Fox News has a slide show on the addresses of the presidents to the nation from the oval office in the broadcast age.  It is very enlightening.  For the most part, we see how past presidents have used the occasion to address the nation in the time of national crises, often when the very existence of the nation was at stake, or  had been secured. 

There slides represent 11 of the last 13 presidents and details what their initial address was about, and any subsequent addresses.  From Roosevelt assuring a nation devastated by depression to H.W. Bush telling us we were going to war with Iraq, the initial addresses are all greatly important and are recorded in the annals of our history.

But 2 stand out for another reason.  They stand out for how inconsequential  and small they are in the grand scheme of things affecting our nation.  Not that they are unimportant, only that the reason for the address seems less to do with the health and safety of the nation, and more to do with whining to America how ineffectual the man is.

The first, some may not remember as it was before their time.  It was Jimmy carter's "malaise" speech.  Jimmy Carter, it has been said by many historians, was the worst president of the 20th century, at the very least the worst of the 2nd half of the 20th century.  And one of the prime reasons was his inability to lead the nation.  And the prime example of that inability is often called his Malaise Speech.  One thing historians do agree on is that it was a bad speech and very bad timing.

The second example is our current president.  Widely criticized from both sides of the aisle for his handling of the Gulf Oil Spill, he decided to make his first Oval Office Speech a sequel to the Malaise speech.  I guess even he is starting to believe that he is the second, or worse, coming of Jimmy Carter.  While the oil spill is bad, it is not a national catastrophe.  Not does it stand on equal footing with the likes of JFK, RWR or even GHWB.

It is another testament to the incompetence of the man from hope and change.  (I say from because he has taken that from the American People.)

The latest spin on his speech is that he spoke "President Obama's speech on the gulf oil disaster may have gone over the heads of many in his audience" by speaking at a 10th grade level.  I guess he likes insulting his base as well since the majority of criticism seems to be coming from his "tingling leg" friends.  But I do not think the speech went over too many people's heads.  Like the Malaise speech, it was just a bad speech at the wrong time by the wrong man.

I guess we should not complain.  Of the slides listed int he article link, 9 of them showed at least a competent president at a time of great significance (not mediocre or made up) to the American People.  Only 2 were pathetic.  Out of almost 80 years of president, (and fortunately only - or hopefully - only 8 years of gross incompetence), that represents only 10% of the time we have to endure abject failure.

Jimmy Carter is indeed smiling.  His name is about to be erased from the record books.