50+ Reasons Why Jimmy Carter was a Better President than Barack Obama

I think I first discovered P.J. O’Rourke’s classic “50+ Reasons Why Jimmy Carter Was a Better President Than Bill Clinton” in one of his anthologies, almost a decade after it first ran. Written in 1993, at the perigee of the Clinton presidency, after what historians will refer to as ObamaCare Mark I had been mercifully euthanized, but before the GOP recaptured both houses of Congress, in retrospect, it seem to some to be a little overwrought. Clinton took a minor recession, that had already begun to recover before he took office, demonized it into “The Worst Economy in 50 Years,” and then governed in the wake of its pre-existing recovery. Barack Obama needed what the more conspiratorial would argue was an economic crisis arranged to break his tie with John McCain to win. Clinton, who ran as a quasi-conservative, was smart enough not to completely crash the economy by spending like a drunken Keynesian (see also, failure of HillaryCare to pass), and was also fortunate enough to be in the right place when the World Wide Web took off — and to largely stay out of the way.

But go through O’Rourke’s list again, and note how well so many of the items apply to our current far left Demagogue in chief:

1. Jimmy Carter had a nicer wife.

2. Carter had governed a more important state. [Which can easily be shortened to — Carter had governed.]

3. Carter had once held a job.

4. He came from a more cosmopolitan hometown,

5. And had a more charismatic vice president. [OK, this one’s a draw.]

6. It took Carter months to wreck the economy.

7. It took Carter weeks to become a national laughingstock.

10. As for military record, Carter was, comparatively speaking, a regular Audie Murphy.

11. They were on drugs during the Carter administration–they had an excuse.

12. We were on drugs during the Carter administration–we had an excuse.

13. Carter looked–think back carefully, we promise we’re telling the truth about this–less foolish in his jogging outfit.

37. One thing about Carter-era inflation, the money may have been worthless but at least we had some.

47. Carter spent his time doing things like figuring out the White House tennis court playing schedule — the man knew his intellectual limitations.

49. Carter let the Soviets have Angola, Ethiopia, and South Yemen. And, in retrospect, the Soviets deserved no better.

50. Carter wasn’t a throwback to the Carter Era.

As for Item #51, well, no one would confuse Dubya with the Gipper, but there’s a reason why those “Miss Me Yet” billboards began to sprout up in 2009 and 2010. (Or why Obama’s foreign policy — when it works — seems a bit like Bush’s Third Term.)

And we can add one more item to the list: Carter never hung out — at least while in office — with Al Sharpton.

Any more reasons why Jimmy Carter was a Better President than Barack Obama? Have at it in the comments.