Reply #24: Wow, the paragraph you cite shows that Milbank doesn't have the intellectual honesty

[karynnj]

to reconsider conventional wisdom. The fact is there is more than ample reason to see that Carter was right with conservation in the late 1970s. It was the arrogant Reagan people, who thought it was some kind of God given right to consume something about a fourth of the annual oil used, who had it wrong.

I dislike the Carter doctrine, that we will protect "our" oil supply at all costs, but I see a huge difference having that the policy for a temporary period while we transition to alternative fuels as quickly as possible - compared to having that as a policy indefinitely. Lugar made the case that the "Carter doctrine" is why we had the first Gulf War, which really was a cause of the second Iraq War.

It is amazing that Millbank got the committee wrong. As to a gamble, how is having a former President giving his insight a gamble. This seems more like Millbank wanting people to keep the labels assigned them by the media. Carter = loser, but I don't recall that he raised an eyebrow when all the "wise men" from GHWB's administration are called in as experts. Given that GHWB had a 33% approval rating when he left office and pardoned several high officials on the way out, where was Milbank pointing out that Cheney (GHWB's Secretary of Defense) would bring up all the negative images of that morally bankrupt administration. Not to mention, that there is absolutely no risk to bring ANYONE before a Senate hearing. What's the worse thing that could happen?