are we there yet?

Jim Kunstler has a workman-like essay up this morning on the BP disaster in the Gulf and its wider implications for the American Way of Life -- you know, the WOL that Dick Cheney said was "not negotiable" a few years back.

In the comments section, S. White of Minneapolis writes: "There was one public official who warned us about our dependence on oil and set a national goal to halt the expansion of our oil imports. He was about as highly placed in the government as it is possible to be, and he couln't (sic) get the job done. No one listened.

"The name of course is President Jimmy Carter."