On the Contrary

Yes I saw the President’s Press Conference on health care last night.  He clearly understands the issues and he was quite convincing, even to the dunderheads out there, that doing nothing is a road to disaster on health care.  But did he take on his critics toe-to-toe and put his stamp on a health care plan that would really work?  No he did not (See yesterday’s blog, Adrift).  From my point of view, the Republicans are the enemy.  They have done so much to damage this country and if they are successful in their latest push to stymie all action, the country could be irrevocably damaged.  It is time to quit making nice with people who are the enemy to progress and start attacking them directly to debunk their claims and show the American people the bankruptcy of their ideas.  Until we do, we are lending credence to their ideas by our polite inaction.

We are facing a real crisis, not just in health care, but who and what we are as a people.  In a microcosm it can be seen as a few very well off defending the status quo (that would be the Republicans) at the expense of the rest of us.   It hasn’t gotten any better and bold leadership is required.  That’s what reminded me of Jimmy Carter and the speech he gave in July 1979, called by the press the “Malaise Speech”, but was really called “The Crisis of Confidence” speech by his speech writers.  The economy was in the doldrums, inflation was out of control, and gasoline prices had gone through the roof.  President Carter thought a long time about this speech, and then he looked the American public in the eye and told them the truth.

He spoke of a fundamental threat to American democracy and that threat was a crisis of confidence.  The failure to believe in our future “is threatening to destroy the social and political fabric of America.” He went on to say that we were losing faith in government and ourselves to serve as rulers and shapers of our democracy.  He pointed out that our identity is no longer defined by what one does, but one owns.  That we are piling on material goods that do not satisfy our longing for meaning.  It was first class tough love.  Then he said:

“Looking for a way out of this crisis, our people have turned to the Federal Government and found it isolated from the mainstream of our Nation’s life.” Does any of this sound familiar to you?  Could it not be today?  Here is the real gem: 

“We are at a turning point in our history. There are two paths to choose. One is a path I’ve warned about tonight, the path that leads to fragmentation and self-interest. Down that road lies a mistaken idea of freedom, the right to grasp for ourselves some advantage over others. That path would be one of constant conflict between narrow interests ending in chaos and immobility. It is a certain route to failure.”

The other path he laid out was one of dedication and initial sacrifice and it included energy independence and conservation very similar to the plans we hear talked about today.  It was a bold plan, and had we followed it, we would not have the energy crisis and climate crisis we face today.  He asked Americans to suck it up, understanding that such a path will be expensive, but a valuable investment in our future.  Finally he said:

“I do not promise you that this struggle for freedom will be easy. I do not promise a quick way out of our nation’s problems, when the truth is that the only way out is an all-out effort. What I do promise you is that I will lead our fight, and I will enforce fairness in our struggle, and I will ensure honesty. And above all, I will act. We can manage the short-term shortages more effectively and we will, but there are no short-term solutions to our long-range problems. There is simply no way to avoid sacrifice.”

Well the joke was on Jimmy.  He had stood up as a real leader and told people the truth and they returned his leadership with electing Mr. Feel Good, Ronald Reagan, who told us that we just needed to feel good about ourselves and then started us down our path of self interest, government is evil, and wealth and greed are a sign of a healthy market.  That would be the first path President Carter warned us about.  And all the rest is history so I guess the joke is really on us.  For those who don’t believe this, just look at the numbers.  It was from those early days of the Reagan revolution that we started developing the real deficit and the wealthy grew wealthier while the poor got poorer.  And now we face almost the identical problems (sans the inflation, but quite possibly deflation) and I am wondering just which road we will take this time.  Sadly, if I listen to the Republicans, I know.  Tell me President Obama, will you show the same courage President Carter did even if you suffer the same fate?