It Took Four Years of Carter to Get Reagan

OPINION

By David Hinz

AND OTHER FOOLISH RHETORIC

One rationalization I hear from Republicans so opposed to Sen John McCain that they would vote for The Hildebeast™ or Obama, is that "it took four years of President Carter to get us President Reagan." Another fear -- and a quite rational one -- is that the coming economic recession is going to be blamed on the party in power, and so it is better that the Dems hold the White House during this meltdown.

To address the second point first; the Republicans are going to be blamed, no matter who occupies the White House. Witness the Recession of 2001.

Anyone with an eye toward history, or half a brain, saw the Recession coming at the end of 1999 and into 2000. When Gov Bush tried to point this out during the campaign, he was shouted down by the Democrats for "talking down the economy."

Now in Hindsight (cheap plug) we can see that the recession actually began the third quarter of 2000 and President Bush inherited the darn thing the day he took office. And yet, for the past seven years, the Dem TalkingPoints™ and the MSM template has been that it was Bush's Recession. No amount of factual evidence will change that template, and so we, as conservatives have given up on even trying to point it out.

To delve even further into antiquity, all the way back to 1992, economists now (mostly) agree that the 1991 recession was already on the way out when President Clinton took office in January 2001. And it was President Clinton who receives credit for the recovery. Even though he raised taxes upon taking office -- thereby slowing the recovery -- he still receives credit. It ain't fair, but it is true.

Now let us fast-forward to January 2009. In the first place, although the recovery from the 2000 recession -- the Dot-com meltdown, the corporate accounting scandals and the attacks on 9-11 -- have been absolutely astounding, we have heard the Democrats scream for the past seven years that this is "the worst economy in the past fifty years." This talking down of the economy by the Democrats has gone unchallenged by both the MSM and the White House.

It takes the willing suspension of disbelief to accept the Democrat TalkingPoints™, but the American public has been told nothing else. And so, even though it is fiction, it has become fact.

And so, if a Democrat, either Clinton or Obama is elected in 2008, the recession that WILL follow will be blamed on President Bush. Defying past templates of blaming it on the present occupant of the White House, the MSM will give the Dem a pass -- while blaming Bush. And the American public, glued to American Idol, will accept that pablum as fact.

On the other hand, should Sen McCain defeat the Dems in November, the inevitable recession will be his own. HE will be responsible for the job losses, just as President Bush was responsible for the millions of jobs lost during his presidency. What is that you are saying? There have been millions of jobs created during the Bush presidency? Posh! That is NOT part of the template -- ignore the little man behind the curtain -- it ain't true.

Now, as to the "it took four years of President Carter to get President Reagan," that was a different world and a different time. The greatest danger the United States faced during that time was the Soviet Union and their quest for world domination. The Soviets had nuclear weapons, to be sure, but they were not irrational. They knew better than to attack the United States directly, because they knew we also held nuclear weapons and they really, really did not to cease to exist. MAD (mutual assured destruction) might have seemed insane, but when two sane nations engaged in it, it caused equilibrium in world politics. The Cold War lasted for generations, but it did NOT end in world destruction.

The greatest danger to the world today is Islamic Jihad. Extremists who have a perverted view of religion, and millions of followers willing to die for their cause, threaten to overwhelm the democracies of the world. Say what you will about the old Soviet Union, but their leaders -- and their followers -- wanted to live. Jihadists not only seek our death, but their own as well. Not rational by our standards, they certainly pose a great worldwide threat.

Four years of ignoring the threat will set our country behind for decades. Remember, we only had President Carter for four years -- but the threat created by his incompetence, the theocracy in Iran has been with us for nearly thirty years now, with no end in sight.

The devastation of President Carter's policies vis-a-vis the economy are also still with us. Credit card rates as high as 35% were illegal, until his failed presidency, and they are still with us today. The question is, in today's climate, how much damage could Hillary or Barak do today?

Either one could set our country back for decades. The threat is too distinct. Too clear! Too imminent!

We must (sigh) get behind Jon McCain (sigh) and do all that we can to get him elected president in November.**



**In 2000 I supported Sen John McCain for president. For the past eight years he has done everything humanly possible to cause me to regret that support. But all things in life come full circle.