QUESTION ASKED AND ANSWERED: As His 100th Birthday Approaches, Concert Honors Jimmy Carter’s ‘Singular Achievements.’ Like What?
The performers showered him with praise. Michael Trotter Jr. “of the married duo the War and Treaty” called him “our forever president.” Carlene Carter added that Jimmy was a “mighty fine man.” Hannah Hooper of “the alternative rock band Grouplove” gushed that he was “an environmental god.” Musician Dave Matthews, addressing the hero of the night, who was not present, said: “You are most definitely the rock ’n’ roll president.” Chuck Leavell of the Allman Brothers band said: “We were so proud of his administration and all the accomplishments that he made.”
Accomplishments? During his one term as president, Carter fought the “energy crisis” by scolding Americans for using too much energy and overseeing a proliferation of government regulation in order to make Americans become more energy-conscious and less wasteful. But the whole endeavor was built on sand: there was actually no energy crisis. The world’s oil reserves did not run out in the 1980s, as had been predicted, and not because Carter saved the day by winning what he called the “moral equivalent of war.”
Carter only made the real problem worse: oil companies were so beset with restrictions and regulations that they couldn’t take adequate steps to find new oil supplies. Carter’s successor, Ronald Reagan, changed that, and the days of the energy crisis were over, at least until apocalyptic climate hysteria of a different kind became the centerpiece of later Democratic presidents’ efforts to assert even more federal control over the lives of Americans.
There’s no doubt that prior to the arrival of Obama and Biden-Harris, Carter was our worst, most feckless president in a very long time. But he did have one shining moment, which foreshadowed the success of the man who would replace him in 1980: When Democrats Loved Deregulation.
And speaking of concerts, perhaps the immense musical pressure on Carter was enough to momentarily awaken him from his torpor: