with it cash for weapons, networks of caves dug out of the impenetrable mountainsides, and priceless training on insurgent tactics and how to wage an expensive war against an invading force. Sound familiar? Well, after wearing down the Soviets, the emboldened, trained, and heavily armed "freedom fighters" become the Taliban.
Federal debt: $909.1 billion
Median Household Income (current dollars): $17,710
Unemployment: 7.1%
Inflation: 13.48%
That is the legacy of James Edward Carter, 39th president of the United States.