Last Saturday night I stopped at a McDonald’s restaurant to have a quick meal and check my email. While sitting in my booth, three high-school aged girls sat down in the booth right behind me and proceeded to check their cell phones while loudly gossiping about the usual high-school subjects: Boys, homework, boys, fashion, and boys… not necessarily in that order.

One of the girls mentioned that her history teacher wanted her to write a paper on how Obama was helping Libya, and she wasn’t sure what she should write on the subject. I turned my head and politely suggested that she might want to compare and contrast what Obama has done in Libya to what President Jimmy Carter did in Iran when he helped depose the Shah of Iran, resulting in a breakdown of societal order, the kidnapping of 52 hostages from the American Embassy by Iranian dissidents, a failed rescue attempt, and the eventual establishment of an Islamic state on the cusp of having nuclear weapons.

All three girls listened attentively, and then the girl given the assignment asked: “Who’s Jimmy Carter?”

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