Rise above latest ‘crisis of confidence’

A nation suffering through economic and energy crises — and an increasingly ambivalent and antagonistic relationship with the presidency — is hurting. Public trust in American values and leadership to guide our country wanes. As it does, this loss of trust leads to an upswell of unrest and feelings of hostility and hopelessness from the American people.

You may think the above paragraph is a description of our country’s psyche nearly two weeks removed from U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s historic election as President of the United States. Actually, it’s a summary that bears an eerie resemblance to our national climate today that goes back nearly three decades.

It was July 1979 and, like now, Americans were dealing with an energy crisis and its own economic boondoggle in runaway inflation. Then, in what became the defining speech of his term, President Jimmy Carter characterized the nation as being in the grip of “a crisis of confidence.”

“The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways,” he said. “It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation. The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America.”

In many ways, that “crisis of confidence” Carter addressed in 1979 has come full circle. The pressure valve this time around, it seems, has been the presidential election.

Although this newspaper supported and endorsed U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, Democrat Obama won. The nation voted and as our president-elect, Obama deserves the respect and honor due to anyone who would or does hold the esteemed office of President of the United States.

Yet, the vitriol that defined the bitter race between Obama and McCain has only continued to grow. Perhaps motivated by our own “crisis of confidence,” many feel the need to continue to pile on and kick McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, when they’re down. Now, it seems it’s not enough to satisfy the emotions of some Americans to let the democratic process run its course.

It’s understandable that, as candidates running for our nation’s highest offices, McCain, Palin, Obama and vice president-elect Joe Biden are all convenient targets to unload our frustrations upon.

But Americans should be — and are — better than that. We have an opportunity to continue to be the world’s example of how a nation ruled by the majority voice of its people can practice the “civil” in civil disobedience.

“We’ve always believed in something called progress,” Carter said. “We’ve always had a faith that the days of our children would be better than our own. Our people are losing that faith, not only in government itself, but in the ability as citizens to serve as the ultimate rulers and shapers of our democracy.”

We still have this faith and urge all of us to practice President Carter’s advice of a generation ago: “Let your voice be heard. Whenever you have a chance, say something good about our country. … Let us commit ourselves together to a rebirth of the American spirit.”