David Anderson, on his always stimulating Metaforage/Metaphorage: what’s a meta for? points to President Carter’s commentary on comparisons between the current energy shortage and the one Carter faced. David says, “Nice to hear from an honest man who brings an engineer’s mind to bear on a problem, rather than hearsay,

propaganda and superstition. In particular I like the fact he nails the administration on its bullshit labeling

of conservation as just ‘private virtue.’ ” I was struck by the quote he pulls out from Carter; certainly the understatement of the week: “Exaggerated claims seem designed to promote some long-frustrated ambitions of the oil industry at the expense of environmental quality.”