I missed the ‘76 vote by three months. I had a good full time job by mid-’78 and moved out for the first time with some friends by the end of that year. I had little understanding of why people were upset with Carter but for their complaining about interest rates (”...Don’t you know the prime rate’s going up, up, UUUUP..!”), the energy crisis, the first CAFE standards controversy, the Iranian “Death to America”/hostage situation/rescue mission debacle and the 1980 Olympics boycott. I complained right along with them but only from a surface perspective. Walter Cronkite was a grandfather figure. Other than that...
For me, the genie was out of the bottle by the time Clinton’s impeachment had ramped up...then it was Bush vs Gore and Y2K, 9/11, war in Iraq, elections ‘02-’10, Obama, the Tea Party, etc.
Looking back on it, I guess I didn’t know that I didn’t know as much as I could’ve but since the genie IS out of the bottle, there are always more dots to connect between then and now.
That’s why I like this site and others like it, the EIB Network, FNC, my local conservative radio programs in Detroit (WJR/760am) and if only I knew then what I know now...
Screw that! It just feels good to know that when I see the footage and hear reports of the Occupy situations, I think of how glad I am that it isn’t me but it ain’t over until it’s over.
Nowadays, I think being anti-establishment is the ordure of the day and if knowledge is power then bring it on because I’m ready for “takin’ it to the street” if need be.
I was married to my high school sweetheart and living in my first apartment in '73, so I guess I had a five year head start on you. By the time Jimmy Carter was elected, I had a toddler at home, and was working a very good paying job. I had little time or interest for politics, but I well recall all of the high (or low) notes of Carter's presidency.
Most of my contemporaries suffered the ill effects of the rotten Carter economy in those years, but I was spared the pain, due to the excellent income I made during that time.
Even though I sort of flew above all that, I was nevertheless extremely disappointed in Carter. For the first time in my life, I had a president whom I could not respect, due to his weakness and inability to lead. He never seemed to be in charge, from my observation, but seemed to be buffeted and pushed to and fro by domestic and international events.
If I, as a busy twenty-something could see that, I'm sure that my more observant elders saw much worse. It's no wonder that he lost to Reagan in a landslide of historic proportions in 1980.
As for Carter being responsible for Iran's slide into a Mullahcracy, and the rise of Islamic radicalism, I don't think there's any question that his abject weakness was a green light that emboldened that violent movement.
When the Iranians released our hostages on the night that Reagan won the election, it boldly underscored that perception.