Obama's Malaise Speech?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/liveblogging/2009/01/obamas-malaise.html

Obama's Malaise Speech?
January 20, 2009

A lot of talk about Obama’s speech already; was it more like Roosevelt’s or Kennedy’s?

I have a weird one to throw out there -- how about Jimmy Carter’s "malaise" speech?

Carter never actually used that word, but back in July of 1979, with the country in crisis, President Carter spoke of the dour national mood:

"The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America."

And somewhat surprisingly, to me at least, today President Obama said America is suffering from: "a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights."

Boy, sounds like he is saying America is suffering a kind of malaise. Carter was pounded in the press for his speech. Obama will not be. Perhaps it shows how times have changed.